Walking out of the Peking University Hospital, a middle-aged man (Li Dong) borrows a cigarette from a stranger and says, "The diagnosis came out. It’s cancer. Stage four." Upon meeting his older brother Li Chun, Li Dong suggests a trip to Yanagawa, where the brother’s first love, Liu Chuan, lives. In Yoko Ono’s hometown of Yanagawa, Liu Chuan works as a bar singer, often singing John Lennon’s "Oh My Love." On reuniting with Liu Chuan, the brothers approach her in their own ways, as they had 20 years ago. Yanagawa, director Zhang Lu’s thirteenth film and the first feature film directed in China, is an extension of his recent urban series. With the cast of Chinese stars Ni Ni, Zhang Luyi, and Xin Baiqing, as well as Japanese actors Sosuke Ikematsu and Ryoko Nagano, director Zhang Lu paints the possibility of dialogue that transcends languages and memories, and the late arrival of love. The scenery of Yanagawa’s streets and Ni Ni’s impassive singing and dancing adds colors to the characters’ memories. Yanagawa was selected for APM 2018. (PARK Sun Young)