A Woman,

A Gun and A Noodle Shop

Official Selection: 2010 Berlin Film Festival

In a small desert town near Jiayu Pass in China (the first pass at the west end of the Great Wall), Wang owns a noodle shop where he, his wife and his employees also live. Not exactly a loving boss, he spends every penny to his own advantage, owing his workers their wages for months.

Miserable from suffering with Wang’s dark temper and abuse, his wife has an affair with Li, who can spin round sheets of noodle dough nimbly but never shows the same confidence outside the kitchen. Every time Li drives her to buy rouge, the two have sex in the carriage. One day, to Li’s dismay, she purchases a gun from a Persian merchant, claiming that only Wang’s death can guarantee their happiness. Never a match for her biting wit and tongue, Li agrees to hide the weapon.

Meanwhile, waiter Zhao and patrol officer Zhang – both bribed by the cunning Wang – inform him of the gun and the affair respectively. After catching her wife red-handed and grappling with her during one of her rouge trips, Wang resorts to paying Zhang to kill the illicit lovers.

The day after, Zhang returns with a blood-stained piece of clothing and fiercely pierced woman’s underwear. In his client’s secret chamber, Zhang waits for his reward and, all of a sudden, shoots Wang with Li’s gun he found earlier. As Wang lies completely motionless, Zhang struggles to open the safe but fails. Outside, Zhao and waitress Chen are arguing about whether they should sneak in and ‘steal’ their wages from the safe. As the door squeaks and a ray of light seeps through the crack, Zhang loses his nerve and escapes through the window, leaving the gun behind… Will someone discover Wang’s body? What will be done with his money? Who will lay hands on the gun? Nobody can say for sure because everyone is either silently plotting or plotted against…

Cast

Sun Honglei, Xiao Shenyang, Yan Ni, NI Dahong, Cheng Ye, Mao Mao and Zhao Benshan

A Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop slide show

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