In 1946, to prevent the Chinese civil war, Zhou Enlai who represented the Communists held a talk with the Chinese Nationalist Party, and George C. Marshall, who represented the Americans at Plum Village in Nanjing. A lost notebook stirred the already turbulent peace talk. The ripples alert the three sides and a battle of spy and anti-spy began. Many historical figures like Zhou Enlai, George Marshall, Chiang Kai-shek, Soong May-ling, He Yingqing, Chen Cheng, and Hu Zongnan are depicted in the movie. Other fictional persona such as the ace agent Xiong Huiquan, the female journalist, and a secret spy who belongs to the Confidential Bureau adds tension to the critical moment.

With his directorial debut actor Chen Jianbin walks in the footsteps of A Touch of Sin, No Man’s Land, and Black Coal, Thin Ice and offers a hard-edged mainland noir where kindness and cruelty, madness and reason, greed and humanity all struggle for dominance and the fool might not be who you think . The hook here is Chen’s amazing performance as the simple, slightly crude Latioazi, a goat farmer who has a son in jail. When a young mentally handicapped man follows him home one day and enters his life, it sets off a blaze and a chain of events follows, which bares China’s class divide raw. His random act of reluctant kindness invites a parade of strangers and grifters all intent on draining Latioazi of what little he has.