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This Is Sanlitun Poster

This Is Sanlitun (2013)

Sep 10, 2013 Comedy, Drama, Family, Romance 1h 35m
User Score
81%
7 votes
Internet Movie Database
67%

China is like a beer, if you don't like the taste you can just keep drinking

Overview

British sad sack Gary is a failed entrepreneur who has just arrived in Beijing's stylish Sanlitun district, allegedly to start a business. There are other reasons why he has uprooted himself — he's followed his ex-wife and young son, for one — but he soon finds out that China isn't the easiest place to succeed. Blissfully untouched by self-awareness, and only fitfully in tune with reality, Gary sallies forth to make money, armed with faith in himself and little to no knowledge of Chinese culture. He soon hooks up with Frank, a trust-fund kid from Australia who offers to mentor Gary in Eastern ways, although Frank's pedagogical method is restricted to yelling at Gary for being a Westerner and not being as "Chinese" as him.

Carlos Ottery
Screenplay
Róbert I. Douglas
Director
Christopher Loton
Screenplay

Top Billed Cast

Carlos Ottery
Carlos Ottery

Gary
Christopher Loton
Christopher Loton

Frank
Ai Wan
Ai Wan

Lin
Cromwell Cheung
Cromwell Cheung

Wang Ke

Full Cast & Crew

Media

This is Sanlitun / Official Trailer
This is Sanlitun / Official Trailer
Trailer
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Reviews

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A review by bobbeijing
Written on April 14, 2015

Located in Beijing’s bustling Chaoyang District, the Sanlitun area is home to the city’s ever-growing expatriate community due to its vibrant nightlife and proximity to various embassies, not to mention its luxury shopping center that constitutes a veritable retail wonderland for those who have secured big salaries through relocation to the Concrete Dragon. Sanlitun’s social scene is enjoyed as much by self-consciously fashionable Beijingers as it is by foreigners, although the circumstances behind its big screen breakthrough in the independent comedy This is Sanlitun are very much in keeping with its status as the city’s foremost ex-pat hangout. Icelandic director Róbert I. Douglas, who achieved early success at home with The Icelandic Dream (2000) and A Man Like Me (2002), has b...

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