The Piano in a Factory

Set in the 1990s, Zhang Meng's film about a father who enlists the help of friends to maintain custody of his daughter offers the kind of deadpan humor rarely seen in Chinese cinema. Former factory worker Chen Guilin (Wang Qian-Yuan), who lives in a northern province and plays accordion in a local band, faces a dilemma when his long-absent wife serves him with divorce papers that include a provision for their child, Xiao, to choose whether to stay in the country with her father or move to the city with her mother, who lives with a well-off new boyfriend. Xiao sets up a clever challenge: she will go with whichever parent can provide her with a piano—a possible key to upward mobility for the talented girl. Like his ex, Guilin has also started to see someone since their separation, Shu Xian (Qin Hailu), a single mother who sings in his ensemble and becomes caught up in his attempts to secure the desired instrument. After trying to steal and borrow money for his cause, Guilin asks community members for help, and despite their own domestic difficulties, they ultimately band together around a solution that involves building a piano from scratch. An entertaining and touching foreign film, this is recommended. (K. Fennessy)