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Beijing Bicycle

Shiqi sui de dan che

China, Taiwan, France

2001

113 Min
Color
1.85:1
Mandarin
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
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DIR Wang Xiaoshuai

PROD Peggy Chiao, Han Sanping, Hsu Hsiao-ming

SCR Peggy Chiao, Hsu Hsiao-ming, Tang Danian, Wang Xiaoshuai

DP Liu Jie

CAST Cui Lin, Li Bin, Zhou Xun, Gao Yuanyuan, Li Shuang, Zhao Yiwei, Pang Yan, Zhou Fangfei, Xie Jian, Ma Yuhong

Berlinale (Competition): Jury Grand Prix, San Sebastián (Competition), Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema), Vancouver, Karlovy Vary (Horizons), Helsinki

Synopsis

Beijing: young men in packs, machismo, class divisions, violence, and indifference. Guei arrives from the country: toothbrushes, hotel foyers, and Qin, a rich neighbor in high heels, dazzle him. He gets a job as a messenger. The company issues him a bike, which he must pay for out of his wages. When it is stolen, Guei hunts for it. A student, Jian, has it; for him, it’s the key to teen society – with his pals and with Xiao, a girl he fancies. Guei finds the bike and stubbornly tries to reclaim it in the face of great odds. But for Jian to lose the bike would mean humiliation. The two young men – and the people around them – are swept up in the youths’ desperation. —IMDb

Director

Original

Wang Xiaoshuai

Wang Xiaoshuai (simplified Chinese: 王小帅; traditional Chinese: 王小帥; pinyin: Wáng Xiăoshuài; born May 22, 1966 in Shanghai) is a Chinese film director, screenwriter and occasional actor. He is commonly grouped under the loose association of filmmakers known as the Sixth Generation of the Cinema of China.

Many of Wang’s works are known for their sensitive portrayal of teens and youths, most notable in films such as Beijing Bicycle, So Close to Paradise, Drifters, and Shanghai Dreams. His 2008 film In Love We Trust was an exception as it portrays marital strains.

He also served as a member of the jury of the BigScreen Italia Film Festival 2006, held in Kunming, Yunnan, China. —Wikipedia 

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javier quintero

30Dec11

It makes such a big effort in being a touching film at any cost just to get the inmediate emotional favor of the audience. "Beijing Bicycle" or "Bicycle of the seventeen years" can't go very deep and it finally remains only on what's visible from the iceberg of social/individual issues: the mere anecdote with no other contribution.

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Valerie Chiang

27Sep11

maybe it started off a little ordinary, but this movie was scattered with little surprises throughout that made it a worthwhile watch.

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filmbeats

5Jul10

A surprisingly compelling film given the premise. My only nitpick was that Beijing looked way too clean in this film.

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Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
W184

Cannes 2010. Wang Xiaoshuai's "Chongqing Blues"

By David Hudson on May 12, 2010

"As the only Chinese film selected for the official competition section at the Cannes Film Festival that opened Wednesday, Chongqing Blues

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Lists

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Reviews

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Beijing Bicycle

By Brad S. on April 2, 2010

In Beijing, there are traffic signals that flash green or red in the shape of a bicycle. This is only one of the signs that we’re not in Kansas anymore. Bikes of all shapes and sizes fill the streets…  read review

Finding a bike in Beijing

By Apeshap​e on December 4, 2009

Beijing Bicycle is for sure one of the most important local movies. Wang Xiaoshuai belongs to the 6th generation of Chinese filmmakers, that seems to stand still in the shadow of the glorious 5th one…  read review

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