The Story: Dong Zi is an innocent country boy, lost in the big city of Wuhan, China. Dong Zi is taken under the wing of Gao Ping, a low level underworld figure, whose confident mean surface barely hides the man struglging to make a living. Gao takes pity on the kid because he too came from the same small town, and while he has managed to survive being tough on the streets, Dong Zi seems content to be a menial laborer, unwilling/unable to delve into Gao's seedy underworld, and content just to follow Gao around and adapt to the city life.

Things take a turn for the worse when Gao begins a vendetta against a man who stabbed him the back during a scam. In order to find the man, he decides to kidnap the mans rumored girlfriend/aquiantence, a Vietnamese nightclub singer named Ruan Hong. The abduction turns into an awkward relationship between Ruan and Gao, the two strike up an affair, and this leads to tension as both Ruan and Dong Zi vie for Gao's attention. Ruan never reveals where the backstabber is until Gao begins to treat her badly and kicks her out. But Gao's revenge gets him into more trouble- the mans leader is a criminal figure known as "The Big Boss", who coincidentally, considers Ruan his girlfriend, so now Gao must flee the city as the Big Boss' men come after him. While Gao is away, Dong Zi and Ruan begin a friendship, a bond that Dong Zi doesn't push romantically, though he may desire more. They find comfort in each other, the two former innocents, now lost in the decadence of the big city.

The Film: Bathed in shadows and striking colors, So Close To Paradise is a modern setting neon noir. It is a film that underwent three years of editing before the Beijing Film Studio censor board would approve its release, resulting in many of the political overtones to be watered down. Its working title was Ruan's Song.

Here you get the low level gangster, Gao, with his fairly nice suits and his cramped apartment, and the classic moll, Ruan, confidently snapping gum when we first meet her, a nightclub singer, hard on the surface, but bowing in the face of masculine power. Its all about the lost- Gao thinks his criminal way of life will get him ahead, but it doesn't seem to benefit him any more that Dong Zi's low paying dock work job. And Ruan, the small town girl with dreams of making it in the big city, only to find herself manipulated and lied to until her dreams are crushed.

Director Xiaoshuai Wang (Beijing Bicycle) is one of China's new fresh creators, a generation of film makers who wish to speak out about the individual voices, tell the individual stories often frowned upon by the political system of the mainland. Here, he embraces a very Western style, the noir, but like Wong Kar Wai did with Fallen Angels, paints a distinct take on the genre. So Close To Paradise is a subtle film, building slowly, simply revealing its characters. It is a film of moments- Dong Zi secretly taping Ruan singing, Gao chasing the man who betrayed him through the shanty town streets, Dong Zi watching Ruan and Gao through a crack in the apartment wall... Dong Zi provides a reflective narration to the film; we hear his voice, speaking with a lucid maturity from the future telling us of the events that unfold. It provides the best characterization, in the early part of the film, Dong Zi is a silent lap dog, shyly following Gao around, yet in voice over he has clearly grown and the product of learning hard lessons from the events that will come... The performances are all great. The direction and composition is solid. The actors very capable with the material given, and from looking at the main trio of stars bios, they unfortunately have not done much else.

If So Close To Paradise can be faulted, it would be, that the story is a bit thin and bleak. It doesn't have many twists and turns and, perhaps because it is so obvious, it unfolds as a pretty fatalistic but entertianing view of survival in the big city.

The DVD: First Run Features

Picture- Widescreen. Photography is intentionally garish, grainy with saturated colors and many dark scenes. The contrast and color are fine. But despite having an intentionally rough look, the sharpness suffers and there are some dirt spots and lines on the image.

Sound- Dolby Digital 2.0 Mandarin with clear default English subtitles. This was the real dealbreaker for me. NOTE: I don't know if it was that I got a faulty disc or that this was how the audio transferred, just be warned. The audio, while mostly clear and fine for a low budget independently produced film, had tons of audio dropoff, spots where the audio skipped, disappeared for a fraction of a second, like a skipping record. Perhaps this was a fault in the print, but I found it to be pretty annoying so I suggest it would be tolerable for a rental or at least hold onto that reciept if you buy it.

Extras- 12 Chapters--- Trailers for 42 and Up, Live Nude Girls Unite, Aberdeen, The Fluffer and Fighter--- About First Run Feaures text section--- Text Bio and brief (but informative) text interview with the films director.

Conclusion: Good film + mediocre (possibly flawed) transfer + scant extras at a high price = you may want to rent it unless you are an Asian cinema nut with some disposable cash and a genuine interest.