Crosscurrent

Writer-director Yang Chao’s Crosscurrent is set on a cargo boat going up the Yangtze River. The young captain, Gao Chun (Qin Hao), recently inherited the vessel after his father’s death. Chun finds a handwritten book of poems written by a former deckhand, and he charts the boat’s journey by the ports cited in the poetry. Along the way, Chun keeps encountering the same woman in different ports: An Lu (Xin Zhilei), whose seemingly ubiquitous presence hypnotizes Chun (and it is a bit curious that she seems to be growing younger with each encounter). But after passing the Three Gorges Dam, Lu mysteriously exits Chun’s life, leading him to search for her along the river. Much of the film’s appeal can be attributed to Mark Lee Ping-Bing’s cinematography, which offers some of the most stunning views of the Chinese landscape captured on camera. And both Hao and Zhilei are perfect in their roles as the captivated captain and the elusive beauty who takes control of his emotions. The pacing can be too leisurely at times, and the supporting characters of the boat’s two-man crew (an elderly inebriate and a malcontented youth) don’t add much to the story, but this mystical odyssey is an overall beguiling film. Recommended. (P. Hall)