Review | Cannes 2021: Gaey Wa’r (Streetwise) movie review – Chinese drama about small-town thugs is not your usual crime movie
- Gaey Wa’r tells the story of a young man working for a debt collector to pay for his abusive father’s medical treatment
- The film has a minimalist feel, and there are a few strange camera shots interspersed with flashes of brilliance
3.5/5 stars
When is a crime film not a crime film? Chinese filmmaker Na Jiazuo’s debut, Gaey Wa’r (also known as Streetwise) – premiering in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section this year – doesn’t exactly ask that question, but it’s something you’re left pondering after watching this tale of small-town debt collectors, hustlers and think-they’re-tough guys.
“Dedicated to all souls in need of comfort”, the closing credits say, and it’s really a minimalist character study of a browbeaten young man hamstrung by his relationship with his callous father rather than a celebration of crime and punishment.
Set in Zhenwu, the near-deserted streets made to look desolate, lonely and rain-drenched, the story follows Dong Zi (Li Jiuxiao), a 21 year-old working for Xi Jun (Yu Ailei), a cocky debt collector, to raise money to pay his father’s medical bills. “Collecting a debt is perfectly legit,” Xi tells him after harassing one debtor by faking a story about his kidnapped daughter (thanks to some Photoshopped imagery) to ensure rapid repayment.
Dong Zi isn’t much of a fighter, however, and soon ends up with a beating and bruises, something that seems to be his lot in life. His ailing, hospital-bound father (Yao Lu) may have “one foot in the grave” but he’s a bully and a brute. “You owe me your life,” he tells his son, before smacking him around.