Wang Xiaoshai was one of the first directors to work independently in China. His first film, The Days, focused on the marginalisation of two artists under the Communist system, and his next film, Frozen (made under the pseudonym Wu Ming), took the theme further, questioning the potency of the arts when it comes to political change. His third, The Girl From Vietnam, was also a study of alienation.

In a similar vein, So Close To Paradise is about China's latest band of outsiders - the economic migrants who flood its urban areas. Unemployment in the countryside has seen a million-strong workforce heading for the city in search of jobs.

"I always notice the young men and women from villages working and living in the city," Wang told Moving Pictures in an exclusive interview. "I see them in public places, like restaurants, and I cannot help but notice how different they are to the urban folk. I became fascinated by their stories and I wanted to learn about their lives in the city - their joys and sorrows. This is what motivated me to write the story."

Although So Close... covers a similar theme, Wang insists that it is a progression. "My new film shares many things in common with The Days, but not Frozen," he says. "The characters in Frozen are more self-consciously rebellious - whether they are accepted by society or not. They are more individualistic than those in the new film."

So Close... takes place in Wuhan, central China in the late 1990s, and many young people have drifted in from remote villages looking for work. Dongzi and Gao Ping, two young men from the same village share a small house. Dongzi scrapes a living hauling goods at the docks, Gao is a confidence trickster. After Gao is ripped off during a failed scam, he asks Dongzi to help him kidnap a young nightclub singer to get back at the man who cheated him. Little do they know that she is the girlfriend of a notorious gang leader.

"I'm interested in the people who live on the lower strata of our society. They have little means to protect themselves," says Wang. "I hope they can temporarily abandon the pressure to survive to find some time to follow their dreams - even a dream as everyday as first love."

In spite of its theme, Wang says that the film has no social agenda. "I'm not trying to portray the social phenomenon of people from the villages migrating to the city to look for work. Of course, this is a reality in China. But I'm focusing on a small group of people and depicting their individual helplessness." Richard James Havis