Japanese librarian Kenji is a neat-freak loner living in Beijing. His obsessive-compulsive disorder isn’t the worst of his problems, nor is his suicidal demeanor. Something always seems to interrupt his plans to kill himself, including the messy murder of his brother by a gangster in Kenji’s apartment. Kenji manages to escape the scene, but his attempt to leap from a nearby bridge is thwarted by a car accident. There he meets Noi, whose sister dies from the collision. Kenji and Noi begin a friendship based on their shared loneliness and loss. That’s about all they have; even their communication relies on broken English. Kenji takes to cleaning up Noi’s slovenly rural home where he hides out from the law, gangsters, and the world in general. It’s a strange relationship, but their opposite personalities provide each other with basic needs. The film has a very light atmosphere, despite the constant themes of death and grief. The way Kenji and Noi muddle through their difficult lives is somehow poetic. Even the tragic finale is coated with a gloss of lovely optimism.

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