Singing Behind Screens

Directed by veteran helmer Ermanno Olmi, this Chinese folktale revolves around a young man (Davide Dragonetti) who mistakenly enters a brothel while trying to find his way through urban China circa the 1930s. Narrated by Bud Spencer, the young man succumbs to temptation, and the dialogue-free scene is performed through dance. Meanwhile, pirate junks begin firing at one another from a shoreside village. The leader, Admiral Ching (Makoto Kobayashi), is backed by a powerful group of profiteers, thus prompting the emperor to offer him a high ranking position if he stops firing. Unwilling to lose their income, Ching's backers murder the pirate, which sets off a strange sequence of events that will resound throughout the community for years to come.~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide