Favorite Chinese films
Favorite Chinese films from the Mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Mostly from the 2000s.
If you are interested in seeing a list of ALL the Chinese films I've seen and rated:
[link]http://sitenoise.com/film/chinese/[/link]
If you are interested in seeing a list of ALL the Chinese films I've seen and rated:
[link]http://sitenoise.com/film/chinese/[/link]
List activity
58K views
• 3 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
58 titles
- DirectorOxide Chun PangStarsCharlene ChoiShawn YueIsabella LeongWinnie Leung is a lonely woman that likes to make puppets and write her diary, and she misses her boy-friend Seth Lau, who left her after breaking up their relationship. Winnie leaves messages in his mail box and unsuccessfully tries to contact him in his job. When she meets Ray Fan, she tells him that his resemblance with Seth is amazing. Ray moves to her place and when Winnie's next door snoopy neighbors calls the police because of the smell in her apartment, a dark secret is disclosed in her diary.The creative camera angles, the mostly gray/green color palette accentuating a sense of disease or decay, the original music and sound design, and the beauty of the actors add up to a sensuous ninety minute delight. At times the film seemed adrift on a sea of music carried along by the score instead of leading it, while at other times the conspicuous absence of any sound almost embarrasses the viewer in moments of voyeuristic character study.
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsGong LiPeiqi LiuLiuchun YangA peasant woman seeks justice after the headman of her village has kicked her husband in the groin.Zhang Yimou's sweet homage to the days of yore. The Story of Qiu Ju is a slow paced, somewhat repetitive film but it's all the better for it. Viewers are treated to a heart-warmimg world of relationships which are themselves slow-paced and repetitive. It would be a shame to rush through it.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiMaggie CheungSiu Ping-LamTwo neighbors form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. However, they agree to keep their bond platonic so as not to commit similar wrongs.A gorgeous and remarkable film.
- DirectorXiaoshuai WangStarsWeiwei LiuJia-yi ZhangNan YuA divorced couple learns that the way to possibly save daughter, who is suffering from blood cancer, is to have another child. Problem is: They're both already remarried.No surprise to learn director Xiaoshuai Wang studied painting before becoming a director. This is a marvelously composed film. The screenplay is brutal sharp with one large unnecessary gimmick toward the end. The four main performers are solid and compelling, with lots of shots of faces on bodies doing nothing but carrying burden within. And they all pull it off.
- DirectorWen-tang ChengStarsTarcy SuYi-ching LuLeon DaiJust coming out of the jail, depressed and close-hearted, Ah Yu met two men with different characters from each other. One is a businessman, charming and mature; the other is a young supervisor in a factory with a promising future. But these two loves are short-lived, fading away like bubbles on the beach. With a wounded soul, she went back to the cottage owned by Sister An, a friend from jail. An treats her like a sister, embracing her tortured soul. When they are unhappy, they dance on the pier. Their dancing steps swing like small boats in the harbor, driving away all the depression. Someday, a puppet show was performed on the pier. They saw a fisherman, Lao-Yao, playing a puppet. Through Lao-Yao who suffers from autism, Ah Yu found herself tangled in a feeling as deep as the ocean.Blue Cha Cha requires patience, and yes, that’s code for it being an art house type film that moves slowly and doesn’t offer a lot of detail as to why things are happening. Blue Cha Cha isn’t a low-budget indie film. It has excellent production values and looks gorgeous. The direction is fluid and creative and the cinematography crisp and colorful. The real highlight here is Tarcy Su. She is able to make us care for a character we never learn much about.
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsMinzhi WeiHuike ZhangZhenda Tian13-year old Wei Minzhi is the new substitute teacher of a mountain village school. She is told not to lose any of her pupils under any circumstances.Somehow, thirteen year old Wei Minzhi, who appears unable to act her way out of a paper bag turns in the performance of a lifetime. Blushing, awkward body language, a drifting gaze, and an pre-adolescent thespian's grasp of dialog pacing, filmed docu-realistically, come together to create the most endearing character I've seen in a long time.
- DirectorYe LouStarsLei HaoXiaodong GuoXueyun BaiYu Hong leaves her home village and starts university in Beijing, where she develops a consuming and compulsive relationship with another student. The student riots from 1989 then ensue and take a toll on their lives."Because it is only when we make love that you understand that I'm gentle."
That's all the character development I need. This is an ambitious film about the stalled maturation of an idealistic but troubled young woman flanked by the Tiananmen Square protests, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the handover of Hong Kong to mainland China.
The direction is a little chaotic at times but it reflects the nature of the film and doesn't come off as a liability. The soundtrack is impeccably chosen and the film is ultimately very sad. I was glued to this 140 minute masterpiece. Politics aside, and they are on the side, this is a remarkable film in its honest portrayal of failure, not of personal character, but of circumstance. - DirectorChih-yen YeeStarsGwei Lun-MeiChen Bo-linYolin LiangAn is-she-or-isn't-she gay comedy focused on a Taiwanese teen, the boy she might like, and the girl she may love.Dreamy, Romantic, Tender. This is a well-acted, well-directed, well-written movie, a joy to watch. I smiled from ear to ear, from the time sensitive boy was introduced until the very end. This is an exceptionally well done film, off-the-charts-delightful.
