The Case - Xiang Zi - Der Koffer (2007)

Like many of the directors at the Mannheim-Heidelberg Film Festival, The Case is Wang Fen’s feature film directorial debut. I was captivated by the premise: a disgruntled husband, Dasham (Gang Wu) finds a suitcase of frozen body parts in the river. He hides the case from his controlling and suspicious wife (Yujuan Wu) , only to share the secret with a mistress he didn’t plan to have.

When I was moving out of my married home, following a divorce, I asked my best friend if she would help me move a TV.

“Sure! It’s like my dad always said, ‘Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.’”

Trust and love are central character’s in Cheng Zhang’s script. Dasham is constantly under pressure of being discovered by his wife, who recently spoiled an affair he was having and perpetually scrutinizes his every move. Dasham is confined to managing the home and hotel his wife owns in the Yunnan province. His mornings are spent slipping from her snoring clutch, and if he’s lucky, he steals a few moments in his private greenhouse where he can enjoy a forbidden cigarette. Constantly berated, bullied and reminded of his illness and failings, there is little surprise when he flees into the arms of one of his beautiful patrons, who becomes his confidant and later his conspirator.

As the movie comes to its denouement, Fen keeps you on the edge of your seat. Unfortunately, the projector crew at my showing missed the final reel change and the audience sat in the dark for five minutes. When the movie resumed, I couldn’t help but wonder if I missed a few crucial minutes.

Bordering on dark comedy and thriller, The Case certainly does not end as I expect or hope it to, which is with the growth of Dasham into a person who can love and trust. It’s up to your interpretation if that actually happens. By reducing the movie to a hypothetical question, Wang Fen leaves me wondering if I would have been less disappointed in another film.

THE CASE – XIANG ZI

WITH: Gang Wu (He Dasham), Yujuan Wu (Dashang’s wife), Sifei Wang (Mistress), Hongwei Wang (Mistress’ husband)

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