Quitting - Plot

Plot

Jia Hongsheng, graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing in 1989, gains fame in the late 80s and early 90s as an actor in films such as The Case of the Silver Snake and A Woman from North Shaanxi. During rehearsal for a stageplay titled Kiss of the Spider Woman (also directed by Zhang Yang) in the fall of 1992, Jia first comes into contact with marijuana and subsequently becomes addicted and even experiments occasionally with heroin. In 1995, after filming Weekend Lover, Jia quits acting completely and lives off his younger sister Wang Tong. An avid fan of The Beatles, Jia listens to their music obsessively and begins to imagine himself as the son of John Lennon.

In late 1995, Jia's parents Jia Fengsen and Chai Xiuling, both theatre actors from Northeastern China, decide to move to Beijing to help their son to quit drugs. Wang Tong, who had previous moved out, also comes back to live with her parents and brother in the same apartment. Initial efforts by the aged parents to penetrate their son's inner world are met with indifference, sometimes even hostility. Over time, however, Jia begins to open up gradually. He begins to take regular walks with his father, usually buying a bottle or two of beer along the way. Jia Fengsen also buys his son cassette tapes by The Beatles, as requested by the latter.

In early 1996, however, Jia Hongsheng relapses after staying off drugs for almost half a year. On 19 March 1996, after drinking many bottles of beer in celebration of his twenty-ninth birthday, Jia slaps his father, claiming to teach the latter the "meaning of life". Jia's family subsequently contacts the police. Three policemen come the next day and bring Jia to a mental institution.

While at the mental institution, Jia is put under medication and his condition improves significantly. More importantly, he has stopped fantasizing and begins to see himself as just an ordinary human being. The doctor subsequently determines that Jia is not suffering from schizophrenia but recommends that Jia stays in the institution for a longer time to completely quit drugs. On 19 March 1997, on his thirtieth birthday, Jia is finally discharged.