Little Precious

The title of Yilin´s short film, Xiao Baobei / Little Precious, was taken from a popular Chinese song that his protagonist uses as a ringtone. This is a little story full of fine nuances: Xiao Bao, a young man, has come to Beijing. He was motivated not so much by a desire for social advance and personal success as a wish to earn a little money, enough to satisfy his modest wants, namely a roof over his head, food and drink, and occasional amusement. He lives with his cousin and the other man´s wife in a simple apartment and is in love with the waitress at a plain little restaurant. To keep the wolves from the door, Xiao Bao sells — normally with very little success — ice cream and mineral water in Xiangshan Park, a nature preserve northwest of Beijing that is frequented mostly by Chinese tourists. But the competition among ice-cream salesmen is fierce, and Xiao Bao doesn´t have to wait long for the trouble to start. His cousin has to bail him out of jail for a hefty sum of money, and Xiao Bao has personal difficulties too: It soon turns out the waitress isn´t interested in him. Remarkably, Xiao Bao remains in the capital city, undaunted by his luckless start. In a beautiful intermezzo he and some friends sing an old song that´s characterized by resignation. Yilin, born in China and now a student at Vienna´s Film Academy, manages to present a spectrum of emotions in only 24 minutes thanks to careful timing and a sensitive narrative style, and as a result Xiao baobei is in no sense a portrayal of frustration. The relatively open ending permits room for interpretation, and also a little bit of optimism with regard to Xiao Bao´s future. The chic turquoise high heels that the young man steals impulsively just might play an important role.
(Andreas Ungerböck)