Four Ways to Die in My Hometown

Every year, 15 million Chinese move from the countryside to the city. The metropolises are bursting apart with migrants looking for work. In the rural areas, only the old, sick and weak remain behind as the fabric of society falls apart. Four Ways to Die in My Hometown is a poetic portrayal of this decay. Ga Gui travels to her home village because she has a premonition that her father does not have much longer to live. The man has shut out the outside world for seven years by living in a coffin and, before his last breath is breathed, he receives a visit from a spirit that calls on him to bring enlightenment to his fellow villagers. The decay of the old community and the values that go along with it has to be stopped. An experimental film with a spiritual and philosophical message. The story is structured around the four elements of Buddhism: earth, water, fire and wind.