The Videographer is hired to record the performances of Meimei Zhou Xun, who performs as a mermaid swimming in a large water tank at the Happy Tavern in Shanghai. He and Meimei develop a quiet, mounting bond as he captures her in the water, but her life remains elusive: she disappears for days at a time, leaving him with a longing he can’t quite name. The tale that threads through his memory centers on a past romance, recounted as if in a documentary he never expected to star in.
The memory stretches back to Mardar Jia Hongsheng, a small-time crook and motorcycle courier, and Moudan Zhou Xun, the daughter of a wealthy liquor importer. Mardar is hired to drive Moudan to her aunt’s apartment whenever her father brings home one of his mistresses, and it is during these tense, hurried trips that their connection deepens into love. Yet Mardar’s world is tangled with crime: he becomes entangled in a kidnapping plot with his former lover Xiao Hong and the ruthless Lao B, and Moudan is the intended target. The plan unravels in a brutal sequence—Moudan is imprisoned in a warehouse while Xiao negotiates the ransom; Lao B murders Xiao after the money is delivered. Unaware of the treachery surrounding her, Mardar moves her from place to place, until she learns how little she is worth in the eyes of her father and her kidnappers and finally throws herself into the Suzhou River, vanishing from sight. Mardar is arrested and jailed, and Moudan’s body is never found.
Years later, Mardar returns to Shanghai and resumes his courier life, still searching for Moudan. One night, he stumbles into the Happy Tavern and encounters Meimei, whom he is convinced is his long-lost love. He begins by spying on her in her dressing room and then seeks out the Videographer to tell his story. In time, Mardar confesses his past to Meimei, and what begins as skepticism slowly blossoms into a dangerous, consuming affection. Meimei, drawn in by his history and vulnerability, finds herself orbiting him and enters into an affair with him, even as the shadows of Moudan’s fate hover over them.
When a brutal beating by the tavern owner compels Mardar to leave, he travels to the suburbs and discovers the real Moudan alive, working in a convenience store. The reunion with Moudan is both poignant and eerie: the two lovers are found dead soon after, in the Suzhou River, at a spot that echoes the fate of Moudan years earlier. The detective work of love and memory closes in, and the circle of loss feels almost complete.
Meimei is left distraught by the tangled memories surrounding love, art, and desperation. She and the Videographer share one last night together before she vanishes again. She leaves a note for him, urging that if he truly loves her, he must search for and find her, just as Mardar found Moudan. The Videographer, moved and haunted, drinks the vodka given by Mardar and ultimately decides not to pursue her. The film leaves a quiet, aching resonance about longing, memory, and the way love can echo across generations.
