Plastic City

This visually lavish gangster-tale is the third dramatic feature by Hong Kong auteur Yu-Lik Wai, who has been Chinese director Zhang Ke Jia’s cinematographer for more than a decade. The action revolves around the fascinating mini-community of São Paulo’s multiethnic Liberdad district, with its unique mix of different cultures and unusual interpretation of law and order. Squeezed between corrupt local politicians and the Brazilian mafia, the outlaw Yuda, a Chinese immigrant and dealer in pirate goods, sees his large business operation threatened when a copyright crackdown throws him in jail. His adoptive son, Kirin, now has to take up arms to defend his father’s position and fight rival gangs to protect his market share.

A philosophical drama set in the criminal world, the film explores the relationship between father and son using symbolic imagery. The stunning photography of Yiu-Fai Lai shows a further refinement of the digital manipulation of images that the director/cinematographer team employed with such success in All tomorrow’s parties (2003).