Shanghai Baby

In rain-drenched Berlin, passionate, life-loving young writer Coco seeks the closing chapter of her novel, which begins in the turbulent city of Shanghai at the outset of the 21st century. Coco leads an intense life in the lively subculture of the boomtown Shanghai; it revolves around endless nights spent in the Shanghai club and art scene, sex, literature, and the writing of her first novel. Her life takes an unexpectedly complicated turn when she suddenly feels attracted to two very opposite men. Young Chinese artist Tiantian often suffers from melancholy and depression, which he tries in vain to ease through the consumption of marijuana; soon it emerges that Tiantian is impotent. Coco's love for him thus becomes more platonic and she develops feelings of exceptional tenderness for him and thinks that in him she has find the ideal love. Mark from Berlin is completely different: blond and physically very attractive, he is an internationally active business consultant who begins a passionate affair with Coco. Coco is torn between her love for Tiantian and Mark's physical attractiveness--even when she learns that he is already married, has a child, and will possibly return to Berlin. Coco briefly succeeds in experiencing both lust and love with the same intensity, but when melancholy Tiantian ultimately sinks into heroin addiction and progressively deteriorates, Coco's dilemma comes to a head. Caught between Far-Eastern traditions and Western lifestyles, between romantic love and unbridled lust, Coco discovers too late that she has succumbed to Mark. With no stable orientation, she errs through modern-day Shanghai, with tragic consequences.