Shower

Winner of Best Picture and Best Director honors at the 2000 Seattle International Film Festival, Zhang Yang's heartwarming dramedy stars Jiang Wu as Da Ming, a thriving businessman who rushes home to his father's provincial bathhouse when his retarded younger brother sends him a postcard with a hand drawn picture of his dad lying down. Fearing the worst, Da Ming is not only surprised to find that his father (Zhu Xu) is fine, he is also slowly but surely drawn into the world of the bathhouse as he struggles to repair familial ties that he broke long ago. Although it flirts with sentimentality off and on, this Japanese Rain Man is not only a genuine crowd pleaser, it's a moving story about father/son conflict, filial love and community. Enthusiastically recommended. (R. Pitman)