ameriken Posted April 14, 2006 Report Share Posted April 14, 2006 (edited) I have always been fascinated by foreign movies, including Asian, and now with Jie here we try to rent as many Chinese movies as we can. I rent through Blockbuster online, which has a halfway decent selection of Chinese. We are more interested in movies that represent Chinese life and culture, more so than watching Hong Kong or Kung Fu movies. Here are a few that we found to be most excellent: Flowers of Shanghai...about the 1800's 'flowerhouses' and 'flowergirls', this story is about the crossing of lines between love and business with the well-to-do men who visit. The setting, clothing, fimmaking, choreography, writing, music and acting is superb. Balzac and the Little Seamstress: an excellent film set in the Si chuan mountains during the cultural revolution. 2 city boys getting 're-educated' in a small village there fall in love with a local girl. They steal some foreign books and start reading to her........which open her eyes and curiousity to a world hidden from her. Beautiful, beautiful scenery in this movie. Zhou Xun (Beijing Bicycle) plays the little seamstress. Beijing Bicycle: a young 'country' boy gets a job in Beijing as a bicycle courier. His new bike is stolen by some city bullies, he loses his job, and attempts to get his bike and job back..... set in the very old Si He Yuan section of Beijing. King of Masks: an old magician wants to leave his trade behind to an heir, but has no son. In a time when children were bought and sold in China, and boys have the highest value, and girls have no value, the grandpa is sold a girl disguised as a boy. When he learns of her true genes, he abandons her......but the little girl is hard to get rid of......... Ok, theres a few. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. I will post more as we watch ! Edited April 14, 2006 by ameriken (see edit history) Link to comment
Dennis143 Posted April 14, 2006 Report Share Posted April 14, 2006 I saw Beijing Bicycle on IFC a few months back. Yes, an excellent movie. Ken, are all of these movies English subtitled? Link to comment
whatsthehaps Posted April 14, 2006 Report Share Posted April 14, 2006 Oh, Oh, good recommendations. I will have to watch them. I have also noticed that many Westerners are interested in the Asian culture and the Asian countries interested in the West. I have asked people in various Asian countries about there culture. The younger generations don't know. The older generations have a wealth of knowledge. Link to comment
rogerluli Posted April 15, 2006 Report Share Posted April 15, 2006 My favorite Chinese movie "In The Mood for Love" with Maggie Cheung (who is the most beautiful woman in the world)... Link to comment
ameriken Posted April 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2006 (edited) I saw Beijing Bicycle on IFC a few months back. Yes, an excellent movie. Ken, are all of these movies English subtitled?207136[/snapback]Yes, a criteria we look for are Mandarin audio (or in Cantonese with a choice for Mandarin) and have English subtitles. Anything I post will have those two options. Edited April 15, 2006 by ameriken (see edit history) Link to comment
ameriken Posted April 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2006 My favorite Chinese movie "In The Mood for Love" with Maggie Cheung (who is the most beautiful woman in the world)... 207167[/snapback]Roger, dont you mean SECOND most beautiful woman in the world? Link to comment
A Mafan Posted April 15, 2006 Report Share Posted April 15, 2006 (edited) Cellphone (Shou Ji) and World Without Thieves (Tian Xia Wu Zei) are excellent.7 Swords (Qi Jian) is good.I'm not sure you can get them through Blockbuster yet. The thing is, I don't think you can divide "gongfu movie" from "culture movie", because there's quite a bit of crossover. What you're trying to do is probably somewhat like trying to gain a deeper understanding of U.S. culture by only watching chick flicks. Sure, you'd learn a lot, but you'd miss the lessons found in the male-bonding films, american humor, etc. One Gongfu movie that has good humor and makes some good points is "The Iceman Cometh".It also has Maggie Cheung as a star, btw. Another one that lots of Chinese people like is "Infernal Affairs" 1, 2, and 3. The Hong Kong crime society movies are dark and pessimistic, but good. They explore love, loyalty, betrayal, courage, cowardice, greed... Edited April 15, 2006 by A Mafan (see edit history) Link to comment
rogerluli Posted April 15, 2006 Report Share Posted April 15, 2006 My favorite Chinese movie "In The Mood for Love" with Maggie Cheung (who is the most beautiful woman in the world)... 207167[/snapback]Roger, dont you mean SECOND most beautiful woman in the world?207284[/snapback]How can I get around this Ken... Maggie Cheung is the most beautiful woman in the world... My laopo is the most beautiful woman in my world... Link to comment
rogerluli Posted April 15, 2006 Report Share Posted April 15, 2006 For other Maggie Cheung lovers out there... Dragon Inn (with Tony Leung for the ladies... ) Hero ( with that 'other' very popular Chinese actress right now but who cannot be in the same stadium with Maggie in the goddess contest) Without Maggie but still good... To Live (by Zhang Yimou, excellent and very Chinese film) And finally if you are looking for something different... Colour Blossoms (nudity, sexual situations and some S/M and the most gorgeous transvestite you have ever seen... ) it is not just porn, it won the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival, but it definitely ain't for the kiddies... Link to comment
Joanne Posted April 15, 2006 Report Share Posted April 15, 2006 (edited) To live »î×Å- directed by Zhang Yimo. I think this is one of his best. As I understand, it was never shown in China. ____I have to point out that I posted above message before reading Roger's list. This is an independent choice. Edited April 15, 2006 by Joanne (see edit history) Link to comment
Randy W Posted April 15, 2006 Report Share Posted April 15, 2006 (edited) Yes - "To Live" is called the "Chinese 'Gone with the Wind'" (at least on the label) and is very good. Jiaying watched "Tian Yu" (English title "Xiu Xiu the Sent Down Girl" )intently, but it hit a little too close to home. She missed that "program" by only a couple of years. I don't think she'll watch it again, but it's an excellent (but depressing) movie. Edited April 15, 2006 by Randy W (see edit history) Link to comment
A Mafan Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 Yes - "To Live" is called the "Chinese 'Gone with the Wind'" (at least on the label) and is very good. Jiaying watched "Tian Yu" (English title "Xiu Xiu the Sent Down Girl" )intently, but it hit a little too close to home. She missed that "program" by only a couple of years. I don't think she'll watch it again, but it's an excellent (but depressing) movie.207325[/snapback]That describes many Chinese movies, including pretty much all of Zhang Yimou's films. His most depressing is "Ju Dou". I'll never watch that one again. Even "Happy Times" (Xingfu Shiguang) is a little depressing. Still, it's got some good humor, and stars Zhang Yimou's 3rd "discovery" (the first being Gong Li, the 2nd being Zhang Ziyi). Maggie Cheung, like most Hong Kong actors/actresses, has starred in a staggering number of films. Some of them are extremely bad, like "Heroic Trio". "The China Box" (about Hong Kong right before the handover, has Maggie and Gong Li...who speaks 3 sentences of obviously-memorized English) is pretty bad, too. Link to comment
obxtrainman Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 "King of Masks " brought more sting to my eyes than "Old Yeller" Link to comment
tonado Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 http://www.lovehkfilm.com/features/hkfa_2005.htm 25th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards Link to comment
Joanne Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 Together ºÍÄãÔÚÒ»Æð - directed by Kaige Chen Link to comment
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