Mandarin

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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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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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 »

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 »

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.Read More »

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 »

Postmen in the Mountains (Chinese: 那山那人那狗; pinyin: Nàshān nàrén nàgǒu; literally “That Mountain, That Man, That Dog”) was a 1999 Chinese film directed by Huo Jianqi. A personal film, Postmen in the Mountains tells the story of an old man (Ten Rujun) who for years served as the postmen for rural mountain communities. On the eve of his retirement, he again sets off to deliver the mail, but this time brings his son (Liu Ye). Together, they deliver mail into the rural heart of China and in the process the son learns from the mails’ recipients more about his father.Read More »