The Sinking City: Capsule Odyssey

In 1947, Czech filmmaker Bořivoj Zeman directed a satirical comedy called Don’t You Know of an Unoccupied Flat?, where he reacted to a dismal housing situation with optimism and humour. 70 years later in Hong Kong, The Sinking City: Capsule Odyssey addresses the issue of scarce housing in a similar fashion, only it replaces the optimism with sarcasm. The hero of this infectiously funny comedy is Hin. He’s young, educated, in a stable relationship – and up to his neck in debt. But to solve that problem while saving his relationship, he hatches an ingenious plan. Telling his girlfriend that his boss has sent him to New York, Hin moves into a one-room flat subdivided into capsules with a strange and somewhat dodgy landlord, a former robber, an overzealous gangster, and a lorry driver who is in a similar situation and just wants to snuggle with his girlfriend. But when Corgi Aleck shows up one day, their lives take some unexpected turns. (Art Film Fest)