She Has No Name

Based on an infamous true story, this engrossing crime drama from director Peter Ho-Sun Chan (TIFF ’13’s American Dreams in China) stars Zhang Ziyi (TIFF '00's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; TIFF ’12’s Dangerous Liaisons) as a woman accused of killing her husband. Immersing us in the turbulent world of 1940s Shanghai, She Has No Name dazzlingly contrasts a grisly, intimate mystery with an era of sweeping transformation.

We first see Zhan-Zhou (Zhang) as she furtively boards a streetcar. In her arms is a canvas sack — soiled by a burgeoning bloodstain. She is arrested by Deputy Police Commissioner Xue (Lei Jiayin) for the murder and dismemberment of her husband (Wang Chuanjun), a pawnbroker and hapless gambler with the ominous nickname Big Bear.

Though neither the murder weapon nor Big Bear's head are ever found, all evidence points to Zhan-Zhou as the culprit. It seems like an open-and-shut case. Or does it? As the sensational trial and retrial transpire, charismatic reporter and playwright Xi Lin (Zhao Liying) uses her celebrity and various public platforms to draw attention to underexamined details of the case. And even if, strictly speaking, Zhan-Zhou slayed Big Bear, the couple's history of ongoing domestic violence demands that her guilt receive serious reconsideration.

She Has No Name spans the years between the end of Japanese occupation and the dawn of the Communist Revolution. Chan proves he is a master of large-canvas drama, while Sun Li’s lavish production design highlights the film's contrasts of destitution and opulence. Despite the dizzying changes swirling around her, however, this is Zhan-Zhou's story — and a showcase for Zhang's most poignant, ambitious, and captivating performance.