曾說自嘲是一種生活態度的導演耿軍,自嘲二十來歲才知道「黑色幽默」這個詞。他的新作說明他真的懂。一個近似廢墟的東北城鎮上,出現了推銷肥皂的騙子、廣結人緣推介護身符的假和尚、四出尋母的基督徒、忙於抓偷榆樹賊的護林員、破案率低的警察⋯⋯故事並不著眼在角色的發展,角色間亦沒有緊密連繫,只是借這些荒謬古怪人物穿插呈現一個腐化社會,每個人都只是各自揾食,輕微罪案是家常便飯。歹徒不夠惡,受害者也不可憐,湊成這部另類黑色悲喜劇。

A soap salesman arrives at a small, deserted northeastern Chinese town. He asks unsuspecting townspeople to smell his soap, which instantly knocks them out so he can rob them. However, it turns out that his isn’t the only con being run in the town, and the two dim- witted cops that roam its streets can’t seem to do anything about it. Director Geng Jun’s deadpan absurdist tragicomedy is a subtle critique of modern China, presenting a society in which everyone is driven by self-interest. The amoral characters who come up with harebrained scams may be very bad people, but their victims aren’t that much better.