Pretty much anything Zhang Yimou puts out. I really enjoyed House of Flying Daggers.
As a Chinese, I prefer the less famous one like Tian Zhuang Zhuang. His “Go Master” (2007) is good (and flawed though). It makes me look forward to his earlier works such as “Blue kite”, “Horse Thief” and “Springtime in a small town”.
Jia Zhang-ke is also a good director. I admire the attitude of “Still Life”. No furious complaints, but tender and subtle reminiscence.
As for Wong Kar-wai, Zhang Yimuo or Chen Kaige, I think they’re kind of overrated.
Kar-wai only got one ‘great work’ in his life, “Days of Being Wild” (1990).
Zhang’s “Raise the Red Lantern” and “To Live” are good movies. Both are very ‘Chinese’.
I don’t like “Farewell My Concubine”. I think Chen was too ambitious.
My favorite is John Woo’s “The Killer”. Also love Johnnie To’s “Sparrow”, “Mission” and “Throw Down” and Edward Yang’s “Yi Yi”.
Honestly, I don’t see many Chinese films in the last year (shame on myself!).
So what’s your favorite Chinese movies, Robert? Would you recommend some to me?
Chinese cinema is to rediscover yet, but I could mention some of my favorite Chinese films: “Sacrificed Youth” (1985), an influential, unknown movie. The director’s a woman, the same woman that wrote “The Modernization of Film Language”. She really swayed all the Chinese directors of the fifth generation: Zhang Yimou, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Li Shaohong and so on. I would say also “Xiao Wu”: Chinese minimalism at its best. And why not to mention the old treasures like Sun Yu’s “Little Toys” (1933) or “The Big Road” (1935)? Or the masterpieces of Wu Yonggang like “The Goddess” (1934) and “Waves Washing the Sand”? These are master directors that will be never known. You can find some of those films in DVD, but for the others you’ll have to use P2P.
Chinese films that I enjoyed include “The Road Home”, “Raise the Red Lantern”, “Together”, and “The King of Masks”
Yes, classic Chinese films can be a bugger to find even on VHS. Fortunately some are beginning to appear on DVD such as: Spring in a Small Town, The Spring River Flows East, Princess Iron Fan, and others.
Summer Palace
Right off the top of my head the Road Home and Happy Time stand out.
So CLose was very cool !!! Others i enjoyed were Zu Warriors, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, Spring in a Small Townbut these i think most of us have seen.
I feel in love with Films of China when i uesed to work for Blockbuster, I took home every one i could. But alas i cant remember the names of most of them. I hope find the ones you all comment on.
My faves:
Spring in a Small Town (Fei Mu, 1948)
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
Red Sorghum (Zhang Yimou, 1987)
Chungking Express (Wong Kar-wai, 1994)
Raise the Red Lantern (Zhang Yimou, 1991)
In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 20000)
Lust, Caution (Ang Lee, 2007)
Daybreak (Sun Yu, 1933)
Goddess (Wu Yonggang, 1934)
Two Stage Sisters (Xie Jin, 1964)
Street Angel (Yuan Mushi, 1937)
2046 (Wong Kar-wai, 2004)
Still Life (Jia Zhangke, 2006)
Suzhou River (Lou Ye, 2000)
A Touch of Zen (King Hu, 1969)
Rouge (Kwan, 1987)
To Live (Zhang Yimou, 1994)
Little Toys (Sun Yu, 1933)
The Horse Thief (Tian Zhuangzhuang, 1986)
Raining in the Mountain (King Hu, 1979)
Platform (Jia Zhangke, 2000)
The Lin Family Shop (Zhang Shuihua, 1959)
Life on a String (Chen Kaige, 1991)
House of the Flying Daggers (Zhang Yimou, 2004)
i’ve included Taiwanese King Hu and Ang Lee’s mainland China-set films, and also Hong Kong.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Jiang Wen’s In the Heat of the Sun. Either way, I 2nd the Blue Kite mention and also throw in Big Shot’s Funeral.
I’ll also throw in the following silent era films which are seemingly impossible to find or even view….
Romance of the Fruit Peddler
Peach Blossom Weeps Tears Of Blood
Small Toys
Daybreak
Goddess
Some the best horror film are leaking out from China and the area.
I’m hoping more of the early Chinese classics will be added to the site film library here. There are films from the 30s and 40s that deserve a lot more attention, i’m glad Crap Monster highlights some too.
touch of zen
heads for sail
ashes of time
lady hermit
come drink with me
time and tide
lust caution
flying claw fights 14 demons
days of being wild
its tough for me not to list an arms length of wu xia
“Red Sorghum” and “Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl” need to be on that list.
“Girl” in particular is a heartbreaking film, beautifully made by Joan Chen.
check out the movie “Platform” it is amazing… my favorite, not counting Wong kar wai, cause it’s hong kong and there is a difference.. so if we talk about china.. “Platform” is amazing..
