Cast

Maggie Quigley, Joe Odagiri, Han Sanping

Director (s)

Zhuang zhuang Tian

Writer (s)

Zhuang zhuang Tian

Producer (s)

Bill Kong, Hao Li, Satoru Ogura

Synopsis

A long time ago, in the border region of the vast Gobi Desert, Chinese soldiers were sent thousands of miles away from home, to defend the country from nomadic invaders. These lonely soldiers lived among wild beasts over long, harsh winters, left entirely at the mercy of nature and endless warfare. General Zhang Anliang (TOU Chung-hua) finds in his command an outstanding new recruit - Lu Chenkang (Joe ODAGIRI) - who is brave and talented but a bit too kind-hearted to kill. In a hunt for wolves, Lu even spares a young cub and keeps it as a pet. Zhang gives Lu special training and gradually they become comrades in arms, and friends. However, in one particularly fierce battle, Zhang is severely injured, and to save his life, Lu sends Zhang away from the battlefield. On his own, Lu leads the troops to face the dreadful winter that soon sets in. They take refuge from a blizzard in a village occupied of the mysterious Harran tribe. One night, a young Harran woman (Maggie Q) climbs out from a hole in the floor in Lu's shelter. Her husband has died, her life is doomed to loneliness, but a flame in her still burns - and so Lu finds himself drawn to her like a moth to a flame. In this village surrounded by wild wolves, trapped in desolation and haunted by death, Lu and the tribal woman let passion get the better of them. There is a high price to pay for both of them to surrender to this twisted romance, but their passion grows into a roaring fire, changing them into beasts that they never knew they were. When the battle and the deadly winter finally end, Zhang Anliang re-encounters his best friend in the most unimaginable circumstance.

Festival Screenings

Toronto 2009