INVITATIONAL FILM – Cultural Highlight
A World Without Thieves (Tian xia wu zei - 天下無賊)
Directed by: Xiaogang Feng
Action, Crime, Drama
China, Hong Kong | 2004 | 1hr 55m
In Mandarin with English Subtitles

View the Trailer - Click Here!

About the film:
Two grifters, Wang Bo and Wang Li, a couple who've been arguing, board a train in rural China. He wants to fleece a peasant, nicknamed Dumbo for his naiveté, who's carrying 60,000 yuan and trusts everyone. She wants to protect the hick kid, an act of expiation brought on by prayer and a visit to a temple. Also on board are one of more sets of thieves, including a calculating boss and his femme fatale. The boss wants to recruit Wang Bo, and a series of contests ensue, with the potential of turning deadly. While Li guards Dumbo from Bo and the others, can she and Bo sort out their relationship? And can Dumbo's simple spirituality touch anyone else?

Screening Times @ Lewis Lab Auditorium
5:00pm Wednesday, June 16
7:00pm Thursday, June 17
3:00pm Saturday, June 19

About the director:
The son of a college professor and a factory nurse, he joined Beijing Military Region Art Troupe as a stage designer after high school. He began his cinema work as an art designer in Beijing Television Art Center in 1985. Later, he moved on to write screenplays.
In the late 1990s, Feng established himself in a genre called "Hesui Pian (贺岁片)", or "New Year's Celebration Films" in Chinese cinema. He probably achieved his full fame as the director of the movie Dream Factory (1997). Having achieved success in the face of competition from Hollywood within mainland China, University of Minnesota professor, Jason McGrath, believes "The entertainment cinema of Feng Xiaogang represents a new model of a Chinese national cinema that positions itself vis-à-vis Hollywood." Feng is renowned for making comedies with "Beijing style dialogs". Almost all of his films star Ge You in a major role. He married actress Xu Fan in 1999.