I’m a big fan of Yimou,(Riding alone, story of Qui Ju, To Live, Raise the Red Lantern-still yet to see Red Sorghum or Happy Times) but not his martial arts fillms-I’ll take Shaw brothers anyday over Yimou’s martial arts films.
Life on a String and Farewell My Concubine are masterpieces, while Together was very good as well.
I wish I could say that I’ve seen more, but I really haven’t. There are a few that I rented from blockbuster, something about a Little Chinese Seamstress may have been among them, and I know there was one about a Country Teacher, but I wasn’t impressed by either of those.
King of Masks is a great film though, I only wish that there were a better version available.
Kenji, how do you get to watch so many great films?
dvd, p2p, tv, screenings…
Some of those I remember:
- The Goddess (1934) – Wu Yonggang
- Song at Midnight (1937) – Ma-Xu Weibang
- Spring River Flows East (1947) – Cai Chusheng; Zheng Junli
- Spring in a Small Town (1948) – Fei Mu
- Yellow Earth (1984) – Chen Kaige
- Mama (1991) – Zhang Yuan
- Raise the Red Lantern (1991) – Zhang Yimou
- Chungking Express (1994) – Wong Kar Wai
- To Live (1994) – Zhang Yimou
- Xiao Wu (1997) – Jia Zhang Ke
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) – Ang Lee
- Devils on the Doorstep (2000) – Jiang Wen
- In the Mood for Love (2000) – Wong Kar Wai
- Platform (2000) – Jia Zhang Ke
- Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2002) – Dai Sijie
- Infernal Affairs (2002) – Andrew Lau; Alan Mak
- The World (2004) – Jia Zhang Ke
- Grain in Ear (2005) – Zhang Lu
- Isabella (2006) – Pang Ho-Cheung
- Summer Palace (2006) – Lou Ye
- Where is Your Fish Today? (2006) – Xiaolu Guo
- Blind Mountain (2007) – Li Yang
- He Fengming (2007) – Wang Bing
- Lust, Caution (2007) – Ang Lee
- The Red Jacket (2007) – Zou Yalin
- Sparrow (2008) – Johnnie To
(I haven’t included Taiwanese films)
another thread worth bumping, with increased site familiarity and the fine selections by Myra for the world cup. I’d be interested in hearing more opinions. Although Chinese films really came to Western attention with Yellow Earth, Red Sorghum and the Fifth Generation in the 80s older classics from the 30s and 40s, many with leftwing tendencies, are worth checking out.
Oh my, thanks so much Kenji! What a great thread. Some people do seem to be familiar with some of the great classics, which is nice to see since not a lot of people talk about them these days. I’m so fond of 30s and 40s films (although I’ve seen rather few of them), even if they do have leftist tendencies, like you said. Actresses from that era to note though are Ruan Lingyu, Lili Li and Zhou Xuan (the last sings beautifully and her songs are still played to capture the 1930s Shanghai feeling). I love all your favourites as well.
I have to say I’m disappointed by the recent output by the Fifth Gen. filmmakers (Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige in particular I guess — I’m waiting to see Tian Zhuangzhuang’s new film The Warrior and the Wolf_)… Since then I’ve shifted my attention on the Sixth Gen. filmmakers, and probably like the majority, Jia Zhangke (_Still Life, Platform ) is my favourite of them.
Now I’m going to admit something random. John Woo’s Hard Boiled is my favourite action movie! Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung are a force to be reckoned with.
… And since I’m admitting things anyway — I said this on the AWC comments and reviews thread, but after Dan’s selections with Team Taiwan and three King Hu films, for me, Raining in the Mountain is better than A Touch of Zen! So if people are interested in wuxia and King Hu, definitely check out the first one, which rarely ever gets mentioned, while the latter makes the lists usually.
I know some turn their noses up at it but i love Crouching Tiger even more than the King Hu films, Zhang Ziyi is a fantastic irrepressible whirlwind, no wonder Gilbert Adair gave up his job as critic for The Independent in the UK cos he’d fallen head over heels for her
Really?! (About the Zhang Ziyi thing.)
I liked Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon too actually Kenji, although I can’t say I liked Zhang’s House of Flying Daggers as much… And I didn’t like Curse of the Golden Flower much at all. :(
Well, Myra I’m about to go check the mail and see if my copy of A Touch of Zen has arrived. I expect a great many things from Hu after the delight that was Dragon Gate Inn. Also, good news on the Raoul Ruiz front… but that’s for PM, or another thread entirely.
Hard Boiled is still the greatest action film ever made (they blow up an entire hospital, how could it not be?). I’m going to be watching The Killer tomorrow.
On the topic of 5th generation… anyone seen Zhang’s Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles? I thought that was a rather nice film. Nothing spectacular, but it was just nice to see him take a small step backwards, and tell a more intimate tale more like the ones he used to tell.
By the way, we should all applaud Myra for her impeccable taste, and masterful selection of China’s AWC films. Devils on the Doorstep alone has been one of the biggest surprises of my film viewing life. An amazing film.
