Unlike Wang 's previous film , '' Beijing Bicycle '' , '' Drifters '' received mixed reviews from western critics . Derek Elley of '' Variety '' claimed that the film 's " potentially involving story is too often chopped off at the knees , " and also found the movie 's cast to be limited by inexperience . Other critics were even harsher , finding that the film used over-direction to hide a simple and " syrupy " melodrama . Still others , however , were more positive . Bérénice Reynaud of '' Senses of Cinema '' found the film to be superior to the " superficial " '' Beijing Bicycle '' , and put '' Drifters '' in the growing category of " mature , disturbing , thought-provoking masterpieces inspired by globalisation . " Like many of Wang 's films , '' Drifters '' was screened in the Un Certain Regard competition of the 2003 Cannes Film Festival on May 20 . In addition to this , the film was screened at ten major film festivals around the world . These included : '' Drifters '' was released on Region 1 DVD on September 15 , 2005 by Film Movement . The DVD was in the original Mandarin with English subtitles . Special features included biographies of the cast and crew , and a short film , '' Robot Boy '' by Ted Passon . The disc 's aspect ratio was 1.78:1 in letterbox format
2003 Cannes Film Festival
2003 Cannes Film Festival
Drifters (2003 film)