The Film

“An imaginary landscape as the main character—that’s what I wanted to do with this film. I needed a man, or a man’s voice rather than my own voice, to take us to this imaginary landscape…, I hope ultimately people in the cinema will paint their own imaginary world too.” —Xiaolu Guo, filmmaker

"I don’t know what’s written in his destiny. Is he going to save his life? Or is he going to end his life? I will let him decide his own fate." (2:15) Watch video

In southern China, a young man named Lin Hao (Zijiang Yang) has killed his lover. He flees northward, across the countryside, toward what he believes to be sanctuary: the tiny, legendary village of Mohe, located on the quiet border between China and Russia, where the Northern Lights cut across the sky during long winter nights.

Meanwhile, in Beijing, a screenwriter (played by Hui Rao, who co-wrote HOW IS YOUR FISH TODAY? with director Xiaolu Guo) is narrating Lin ld Hao’s story. As the journey unfolds on screen, Hui Rao—one of those “ordinary people trying to escape their boring lives”—reveals his own tedium and dissatisfaction. Through his characters, his life gains meaning. Rao questions Lin Hao’s motivations for escape, yet is drawn to Mohe himself.

In Mohe, elderly residents fish under the ice, schoolchildren study English texts about America and villagers endure the long winter nights waiting for the sun to come back. Two men contemplate the icy landscape, one wanting to cross the border to see the other side of the world, the other longing to head back to his hometown. As Xiaolu Guo explains, the film “would start and end in landscapes, urban scenery contrasting with village images and inner landscape conflicting with social landscape. We should see a scriptwriter’s inner world drowned and reshaped by the randomness and accidents of reality…. Everything is about fantasy invading reality, or reality breaking into fantasy.”

Blurring the lines between the real and the imaginary and between fictional and documentary filmmaking, HOW IS YOUR FISH TODAY? is a thought-provoking and uncommonly beautiful inquiry into the uses and possibilities of narrative.

	Related Links and Resources Xiaolu Guo The filmmaker’s site: diary entries, writing clips and film synopses. The Guardian: The Rise and Rise of Little Voice A 2004 interview with Xiaolu Guo. China’s 49 Places of Ultimate Attractions Mohe is dubbed the country’s coldest place. China’s “Arctic Village” to Build Airport A new airport spurs tourism to Mohe. Beijing Photos A photo gallery of China’s capital city.

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