The Black Cannon Incident
Encyclopedia
The Black Cannon Incident is a 1985 Chinese black comedy film satirizing the bureaucracy and paranoia of Chinese authority. Presented by Xi'an Film Studio and directed by Huang Jianxin
, it stars Gao Ming
, Gerhard Olschewski
, and Liu Zifeng.
The film was screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival
.
and German
interpreter in a mining company. He is single and has the unusual habit of playing Chinese chess
alone. The chessboard
and pieces are his intimate friends and have accompanied him for years. One day, when Zhao returns from a business trip, he finds one of his chess pieces, the black cannon, missing. Despite heavy rain, he immediately hurries to the postal office and sends a telegram to the hotel
he stayed in previously, which reads, "Missing black cannon. 301. Searching. Zhao.", requesting the hotel's help to search for the piece in Room 301.
Unexpectedly, this ambiguous telegram arouses vigilance of the authorities and the police swiftly set up a case to investigate the so-called "Black Cannon Incident". Zhao is removed from his post and assigned somewhere else. His interpreter post is taken over by Feng Liangcai (Yang Yazhou), a tourism
interpreter who has little knowledge of engineering construction. A German specialist, Hans Schmidt (Gerhard Olschewski
) arrives for the second time for the WD project. To his disappointment, his former partner, Zhao, has been replaced. The new interpreter frequently makes mistakes. Frustrated, Hans insists that Zhao return. He even meets Zhao personally and asks for the resumption of their cooperation, which pushes Zhao into a quandary.
Meanwhile, the company manager Li Renzhong (Gao Ming
), visits Zhao and accidentally finds the chess set with the missing black cannon. Thus the puzzle seems resolved. In a Party
committee meeting, Li suggests Zhao resume his post as interpreter. However, Zhou Yuzhen, the Party Chief, insists no further actions will be taken until the incident is completely straightened out. At the moment, the pitiful Zhao still knows nothing about the case. The only thing he can do now is to inspect the progress of the project stealthily at midnight with a flashlight
and to garner information during a brief meeting with Hans. The new interpreter, Feng, mistakenly translates "bearing" into "bracket", leading to serious damage to the parts during a test run, as well as severe financial loss.
Before long, the postal office brings a package to Zhao, and Zhou and the others covertly open it, only to find a Black Cannon chess piece. The case is now completely clear, and Zhou grumbles to Zhao that he shouldn't have sent such a telegram. Apparently puzzled, Zhao asks, "Why can't I send a telegram of my own?"
Huang Jianxin
Huang Jianxin is a Chinese film director. He is normally considered part of the fifth generation of Chinese filmmakers , due to shared traits in his works, although he was not a strictly a member of the inaugural 1982 class of the Beijing Film Academy...
, it stars Gao Ming
Gao Ming
Gao Ming is a retired Chinese football player.-Qingdao:His career at Qingdao was a big success. He started representing Qingdao Etsong in senior level matches in 2000. Alongside with Qu Bo, they were considered to be one of the best attacking partners in China.-Shandong Luneng:Shandong Luneng...
, Gerhard Olschewski
Gerhard Olschewski
Gerhard Olschewski is a German actor. He has appeared in 94 films and television shows since 1966. He starred in the 1976 film A Lost Life, which was entered into the 26th Berlin International Film Festival, where he won the Silver Bear for Best Actor.-External links:...
, and Liu Zifeng.
The film was screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival
1987 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :*Yves Montand*Danièle Heymann*Elem Klimov*Gérald Calderon*Jeremy Thomas*Jerzy Skolimowski*Nicola Piovani*Norman Mailer*Theo Angelopoulos-Feature film competition:...
.
Plot
Zhao Shuxin (Liu Zifeng) is a capable engineerEngineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
interpreter in a mining company. He is single and has the unusual habit of playing Chinese chess
Xiangqi
Xiangqi is a two-player Chinese board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, shogi, Indian chess and janggi. The present-day form of Xiangqi originated in China and is therefore commonly called Chinese chess in English. Xiangqi is one of the most popular board games in China...
alone. The chessboard
Chessboard
A chessboard is the type of checkerboard used in the board game chess, and consists of 64 squares arranged in two alternating colors...
and pieces are his intimate friends and have accompanied him for years. One day, when Zhao returns from a business trip, he finds one of his chess pieces, the black cannon, missing. Despite heavy rain, he immediately hurries to the postal office and sends a telegram to the hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
he stayed in previously, which reads, "Missing black cannon. 301. Searching. Zhao.", requesting the hotel's help to search for the piece in Room 301.
Unexpectedly, this ambiguous telegram arouses vigilance of the authorities and the police swiftly set up a case to investigate the so-called "Black Cannon Incident". Zhao is removed from his post and assigned somewhere else. His interpreter post is taken over by Feng Liangcai (Yang Yazhou), a tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
interpreter who has little knowledge of engineering construction. A German specialist, Hans Schmidt (Gerhard Olschewski
Gerhard Olschewski
Gerhard Olschewski is a German actor. He has appeared in 94 films and television shows since 1966. He starred in the 1976 film A Lost Life, which was entered into the 26th Berlin International Film Festival, where he won the Silver Bear for Best Actor.-External links:...
) arrives for the second time for the WD project. To his disappointment, his former partner, Zhao, has been replaced. The new interpreter frequently makes mistakes. Frustrated, Hans insists that Zhao return. He even meets Zhao personally and asks for the resumption of their cooperation, which pushes Zhao into a quandary.
Meanwhile, the company manager Li Renzhong (Gao Ming
Gao Ming
Gao Ming is a retired Chinese football player.-Qingdao:His career at Qingdao was a big success. He started representing Qingdao Etsong in senior level matches in 2000. Alongside with Qu Bo, they were considered to be one of the best attacking partners in China.-Shandong Luneng:Shandong Luneng...
), visits Zhao and accidentally finds the chess set with the missing black cannon. Thus the puzzle seems resolved. In a Party
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
committee meeting, Li suggests Zhao resume his post as interpreter. However, Zhou Yuzhen, the Party Chief, insists no further actions will be taken until the incident is completely straightened out. At the moment, the pitiful Zhao still knows nothing about the case. The only thing he can do now is to inspect the progress of the project stealthily at midnight with a flashlight
Flashlight
A flashlight is a hand-held electric-powered light source. Usually the light source is a small incandescent lightbulb or light-emitting diode...
and to garner information during a brief meeting with Hans. The new interpreter, Feng, mistakenly translates "bearing" into "bracket", leading to serious damage to the parts during a test run, as well as severe financial loss.
Before long, the postal office brings a package to Zhao, and Zhou and the others covertly open it, only to find a Black Cannon chess piece. The case is now completely clear, and Zhou grumbles to Zhao that he shouldn't have sent such a telegram. Apparently puzzled, Zhao asks, "Why can't I send a telegram of my own?"
External links
- The Black Cannon Incident at the Chinese Movie Database