So Close to Paradise

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So Close to Paradise ★★ Biandan, Guniang 1998

Buddies Dong Zi and Gao Ping are farm workers who migrate to Shanghai for better lives. Dong gets a menial job on the docks while Gao turns to petty crime to survive. When a gang boss cheats Gao, he gets revenge by kidnapping the man's mistress, Vietnamese nigh-club singer Ruan Hong. After some violence, Gao and Ruan fall in what passes for love but this story is not about to have a happy ending. A Chinese version of B-movie, Hollywood noir. Mandarin with subtitles. 90m/C VHS, DVD . CH Guo Tao, Tong Wang, Yu Shi, Tao Wu; D: Xiaoshuai Wang; W: Xiaoshuai Wang, Pang Ming; C: Tao Yang; M: Lin Liu.

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