Feeling Chinese Films

One of the perks for working for the Confucius Institute is having access to some of the most beautiful movies made by Chinese.

A World Without Thieves heightened my maternal instinct (protectiveness) at the same time brought back my trust in humanity.

Wang Li, a female con-artist is pregnant. She believes in karma and wants to change the fate of her unborn child by setting her life right. No more conning and stealing. Her lover Wang Bo is unaware for a long time and continues to con Sha Gen, a young and naive goat-herder they met on the train.

Unfortunately for Wang Bo, another master con-artist Uncle Li and his gang is also on the train with them and has his eyes on Sha Gen's RMB 60,000 savings. Wang Li, who had taken Sha Gen as her adopted brother continues to protect him from the prying thieves.

After witnessing his cunning skills, Uncle Li was tempted to try and recruit Wang Bo to join his gang. However, he had been unsuccessful, so he set up a manipulative challenge to force Wang Bo to succumb. First one to get Sha Gen's RMB 60,000 wins.

At the end of the film, the audience sees a dead Wang Bo clutching his cellphone; a peacefully sleeping Sha Gen with his bag of money sitting comfortably, albeit tainted with blood, beside him; Uncle Li again in one of his numerous disguises blending in with the crowd alighting the train. Uncle Li has gotten far before he was apprehended by the police detective who had recognized all of their tricks by now as a result of following their cases for a long time.

Wang Li is seen in a Chinese restaurant chowing down dimsums like popcorn. Cellphone beside her. She is visited by the detective. He claims Wang Bo will not come anymore. She had been waiting, and now she finally understood. Hope washed from her face. What's left is an expression of disbelief. Slow recovery, grief slowly creeping in, a slow realization that her lover's gone forever, that his last breath was a heroic feat dedicated to his unborn child.