Storyline: In The Black Cannon Incident (1985), Zhao Shuxin is an unglamorous but competent technical translator whose bureaucratic nightmare begins with a seemingly innocuous personal behavior misinterpreted by authorities. Set in 1980s China, where Zhao works at a state-owned mining equipment company that values precision and conformity above all else, the situation gets out of hand. When Zhao inexplicably disappears from his port, suspicion quickly builds among his coworkers, and naturally, higher-ups initiate an internal investigation. In an environment rife with allegations of misbehavior, the investigation illustrates the tension between the forces of logic and loyalty, and between the values of individuality and institutional paranoia.
As the investigation proceeds, the company promotes and hires a less-qualified and capable but politically acceptable interpreter as Zhao's replacement, with fatal consequences for their joint project with a German engineering firm, which causes further miscommunication and errors. The absurdity progresses further, highlighting the unintended consequences of overzealous control, through miscommunication and misinterpretation, within the institutionalized, controlled environment. The film captures the farcical absurdity of a society where minute personal decisions become national concerns, through dry humor and the suggestion of a critique-of-sorts politically. It tells a satirical story, very well-scripted, at a relatively slow pace. It successfully traces the subtle but significant conflict between the power of personal will, the machinery of a state, and the desire for oversight.
