Synopsis

Mr. Qiu is the proprietor of the Moon Palace, and also the director’s father. Extremely fond of drinking, Mr. Qiu is a connoisseur of liquor with his own spectacular theories. The patrons of the restaurant are usually friends of his, among whom there are quite a few drinking enthusiasts. After having a couple of drinks, the banter gets more and more lively; once everyone is duly intoxicated, drunken singing erupts. It’s like that the three local rivers merge into a pond of liquor, and everyone is having a good swim in it carefree.

The director’s fourth, fifth and eldest aunts are also stakeholders of the Moon Palace. The three sisters are playing cards while receiving the interview. The topics range widely from soap opera gossip to political scandals, unsophisticated, vivacious, and realistic. Aside from the drinking table, the card table is also an important platform for interpersonal communication at this place. The next generation, who grow up in such an infectious environment, inherit the liveliness, yet somehow exhibit traits of narcissism and sentimentalism.

Sitting around the drinking table, Mr. Qiu and his friends joke about birth, aging, illness and death —life’s ultimate destination, which they discuss with great relish, even yearning. It’s not that they don’t love life. They love life and death as much. Will such a well of emotions pass on to their descendants naturally, generation after generation?