There are four story lines and tying them together are episodes resulting in outbursts of violence. One man battles against the corruption by local officials, a theme related to some of the headlines we have been seeing coming out of China lately. Another man, a loner, has brutally shot men trying to rob him and continues on his personal journey of violence.

A woman who is the mistress of a married man, who has promised to leave his wife but is stalling, revolts against the deception and lying. Especially poignant is the story of a young man who is smitten by a woman who works as a prostitute in an elaborate brothel. But he has no work prospects and love is doomed from the start. But the relationship offers the flicker of human warmth in the midst of futility.

The excellent cast includes Zho Tao, Jiang Wu, Wang Baoqiang and Luo Lanshan, as well as assorted character actors playing realistic types.

The director ingeniously relates the stories and comes up with striking set pieces. Particularly memorable is a factory where workers are beaten if they are caught taking time out from the work routine, and where an injury is made to be the fault of a worker rather than of the machinery.

The brothel is a colorful one that recalls the lore of French whorehouses of yore that catered to all sorts of tastes, in this case creating a train atmosphere for someone who enjoys having sex in a railway car. Also, young prostitutes are paraded in one scene not in slinking dress but in red guard-style uniforms. It is obviously meant as a wry comment, as is a statute of Mao decorating a town where corruption runs rampant.