The Jimmy Hat

A bunch of guys are running down the street being pelted with baozi in the bustling streets of Xinjiekou. Sound like the mantou scenario from would-be blockbuster The Promise? No, it's not another video spoof of Chen Kaige's stinker. It's the beginning of The Jimmy Hat (Xinjiekou), a movie about young ruffians in the hutongs 20 years ago. Is it another version of Wan Zhu, Wang Shuo's paean to hooliganism? Or is it a reproduction of Zhang Yuan's Beijing Bastards? First-time director Xue Cun summarizes this movie in three words: baozi, women and condoms.