At the beginning of the movie, director Hu Zijie (played by Zhang Zifu) told actress Li Yuanyuan (played by Chen Cuimei) a story. "When Miyamoto Musashi was very old, a young man came to challenge him. They agreed to duel on the mountain at noon the next day. But Miyamoto Musashi did not show up until the sun was in the west. The young man was very angry. Miyamoto Musashi turned his back to the sun. At the critical moment of the duel, he deliberately let the young man face the dazzling sun and killed him in an instant." "Isn't this an unfair victory?" "For the young man, the sword is everything. For the old Miyamoto Musashi, everything is the sword. The sun is the sword, and time is also the sword." Yuanyuan looked at Zijie, "So?" "Before, movies were everything. Now, everything is movies. If we stay out of it and be a calm bystander in our own lives, life is a movie." "You are not looking for me to make a Hong Sang-soo movie, are you?" Zijie smiled and shook his head, "I want to make an action movie."