The directorial feature debut of one of China's finest cinematographers is a quietly observed story, set in Shanghai, about a womanizing university professor, his factory-worker wife, and his mistress, a former student. Mr. Zhao won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival and was on Chicago Reader critic Jonathan Rosenbaum's ten-best list for 1999. He wrote: "This movie carries the visible influence of John Cassavetes in its adroit handling of actors, its raw shooting style, the size of the emotions expressed, and its refusal to impose moral hierarchies on the characters. In no way are the title hero and his sexual hypocrisy excused, but the movie is too warm and complex in its understanding of all its characters to depict him as a simple villain-or to show either his wife or his mistress as simple victims of his chicanery....I don't believe I've ever encountered the psychological richness of these three characters...in Chinese cinema....Mr. Zhou (is) a major event in the history of Chinese movies because it marks a paradigmatic shift..."