On subject of wuxia films, I actually learned that even Triple H has explicitly expressed a desire to make one. Interesting. What would a Triple H wuxia film be like? Would he just set up a still camera and people kind of fly in and out of the frame in 10 minute takes?
I’m going to be watching John Woo’s Red Clay and Tian Zhungzhung’s The Warrior and the Wolf on big screen next month. They’re both big budget historical epics. I couldn’t really care less about the John Woo film, but the Tian film kind of has me worried. It looks like a really slick big budget production—definitely the possibility of some CGI in it. I hope Tian’s career isn’t following in the path of Zhang, who is really a director of circuses now. And oh, it stars Maggie Q…yikes. I really think she should just stick to starring in Edison Chen’s videos.
Maybe this is the place to ask if anyone is familiar with a film called 给咖啡加点糖 (Coffee with Sugar, 1987) or one called 大喘气 (Out of Breath, 1988), the former directed by Sun Zhou and the latter by Ye Daying. I have yet to see them, but they seem very unavailable, let alone with English subtitles. I’ve read about these and some other films made by fifth generation directors who were working in Shanghai and making films about the rural-urban divide, the rapid economic changes going on in the mid-80s, and especially the effect on the lifestyle of the younger generation. It’s interesting that the members of the fifth generation who ultimately achieved prominence weren’t the ones telling about their own generation’s struggles, but looking to more dramatic events or traditional lifestyles in decades or centuries past, mostly filming in western provinces, at a time when southern China was changing so rapidly thanks to Deng Xiaoping’s policies.
Anyway, I haven’t seen all that many of the films on this thread yet, so all the suggestions are great. I just hope more of us have a chance to see some of those ’80s Chinese films not set in the past, if they become available one day. Before reading about them, I had no idea that mainland directors were able to tell truly contemporary stories even long before Jia arrived, and in fact prior to Zhang even.
@ Cinéma: Make sure to watch Raining in the Mountain after Zen! It’s on YT too now, thanks to Blue. I want to watch Woo’s The Killer! You must let me know if it’s better than Hard Boiled. You’re right about Riding Alone for a Thousand Miles — he did take a step back to his earlier themes, although I feel neutral about the film in general. The location was what I loved most about it. Yunnan has to be one of the most beautiful provinces in China, and Lijiang is a city that everyone should visit (the Old City of Lijiang is one of the most wonderful of its kind). Do you remember the 7-turn road in the film? I remember looking down at it when I was there — it’s just such a randomly beautiful path amid the mountains.
@ Blue K: Hahaha, oh my goodness, that was hilarious! You know who Edison Chen is?! Amazing, yet I feel for you because you’re better off being ignorant to his existence. (Sorry Edison…) Yes, I’m not going to judge Tian until I see that new film of his. Let me if Tian has gone down the same path as Zhang and Chen…
@ Paul: Uh oh… I haven’t even heard of those! I don’t think I’m qualified to manage Team China anymore… I’ll see if I can find them though (although with English subs is probably unlikely).
Edit: It doesn’t seem like this thread can be bumped up anymore…
My favorite films from Mainland China are mostly old films
SPRING IN A SMALL TOWN, Fei Mu, 1948
DAYBREAK; Sun Yu, 1934
THE GODDESS, 1933
WO ZHE YI BEI ZI (Life of A Beijing Policeman, Shi Hui **, 1950
TWO STARS IN THE MILKY WAY
STREET ANGEL
from more recent films:
THE BLUE KITE
Chen Kaige BEFORE FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE
from Hongkong
Allen Fong (AH YING)
and Stanley Kwan, especially CENTER STAGE, the 150 min-version, a film on Ruan Ling Yu
and Taiwan:
Hou Hsiao Hsien and King HU.
ON THE BEAT and FOR FUN, by Ning Ying
From Taiwan especially Hou Hsiao Hsien and King Hu.
Thankfully Myra was wrong and this thread isn’t actually dead! It already has lots of amazing recommendations, but I’m really wondering about that 35-year dry time for international recognition of Chinese cinema. Has anyone seen anything post-1948 and pre-1984? Even if the films were all “propaganda” (which I’m not sure of) there must have been a number of good ones.
“Pretty much anything Zhang Yimou puts out.”
Oh no, the regression of Zhang Yimou and Chen Kai-ge are the exactly what went wrong with the “5th generation” film makers from mainland China. The absolutely piss-poor sense of social responsibility, no writing skills and lack of creative mind sugar-coated by flashy color/scenery and CGI. And worst of all, the desperate and shameful reach for recognition by Hollywood (after the success of Ang Lee, who is a much more mature and clear-minded director than the two).
If you want true masterpiece from mainland China, the top two that comes to my mind are “Platform” by Jia Zhang-ke, and “In the heat of the Sun” by Jiang Wen. Two truly moving pictures extremely well-done.
Robert Jahnke III
Some of the most amazing films i have seen have come out of China. For some reason the beauty in the films holds me. What are some of your favorite Chinese films?