Seafood (film)

Seafood
Traditional Chinese	海鮮
Simplified Chinese	海鲜
Hanyu Pinyin	Hǎixiān
Directed by	Zhu Wen
Written by	Zhu Wen
Produced by	Zhu Wen Mou Sen
Starring	Jin Ze Cheng Taisheng
Cinematography	Liu Yonghong
Edited by	Zhu Wen
Distributed by	Golden Network Asia
Release date	2001 (2001)
Running time	84 minutes
Country	China
Language	Mandarin

Seafood (simplified Chinese: 海鲜; traditional Chinese: 海鮮; pinyin: Hǎixiān) is a 2001 Chinese film directed by the established writer Zhu Wen. Though Seafood was Zhu's first film as director, he had already gained some experience with filmmaking as a screenwriter for Zhang Ming (in 1996's Rain Clouds over Wushan) and Zhang Yuan (in 1999's Seventeen Years). Seafood was produced independently by Thought Dance Entertainment and Zhu's own Zhu Wen Workshop.

The film depicts a self-destructive prostitute (Jin Ze) who attempts to commit suicide in a resort town by the sea. She is thwarted by a police officer (Cheng Taisheng) whose unorthodox methods of "rehabilitating" her consists of seafood and rape. As a result of the film's dark premise, Seafood has been called "one of the most transgressive visions of China...ever witnessed."^[1]

Never released in China, the film nevertheless was well received abroad, where it won numerous awards most notably at the 2001 Venice International Film Festival.