General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20266 min read

Lost in Beijing (苹果)

Lost in Beijing (苹果; also released as 迷失北京) is a 2007 Chinese drama film directed by Li Yu (李玉), written by Li Yu and producer Fang Li (方励), and starring Fan Bingbing, Tong Dawei, Tony Leung Ka-fai, and Elaine Jin. Set in contemporary Beijing, it follows two married couples, one rich and one poor, whose lives become entangled after the owner of a foot-massage parlor rapes one of his employees, who is the wife of a window washer who witnesses the assault.¹^•² The film competed at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival and became one of the most prominent Chinese censorship cases of its decade: it was approved only after major cuts, screened in its full version at Berlin anyway, earned about RMB 18 million at the mainland box office, and was then banned in January 2008, with its producer barred from filmmaking for two years.³

Key fact	Detail
Director and writers	Directed by Li Yu; written by Li Yu and Fang Li¹
Cast	Fan Bingbing as Liu Pingguo, Tong Dawei as An Kun, Tony Leung Ka-fai as Lin Dong, Elaine Jin as Wang Mei¹
Runtime	112 minutes in the full version; the censorship-approved cut ran 97 minutes⁴
Premiere	Berlin International Film Festival, February 16, 2007, in official competition³
Mainland release	November 30, 2007, on 150 prints³
Box office	About $2.5 million (RMB 18 million) in China after six weeks; $1,350,967 gross worldwide per IMDb³^•⁵
Outcome	Banned by SARFT on January 3, 2008; producer Fang Li and Laurel Films barred from filmmaking for two years³

Spoilers

Plot and cast

Liu Pingguo (Fan Bingbing) is a migrant worker from outside Beijing who gives foot massages at the Golden Basin, a parlor owned by Lin Dong (Tony Leung Ka-fai), a wealthy businessman from Guangdong. Her husband An Kun (Tong Dawei) washes the glass windows of high-rise buildings. After Pingguo's friend is fired for offending a customer, the two women drink heavily, and Pingguo passes out in an office at the parlor; Lin Dong rapes her. An Kun, washing windows above, sees part of the assault, then demands money from Lin Dong as compensation or threatens to accuse him of rape.²^•⁶

When Pingguo becomes pregnant, the two couples strike a transaction: Lin Dong and his wife Wang Mei (Elaine Jin), who cannot have children, will pay the young couple if the child is Lin's, and the contract terms include Pingguo moving into Lin Dong's home as a wet nurse for six months. Wang Mei, furious at her husband's infidelity, takes An Kun as a lover in revenge. The arrangements spiral out of control, leaving both families in entangled conflicts over money, paternity, and the child.²^•⁶

The film's stated subject is the social reality of a fast-growing economy: new challenges to values, morality, family relations, and women's status, and the conflict between material and spiritual life amid a widening gap between rich and poor.²

Censorship and the Berlin premiere

The script entered review at the Film Bureau in March 2006 and passed only after revisions, including the removal of a temple scene in which Lin Dong prayed for a child, which an official in charge of religious affairs demanded be cut.⁷ The finished film then went through repeated submissions: in January 2007 it was cut in more than 50 places, reducing it from 110 minutes to 95, before the Film Reviewing Committee approved it on February 5, 2007, at 97 minutes, reversing an earlier decision to bar it from the Berlin competition.⁸^•⁹^•¹⁰ Producer Fang Li said the cuts removed a side character and scenes involving dirty streets, prostitutes, gambling, the Chinese national flag, and Tiananmen Square.¹⁰

At the Berlinale on February 16, 2007, the film was shown in its full 112-minute version rather than the approved cut. Fang Li explained that the team had brought the approved print but could not finish an English-subtitled version of it in time, so the longer version was screened.⁴^•¹¹ The China release was then put on hold as a measure against the producer, who was asked to write a self-criticism report.³

Mainland release and ban

The edited version was scheduled for May 18, 2007, then postponed, and finally opened in China on November 30, 2007, on 150 prints.³^•¹² After six weeks it had taken in about RMB 18 million, making it one of the better-performing small-budget Chinese films of 2007.³

On January 3, 2008, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) suspended the film's screening permit, blocked its distribution in cinemas and online, and confiscated prints and promotional materials. The announcement cited three violations: spreading the unapproved version and pornographic clips on the internet, producing the unapproved version on audio-video products, and related breaches of film regulations. Fang Li and his company Laurel Films were banned from making films for two years, and the distributor Polybona, the investor Beijing Zhonghong Real Estate Development Group, and the film's actors were seriously criticized and required to make improvements.³ In March 2008 Fang Li filed a lawsuit against SARFT seeking restoration of the film's public screening permit; he stated the ban had cost the production side at least 3 million yuan and that he did not seek economic damages in the suit.⁷ Li Yu then spent two years waiting out the ban before returning with Buddha Mountain in 2011.¹³

Reception and awards

At Berlin the film was nominated for the Golden Bear. At the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival it was nominated for the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature and won a Special Mention for Screenplay for Li Yu and Fang Li. Fan Bingbing won Best Actress at the Eurasian International Film Festival, and the film received multiple Golden Kite Award nominations in China, winning the FIPRESCI Prize.¹⁴

Western critics were divided. On Metacritic the film scored 58 based on six reviews, with positive notices from The New York Times, where A.O. Scott called it "a sturdy morality tale about innocence and corruption, wealth and want, sex and power," and Variety, and mixed notices from The Hollywood Reporter and the Village Voice.¹⁵ On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 52% Tomatometer from 23 reviews.⁶ Recurring criticisms targeted the plot's contrivances, particularly the coincidence of the husband witnessing the assault from his window-washing rig; Time Out's reviewer wrote that the film works "in spite of itself" thanks to the cast and Li Yu's filmmaking.¹⁶

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2000s › Biographical and historical drama films 2000s › Released 2006 to 2009

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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