| Kinamand | |
|---|---|
| Image:Kinamand.png | |
| Directed by | Henrik Ruben Genz |
| Produced by | Dag Alveberg |
| Written by | Kim Fupz Aakeson |
| Starring | Bjarne Henriksen Vivian Wu |
| Release date(s) | December 19 2002 (China) |
| Running time | 88 min. |
| Language | Danish |
| IMDb profile | |
Kinamand (or Chinaman in English, 「中国先生」 in Chinese) is a film made in 2005 in China and Denmark. The film deals with the Chinese immigrant experience in Denmark and marriage of convenience.
Contents |
Plot
A plumber, Keld, and his wife, Rie, plan a vacation. But Rie decides instead to divorce Keld and go on a cruise by herself. Meanwhile, Keld neglects his business and starts losing customers. He also starts eating every night at a Chinese restaurant. After about a month, the owner of the restaurant, Feng, offers Keld DKK 25,000 (US $4,000) for a green card marriage to his sister, Ling. Keld asks for DKK 50,000 (US $8,000), which is how much Rie asked for in the divorce settlement. After a lavish wedding, Ling moves into Keld's apartment, which is set up to give the appearance that the two sleep in the same bed every night. Keld freely tells his wife and son that the marriage is purely "pro forma". Keld is concerned about Ling's health but Feng assures him she's perfectly fine. A few days later, Ling falls down and Keld takes her to the hospital but it's too late. Feng confesses he knew Ling had a genetic heart defect, the reason why he had wanted her to live in Denmark. Ling is cremated and Keld flies to China to scatter her ashes in the ancestral river.
Awards
Kinamand won the Award of Ecumenical Jury and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
DVD release
The region 1 DVD release came out on May 23, 2006 and was made available to Netflix customers to rent. The English language subtitles are burned in (can't be taken off with DVD controls), they translate most of the Danish dialogue and the more basic Chinese dialogue.
