Midnight Walker

夜行人

1998· Released

Overview

At sunset, in Shanghai, a timid young man is trembling, having accidentally killed his friend. He goes to the police to turn himself in, but they ignore him. As night falls, the man is in despair and is drawn to the soft voice of a radio DJ, to whom he confesses, adding that he will commit suicide tomorrow at 6pm. Unaware that his confession has become a hot topic, the man wanders the streets at night in search of the girlfriend he loved in middle school. He calls the DJ to inform him that he does not intend to die, but the DJ asks him to come to the place where he promised to commit suicide. This film is part of the low-budget digital experimental film project Super City. Born in Shanghai, but raised in Urumqi, the main character is unable to adapt to life in a big city. The sound design, filled with radio noise, and the canted angles, reveal the psychology of a person trapped in the huge but closed-off city. —Jeonju Film Festival