Tie It Up

Zhang Qing, a stunt double in the martial arts world, has spent twenty years away from home. One phone call from his master brings him back to Chongqing. Zhou Xiang, a rapper who quit the scene, has been frozen out for seven years. He holds half of a piece of cowhide map, marked with twelve vermilion dots. Put the two halves together, and they form a sound map of a city: a copper box hidden in the cliffs of Hongya Cave, a cassette tape beneath a stall board in Ciqikou, and the river wind locked inside a cableway tower's maintenance room. Twelve stops, twelve sounds. The two locks, sound and body, must be opened together to retrieve them. Some want to tear down the buildings. Others want to silence the sounds. A martial arts stunt double and a washed-up rapper, one punches while the other sings, one leads and the other answers. A bangbang porter's shoulder pole, Sichuan opera chopsticks, the hoarse voice of a work chant, the throttle of a motorcycle, the nine-grid hotpot pot. When Chongqing people shout, "Zha qi!" they don't just say it. When you can't hold on, seven or eight shoulders will come together to hold you up. This is a story about holding on: guarding buildings, guarding sounds, and guarding that spark within.