China

  • Yimou Zhang – Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia AKA Curse of the Golden Flower [+Extras] (2006)

    Drama2001-2010ActionChinaFifth Generation Chinese CinemaYimou Zhang

    A dying love between two powerful people leads to deceit, infidelity, and conspiracy in this epic-scale historical drama from director Zhang Yimou. During the latter days of the Tang dynasty, the Emperor (Chow Yun-Fat) returns home from the war with his son Prince Jai (Jay Chou) in tow. However, the monarch gets a chilly reception from the Empress (Gong Li); though she’s eager to see her son, her marriage has become deeply acrimonious, and she’s taken a lover, Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye), her stepson from the Emperor’s first marriage. The Emperor, meanwhile, has his own plan for dealing with his failing marriage — he’s ordered the Imperial Doctor (Ni Dahong) to find an exotic drug that will drive the Empress insane and administer it to her without her knowledge. However, the doctor’s ethical dilemma is intensified by the fact his daughter Chan (Li Man) has fallen in love with Crown Prince Wan and the two wish to elope. As the Emperor and Empress allow their estrangement to sink into violence and retribution, their youngest son, Prince Yu (Qin Junjie), struggles to keep the peace in the household.Read More »

  • Hanyi Zhang – Zhi fan ye mao AKA Life After Life (2016)

    Drama2011-2020ArthouseChinaHanyi Zhang

    The spirit of a deceased mother takes over her son’s body in order to oversee the task of replanting a very important tree, only after which it will be able to leave the earthly limits.Read More »

  • Federico Francioni & Cheng Yan – The First Shot (2017)

    2011-2020Cheng YanChinaDocumentaryFederico Francioni

    Three different locations in china.
    Three distant existences in search for their own identity.

    synopsis:
    three distant and diverse existences caught in a same tension: the search for their own identity and the sense of ‘’being’’ in a present of continuous transformation. All of them was born after 1989 the end of all the revolutions.Read More »

  • Yang Zhang – Xiang Ri Kui AKA Sunflower [+ Extra] (2005)

    2001-2010AsianChinaDramaYang Zhang

    synopsis
    Relationship between father and son against the background of the Maoist regime in China, starting at the end of the Cultural Revolution in the year that Mao died (1976), and into the following two decades. The father, a painter, had been interned in a labour camp for “re-education”, and lost his ability to paint. Upon being released he teaches his son to draw, but is obsessive about it and doesn’t allow his son any freedom or independence. Their convoluted relationship throughout the son’s childhood and into adulthood is shown in an absorbing way. The film is also a snapshot of the political and social changes that China was undergoing.Read More »

  • Lina Wang – Di yi ci de li bie AKA A First Farewell (2018)

    2011-2020ChinaDramaLina Wang

    When Isa is not at school or working on his parents’ farmyard, he spends carefree days with his friends – until the outside world starts forcing him to say one goodbye after another.Read More »

  • Fang Song – The Calming (2020)

    2011-2020ChinaDramaFang Song

    Imdb:
    A filmmaker is constantly on the move after recently ending a relationship. As she travels alone between Beijing, Nanjing, Hong Kong and Japan, she observes and engages with her ever-changing environs while seeking an inner calm.Read More »

  • Liwen Ma – Wo men lia AKA You And Me (2005)

    2001-2010ChinaDramaLiwen Ma

    One snowy day, a girl looking for a place to stay jumps into the private residence of an old woman. First they both dislike one another, though as they spend more time together their friendship grow. However, one day the girl must leave the house of the old woman.Read More »

  • Ming Zhang – Wu shan yun yu AKA Rainclouds over Wushan (1996)

    1991-2000ChinaComedyDramaMing Zhang

    Mai Qiang is a 30-year old bachelor, withdrawn, with little in his life besides his job at an isolated signal station along the Yangtze River and his ink drawings he uses as toilet paper. Chen Qing is a hotel clerk, a widow with a young child and an undemanding relationship with her boss Lao Mo. Lao believes she has been raped, so he reports the crime to Wu Gang, the neighborhood cop. Wu investigates, but Chen is uncooperative. Lao then identifies Mai, who is detained and questioned. After Wu gets to the truth of the incident, Mai tries to break out of his loneliness and connect to Chen.Read More »

  • Yimou Zhang – Yi miao zhong AKA One Second (2020)

    2011-2020ArthouseChinaDramaYimou Zhang

    Quote:
    A traveller in China’s far west in 1975 crosses paths with a young girl. They both have an interest in a film that is being screened in the area, but for different reasons.

    Scott Mariner wrote:
    Censors in Beijing have approved the release for November 27, following a year-long effort to rework the film to please the government. One Second was originally intended to premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2019. However it was pulled at the last minute with producers claiming “technical issues” — a common euphemism for Chinese government censorship. The incident was a shock to the international film community and indicated that the propaganda department’s recent takeover of the Chinese film industry means the government will be taking a much more heavy handed role in dictating what artists can and cannot create.Read More »

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