Shower

I saw the Chinese comedy-drama film Shower for the first time at Signs & Wonders on Thursday night. The film focuses on a Chinese man called Old Liu who, along with his mentally handicapped son named Erming, runs a traditional bathhouse in Beijing, China. Old Liu's eldest son, Daming, has left the family business to try to earn his fortune in a city in southern China. He only returns to his family when he is led to believe that his father is dead. This is played for laughs at first, but as the film goes on, is used to show the importance of family.

Shower is notable for me because of how it portrays the mentally challenged son. It is shown that he truly enjoys helping run the bathhouse. He is also shown being very loving to his father, and to his brother when he returns home. We, the audience, are never manipulated or shamed into feeling sorry for Erming, like some other films with mentally handicapped characters do.

As a side note, another theme in Shower is the clash of tradition and modern technology. This is even symbolized by showing Daming using the automated shower system (in the opening scene), and later the regular customers in the family bathhouse.