Mandarin

  • Zhangke Jia – Hai shang chuan qi AKA I Wish I Knew (2010)

    2001-2010ChinaDocumentaryZhangke Jia

    Quote:
    Like his last film, 2008’s 24 City, Jia Zhangke’s Un Certain Regard title I Wish I Knew is a documentary/fiction hybrid about modern-day China. Where 24 City took a personal focus on the citizens of a Chinese town affected by the construction of a high-rise condominium, I Wish I Knew takes a broader view, examining the history of Shanghai as viewed from the present. It combines interviews with citizens, actors, and filmmakers with architectural shots of present-day Shanghai and footage of actress Zhao Tao wandering the city. The film is never less than gorgeous, and there’s often an intuitive and pleasing internal rhythm to how he cuts within and between shots.Read More »

  • Tso-chi Chang – Shu jia zuo ye AKA A Time in Quchi (2013)

    2011-2020AsianDramaTaiwanTso-chi Chang

    At the end of the school semester, Bao is sent to Quchi to be with his recently widowed grandfather because his parents are considering a divorce. Depressed and sullen, he has to transfer to a small elementary school where he discovers that he shares the nickname, “Bear”, with a girl in his class.Read More »

  • Jin Xie – Nu lan wu hao AKA Woman Basketball Player No. 5 (1957)

    1951-1960AsianChinaChinese cinema under MaoDramaJin Xie

    Woman Basketball Player No. 5 not only explores the problems that a young female athlete faces in coming to grips with her ambitions in the field of sports, it portrays the fate of two different generations of Chinese athletes, one pre- and the other post-Liberation.Read More »

  • Kaige Chen – Huang tu di AKA Yellow Earth (1984)

    1981-1990ChinaDramaFifth Generation Chinese CinemaKaige ChenMusical

    Michael Brooke, imdb wrote:
    A communist soldier is sent to a remote region of China in order to collect folk songs. Staying with a peasant family (a widower with two small children), he discovers a community whose way of life is completely alien to him, but he gradually wins their trust…Read More »

  • Hsiao-tse Cheng – Miao Miao (2008)

    2001-2010ComedyDramaHsiao-tse ChengQueer Cinema(s)Taiwan

    Quote:
    High school student Miao Miao (Ke Jia-Yan) is Chinese and has transferred to Taipei for one special school year. Her quiet demeanor and awkward prettiness make her immediately attractive to classmates and strangers, but it’s the sassy Xiao-Ai (Sandrine Pinna) who cracks her shell. The two become fast friends, palling around after school and in class, where Miao Miao’s baking skills make her a hit with her classmates. However, Miao Miao finds first love when she falls for sullen CD shop owner Chen Fei, who’s forever shutting out the world with a pair of headphones.Read More »

  • Shuqin Huang – Ren gui qing AKA Woman Demon Human (1987)

    1981-1990AsianChinaDramaShuqin HuangThe Female Gaze

    Based on a true story. A girl born in the “theatrical trunk” grows up under the lights of her parents’ Peking Opera Company. This complete immersion into theatrical life naturally leads her to the stage. She is trained by her father to play traditional roles. Her dream was to be the first woman to play the more significant male roles. This was completely against tradition. She suffers discrimination and humiliation, but in the end turns adversity into admiration when she becomes the first woman to play a great mythical hero in Peking Opera, defying all tradition and destroying all precedents. Breathtaking performances and cinematographic artistry create a powerful and visually stunning tale. No less could be expected from the masterful hand of the brilliant female director, Huang Shuqin.Read More »

  • Yen-ping Chu – Yi shi er niao AKA One Stone and Two Birds (2005)

    2001-2010ActionAsianChinaComedyYen-ping Chu

    During the reign of Emperor Jia Jing of the Ming Dynasty, the evil court official Yan Song relies on the emperor favoritism towards him, becoming overbearing and domineering. An honest official Zhang Ying Long impeaches Yan Song w/ a “Ten Cimes Five Deceits” against him. But instead he gets flogged 30 times, and banished to a far off frontier Guizhou.

    Zhang Ying Long’s remonstration won the hearts of the common people, on the day of his banishment thousands of people turned out to see him off. At the sight of this, Yan Sung knows that if he does not kill off Zhang Ying Long, he will be unable to deter other court officials. Thereupon, he arranges for assassins to kill Zhang Ying Long during the journey.Read More »

  • Yi’nan Diao – Ye che AKA Night Train (2007)

    2001-2010AsianChinaDramaYi'nan Diao

    Wu Hongyan is a young woman working as a prison guard during executions of female convicts. She feels lonely after her husband died, and she takes a night train to another city to visit a dating service. After a series of unsuccessful dates, she meets Li Jun. It quickly becomes obvious that he is hiding a secret: he is the widower of one of the female convicts of which Wu Hongyan assisted in the execution. Li Jun is torn apart by his feelings, as he is both attracted to Wu Hongyan, and having a desire for revenge for his executed wife.Read More »

  • Bing Wang – Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks – Part 3: Rails (2003) (DVD)

    2001-2010Bing WangChinaDocumentary

    Wang Bing’s West of the Tracks is a nine hour, three part documentary about the decline of Chinese state-run heavy industry.

    In 1999 Wang Bing, not long graduated from Beijing’s Film Academy, arrived at the Tie Xi industrial district of Shenyang with little more than a tiny DV camera he didn’t even own. Tie Xi (the name literally means ‘west of the tracks’) was at the time China’s oldest and largest industrial centre, built by the Japanese in World War II, nationalised come the end of the war and subsequently taken over by the newly-founded Communist party.Read More »

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