Underplayed Gems

A World Without Thieves (2004)

A World Without Thieves poster
Original title
天下无贼
Directed by
Feng Xiaogang
Genre
drama film, action film, martial arts film
Country
People's Republic of China
Runtime
1h 40m
Rating
7.3 of 10 from 155 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A naive village boy on a train refuses to believe thieves exist. He carries his life savings and attracts a crew of professional thieves. A couple of con artists decide to protect him from the others.

suspensefulhumorousheartfelttensewryhopefulslyunderstated

What happens

A World Without Thieves (simplified Chinese: 天下无贼; traditional Chinese: 天下無賊; pinyin: Tiānxià Wú Zéi) is a 2004 comedy action drama film directed by Feng Xiaogang and starring Andy Lau, Rene Liu, Ge You, Wang Baoqiang and Li Bingbing. A Chinese-Hong Kong co-production, the film is an adaptation of a 1999 novelette of the same title by Zhao Benfu. The original story is moderately different from the film adaptation. The film was first released in Shanghai, China on 5 December 2004. It clinched the 2005 Golden Horse Award for Best Screenplay Adaptation. The film was released in Hong Kong with Cantonese dubbing provided by Lau for his own role, Anthony Wong for the role of Uncle Li, and Chapman To for the role of Sha Gen. The plot is centered on a naïve village boy who does not believe in the existence of thieves. Returning home on board a train with his savings, he soon becomes the target of many thieves. The film explores the theme of the fundamental human goodness and also addresses humorously the issue of thievery on public transport in Mainland China. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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