Keep Cool (simplified Chinese: 有话好好说; traditional Chinese: 有話好好說; pinyin: Yǒu Hùa Hǎo Hǎo Shūo; literally: "If you have something to say, say it nicely") is a 1997 Chinese black comedy directed by Zhang Yimou and adapted from the novel Evening Papers News by Shu Ping. The film about a bookseller in love in 1990s Beijing, marked a move away from earlier period pictures of Zhang's earlier work to a more realistic Cinéma vérité-like period in his career that also saw him make Happy Times (2000) and Not One Less (1999). Keep Cool also marked only the second time Zhang placed his film in the modern era and the first time Zhang did not work with actress Gong Li.
The film was produced by the Guangxi Film Studio.Synopsis
The film is set in contemporaneous Beijing. It begins with bookseller Zhao Xiaoshuai (Jiang Wen) who is following his ex-lover An Hong (Qu Ying) home, obviously after an unhappy and one-sided break-up. He tracks the fast-walking An Hong on a bus and later on a bicycle, until she reaches her flat and goes up to her apartment. There, Zhao gets a junk peddler (Zhang Yimou, the director himself, speaking in his native Shaanxi accent) and another peddler to call out her name and declare his undying love to her at the high-rise flats.
Actors