Fantasy comedy starring Shu Qi set to be screened on Spring Festival

Poster of The Village of No Return. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Taiwan director Chen Yu-shun discovered that he was not the only one dreaming of becoming forgetful during a flight journey a couple of years ago.

His was traveling with the veteran producers Lee Lieh and Yeh Jufeng — respectively known for blockbusters Monga (2010) and Our Times (2015). All of them felt stressed of the city life and said they all need a moment to forget all the unhappy things.

The occasional conversation inspired The Village of No Return, an upcoming fantasy comedy, which is set to open to Chinese theaters on Jan 28, the first day of Spring Festival.

The film has a star-studded cast, including Taiwan actress Shu Qi and Chinese mainland actor Wang Qianyuan, who won the best actor's award in the 23rd Tokyo International Film Festival in 2010.

Set in the early 20th-century China, the film fictionalizes a remote village, in which all the residents get amnesia after they put on a robot-like helmet.

"It's a village with no decent person. Everyone is eager to pursue their desires: about women, money, or power. But the helmet accidentally releases them and makes them become better people," says Wang, who plays an outsider bringing in the helmet.

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