Wang Xiaoshuai ( Beijing Bicycleand Shanghai Dreams) completes an unofficial trilogy with this tricky, moving drama set in the Sichuan city of Chongqing.

Offering us the sort of story that might have appealed to the Italian Neorealists, Wang’s film follows Lin (Wang Xueqi), a sea captain, returning home to discover that his teenage son has died in a shooting incident. Wandering around the extraordinary city – cable cars trundling through permanent damp – he slowly pieces together the details. It seems the boy took a hostage in a supermarket and was killed by a police officer.

As is often the case with Asian cinema, Chongqing Bluesconcerns itself with the clash between tradition and modernity. While Lin and his old pal, whose son was the dead boy's friend, ponder the decline in morals and respect, the younger folk squint at mobile phones and chatter on the internet.

So, it’s a universal story? Well, yes and no. The inter-generational cultural clash in China is that bit more pronounced than in Europe or the US. Wang takes no sides, but our sympathies are with Lin as, obtaining the supermarket’s surveillance tape, he scrutinises blurry images of his son, hoping to find reasons for the breakdown.

The film itself seems defined by those generational contrasts: slow and steady like an old-school naturalistic drama, but energised by an interest in image manipulation. Chongqing Bluescertainly deserves its place in the official competition.