Throughout the course of Still Life there appears four titles: “Tobacco,” “Liquor,” “Tea,” “Toffee.” The title of this everyday item marks the point at which Shen Hong departs the image and returns back to Sanming. It is also worth mentioning that in the final arc of the film the two people Sanming has the closest relationships with, Brother Mark and his wife, both offer him toffees. This soft milk candy symbolically links an exchange with other people, above all a shared link with the past. It can be demoralizing to find what it is you’ve been looking for only to realize that it bears little resemblance to your memory of it. Just as people can change; so to can the topography. In their search for something that’s long gone, Sanming and Shen
