独来独往的工厂女工汉娜(萨拉·波莉 Sarah Polley 饰),由于听力不好而总是戴着助听器。不善交际的她在工作上一直任劳任怨,终于在数年后得到了第一个假期。然而出乎众人意料的是,一时间具足无措的她居然主动放弃了这个难得的机会,自愿前往一间海上石油钻井平台,照顾一位在事故中被严重烧伤暂时失明的男人约瑟夫(蒂姆·罗宾斯 Tim Robbins 饰)。 与世隔绝、荒凉枯燥的钻井平台,两颗饱受痛苦往事折磨的孤独灵魂,一段交织在秘密与真相间的微妙亲密关系。在汉娜的悉心照料下,约瑟夫终于敞开心扉,与此同时,汉娜也打破沉默,向他讲述起自己不为人知的凄惨遭遇。
杰瑞(杰克·尼科尔森 Jack Nicholson 饰)是一位精明强干的警官,在他任职期间,一桩非常恶劣的幼女谋杀案轰动了整个业界。在死去的女孩的母亲的强烈哀求之下,杰瑞加班加点的追查案件的各种线索,终于在结案之前逮捕了名叫托比(本尼西奥·德尔·托罗 Benicio Del Toro 饰)的嫌犯。最终,托比被判有罪锒铛入狱。
虽然案件看似告终,但杰瑞的内心里始终觉得有一些不对劲,他来到了案发地内达华州的一座小镇内,买下了路边的一间加油站,驻扎在此地继续寻找线索。在此过程中,他结识了单身母亲洛瑞(罗宾·莱特 Robin Wright 饰)和她的女儿。
San Francisco Tong hatchet man Wong must execute his boyhood friend Sun. Sun knew his time was up and wrote out his will just prior to Wong showing up at his door. When Sun realizes Wong is there to kill me he tries to set his friend's mind at ease by telling him he is the beneficiary of all Sun's worldly possessions and convinces Wong to promise to take care of Sun's young daughter, Toya San who Sun has bequeathed to become his wife. Years later, when she becomes of age, she marries Wong, now a powerful figure, though she loves evil Harry. When Wong learns Toya will be happier with Harry he allows them to leave. Still later Wong learns that Harry has been deported and since Toya could not prove she was married to someone else she too was deported to China. When Wong learns of this, he goes after them.
康沃尔渔村的风景明信片田园诗误导了人们。虽然过去钓鱼是一种养家糊口的方式,但如今富有的伦敦游客纷纷下山,取代了当地人,当地人的生计因此受到威胁。史蒂文和马丁兄弟的关系也很紧张。马丁是一个没有船的渔夫,因为史蒂文开始用它来为一整天的游客提供更赚钱的旅游。他们卖掉了这座家庭别墅,现在看来,最后一场战斗是和新主人在海边的停车位上展开。然而,情况很快就失控了,而不仅仅是因为车轮夹钳。 Bait是一种黑白,手工制作,16毫米胶片制作的电影。许多关于鱼、网、龙虾、长靴、绳结和渔篮的特写镜头让人想起了蒙太奇景点的理论。对不同社会阶层的描述——可以说是阶级关系——也让人想起了英国电影中的社会现实主义传统。然而,最重要的是,在影像中不同层次的电影历史参考文献之下,当前许多政治关联正在等待被发现。 The picture-postcard idyll of the Cornwall fishing village is misleading. While fishing used to be a way of supporting oneself, wealthy London tourists have now descended and are displacing the locals, whose livelihood is thus threatened. The relationship between brothers Steven and Martin is also strained. Martin is a fisherman without a boat, since Steven started using it for far more lucrative tours for all the day-trippers. They’ve sold the family cottage and now it seems that the final battle to be fought is that with the new owners over the parking space next to the sea. Yet the situation soon gets out of hand, and not just because of the wheel clamp. Bait is a black-and-white film shot on hand-processed 16mm. Numerous close-ups of fish, nets, lobsters, wellington boots, knots and catch baskets bring to mind the theory of a montage of attractions. The depiction of the different social strata – one could speak of class relations – is also reminiscent of the tradition of social realism in British cinema. Above all, however, a whole lot of current political relevance is waiting to be discovered beneath the different layers of film historical references contained in the images.