Cover A poster of ‘She’s Got No Name’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
A poster of ‘She’s Got No Name’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
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Hong Kong director Peter Chan took a decade to turn one of China’s most notorious homicides into an unconventional “mystery” epic, woven with eerie music and Zhang Ziyi’s career-defining acting.
Hong Kong director Peter Chan takes a bold departure from his signature visual style—seen in He’s a Woman, She’s a Man (1994) and the sweeping cinematography of the historical epic The Warlords (2007)—with his latest film, two-part noir drama She’s Got No Name. The first instalment, which took Chan almost a decade to realise, premiered at Cannes in May last year. Since then, it has been screened in Shanghai, where the story is set. This month, the film returns to its home city and will be released on July 17, 2025.
The sweeping feature is based on one of mainland China’s most shocking and unresolved murder cases. In 1940s Shanghai, a woman dismembered her husband in a case so sensational it ignited national debate. At the time, the image of women was closely tied to domestic roles—submissive, obedient, confined. Yet the trial revealed that the defendant had suffered long-term domestic abuse, reframing her not as a cold-blooded killer but a victim of circumstance. Though sentenced to death, she evaded execution amid wartime chaos and lived into her 90s—passing away only recently, in 2006.
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Since its premiere, She’s Got No Name has sparked debate. Some critics interpret the film as feminist in nature, given its portrayal of Zhan Zhou—played with nuance by Zhang Ziyi—and her fight for survival amid police prejudice and societal condemnation.
Chan, however, pushes back against this reading. “This mariticide movie became a production with a feminist undertone. But it’s not,” he said at a media preview on July 9. “When it was shown, there were noises from feminist groups who [accused] the production, which was shot by a male director, of making an ‘empty’ story about a woman in the name of feminism.”
While acknowledging the subject’s relevance to women’s issues, Chan insists his intent was to depict the broader historical context. “What attracted me the most was how a human underwent a long period of helplessness and suffered from the vicissitudes of fate—that we’re all trapped in the social conditions of our times. We’re just a speck in the universe,” he said. “Each step of victory, failure or success that the character takes has nothing to do with justice, fairness or reason—it’s all just because of the changing of the times.”
Above Zhang Ziyi as Zhan Zhou in ‘She’s Got No Name’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
Zhang Ziyi as Zhan Zhou in ‘She’s Got No Name’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
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The Chinese title, which translates to “The Lane of Sauces—a Mystery”, hints at the director’s intent. (Lanes, or long in Shanghainese, refer to communities centred one or several interconnected lanes. The murder took place in Lane 432, where there used to be a famous sauce factory.) But this “mystery” is not the typical crime-thriller puzzle. From the outset, the killer’s identity is known. The intrigue lies in how Zhan survived her death sentence and what that survival says about the era.
As Zhan’s story unfolds, the film introduces a constellation of characters: her former employer, her gambling husband, a creditor, a yarn factory boss, a corrupt police commissioner working as a puppet for the Japanese government, fellow inmates and a progressive actor (and divorcee) who champions her cause through the media. These figures not only define Zhan’s world but also reveal the social hierarchies, wartime upheavals and ideological clashes of 1940s Shanghai.
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Above A film still from ‘She’s Got No Name’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
A film still from ‘She’s Got No Name’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
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Condensing this historical period—from just before the Japanese occupation in 1937 to the end of the Second World War in 1945—into a two-and-a-half-hour film is a monumental task. Some narrative threads remain underdeveloped. For instance, a fortune teller cryptically declares that Zhan and her husband’s lives are eternally intertwined unless she breaks the cycle and leaves his corpse headless. Yet the film barely explores the origins of their bond—or its unravelling.
Similarly, the Chinese title’s reference to the sauce factory lane remains unclear in the plot, except that the murder happened there. As for the English title, the irony is stark: Zhan does have a name, repeatedly mentioned throughout. Perhaps the title alludes to other unnamed suppressed women whose histories remain forgotten. That though, would suggest the kind of feminist interpretation that the director rejects.
Above Zhang Ziyi as Zhan Zhou in ‘She’s Got No Name’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
Zhang Ziyi as Zhan Zhou in ‘She’s Got No Name’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
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Chan hints that the sequel will focus on Zhan’s postwar life. Whether it addresses these lingering questions remains to be seen. But She’s Got No Name stands strong on its own as a haunting portrait of resilience—thanks also to the visual style and music that make it a breathtaking watch. The cinematography draws from German Expressionism and Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution (2007), contrasting sweeping cityscapes with claustrophobic interiors. The score—an eerie blend of cello and melancholy piano by Natalie Holt—mirrors Zhan’s psychological descent. Zhang, known for warrior roles and glamorous figures, reinvents herself here as a woman broken by fear and numbed by hopelessness.
All this makes for an immersive and gripping cinematic experience—and ensures audiences will be waiting for Chan to pick up the camera once more.
Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
