 A narrative comes in explaining that Pan is nowhere to be found, but perhaps he is just around the next bend of the river.The "River Without Buoys" is a metaphor for the Chinese people after the Cultural Revolution—drifting aimlessly through life, with no higher purpose.The film itself is a criticism of the failure of the government to follow through on promises, and an existential meditation on what it means to live well in the absence of a guiding state.