Feng Kuang de Dai Jia (or, literally translated, The Price of Frenzy) is Zhou's mediation on the effects of the acceleration of modern life and a woman's search for justice. After being abandoned by their parents, Qingqing is forced to raise and provide for her younger sister Lanlan. They gradually grow accustomed to life on their own and Qingqing comes to be a capable parent. That is, until one night, walking home from school, Lanlan is accosted and raped. The assault renders Lanlan mute and plunges Qingqing into a frenzy of impotent rage. Borrowing a camera, Qingqing begins photographing strangers on the street and bringing the photos home for Lanlan to identify. This strategy fails to yield any result. However, that summer, while working at a bookstore, Lanlan recognizes her attacker among the store's customers and Qingqing and the police begin to pursue him across the city. Fearing arrest, the rapist takes Qingqing hostage and ascends to the roof of a skyscraper. In the climatic struggle that ensues, Qingqing pushes him off the building, and, literally and symbolically, becomes a criminal herself.
by Brian Whitener
synopsis
