Chinese authorities maintain everyone is so busy building the country, none of the things shown in The Postman exist. And indeed, so taboo are they that none of the characters dares talks about what they are doing. But the so called Sixth Generation of younger directors have been determined to expose this other side of Beijing, from Wu Wenguang's documentaries about alienated artists to Zhang Yuan's features on rock culture.

He Jianjun's second film is his most satisfying achievement yet. Beautifully shot and under­played by a nonchalant cast, The Postman is cool­ly observed and perfectly paced. High production values are especially remarkable, as he was supposedly banned from filmmaking last year. Somehow he has eluded the authorities, but it is unlikely The Postman will redeem him in their eyes