- DirectorHur Jin-hoStarsJung Woo-sungYuanyuan GaoShaohua MaA traveling architect meets an old friend from his student years; the pair realize their connection has always been a romantic one.Hur is a fascinating director. In some ways his films are just cheesy romances with questionable soundtracks, but he possesses an emotional intelligence and an eye for subtle soul-searching details that make his films powerful when he gets it right. He gets it right this time. A good rain knows when to fall.
It would be a spoiler if I were to share one of the main reasons I love this movie. I can say, however, that the film is very much about a Chinese experience, and the fact that it's directed by a Korean is what makes it interesting. - DirectorXiaogang FengStarsDaoming ChenChen LiYi LuThe epic story of a family separated as a result of the Great Tangshan Earthquake of 1976.This isn't a perfect film but its story is so moving that any shortcomings in the telling can easily be overlooked. I was moved to tears several times during the film but more from just thinking about the scenarios than from any melodramatic presentation. It has some structural weaknesses but it's a magnificent and heart-rending story with a lot of legs. Highly recommended to those who like that kind of thing.
- DirectorWen JiangStarsChow Yun-FatWen JiangYou GeIn 1920s China, a bandit arrives in a remote provincial town posing as its new mayor, where he faces off against a tyrannical local nobleman.Surprising how damn funny this film is.
- DirectorAnn HuiStarsSimon YamJingchu ZhangAriel Hiu-Man ChanStarts at the end of the story, with the brutal murder by a man of his wife and daughters. Hui gradually unmasks the idyll of the peaceful family and that of Hong Kong as the promised land for gold seekers.This is one of the more painfully sad films I've seen in a long time. I put it on when it was already way past my bed time, thinking I'd just get a feel for it and fall asleep. Well, a feel for it I got, and ended up staring at it, bug-eyed, the entire two hour runtime. The acting and direction of Night and Fog are so pitch perfect, that even though the story starts at the end, so we know the result and it's unraveled through flashbacks and police interrogations, it plays out like a mystery.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiTang WeiJoan ChenDuring World War II era, a young woman, Wang Jiazhi, gets swept up in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue with a powerful political figure, Mr. Yee.I don't care about Ang Lee's attitude towards women or whether or not this film betrays those feelings. This is a great movie. This is mainstream cinema at its best. Sex is the new violence in film. Set against a WWII backdrop and the Japanese occupation of China. It's got everything!
- DirectorYuan ZhangStarsWen JiangWei ZhaoLijun FangWell, apparently Wu Fang (Wei Zhao) is a young lady on a mission. Namely, to go on as many dates as quickly as possible, not to drink as much tea as possible, but to find the man of her dreams. Then there is her latest blind date, one Chen Mingliang (Wen Jiang), who is on a rebound and meeting Miss Wu. Will this one work out? After all, they seem to be opposites in so many ways.Twice the Vicki Zhao Wei fun in this beautiful, saturated romance. Christopher Doyle outdoes himself.
- DirectorYang LiStarsLu HuangYouan YangYuling ZhangA young woman is kidnapped and sold to a villager in the mountains.
- DirectorHerman YauStarsYi HuangYu-Hang ToRose ChanThe film tells the story of Qiu Jin and her involvement in revolutionary uprisings against the Qing Dynasty in Anhui province. Influences on her life are shown through a series of flashbacks.Action and social commentary. Fun for the whole family.
- DirectorChuan LuStarsYe LiuWei FanHideo NakaizumiIn 1937, Japan occupied Nanjing, the Chinese capital. There was a battle and subsequent atrocities against the inhabitants, especially those who took refuge in the International Security Zone.
- DirectorYang LiStarsYixiang LiBaoqiang WangShuangbao WangTwo coal miners and conmen looking for their next murder victim decide on a naïve country boy desperately looking for a job.
- DirectorBaoping CaoStarsXun ZhouChao DengWang NingWhen a mysterious death occurs, the lives of five unexpected strangers are suddenly intertwined together. A drug trafficking crime is unveiled, and through the twists and turns of the investigation, their stories unravel, and a bizarre connection is gradually discovered between them. THE EQUATION OF LOVE AND DEATH weaves together three different love stories, examining the different emotional struggles people go through in dealing with pain and loss, and how letting go might just be the hardest thing to do.
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsLifan DongBenshan ZhaoJie DongAn aging bachelor has to engage his old, laid-off friends to keep a blind girl happy as a masseuse at a non-existent massage parlor.
- DirectorFen-fen ChengStarsEddie PengIvy ChenMichelle ChenA delivery boy falls for a young girl who is hearing impaired. Comparing themselves with "water birds" and trees, together they are going to break the barrier and pursue their dreams and take their relationship to the next level.
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsJet LiTony Leung Chiu-waiMaggie CheungA defense officer, Nameless, was summoned by the King of Qin regarding his success of terminating three warriors.
- DirectorYu LiStarsBingbing FanDawei TongTony Ka Fai LeungA look at modern-day life in China's capital centered on a ménage-a-quatre involving a young woman, her boss, her husband and her boss's wife.
- DirectorTung-Shing YeeStarsCecilia CheungChing Wan LauLouis KooSui Wai lost her fiance Ah Man in a car accident. With the obligations of life sitting heavy on her shoulders, she lives on only to find herself confiding in her beloved through a phone call. Dai Fai. a mini-bus driver who witnessed Ah Man's death, is always there offering her attentive encouragement and support, yet he himself also lives in the shadow of his last relationship. When Siu Wai strives to face the future without the man she loves, Dai Fai finds himself steadily falling in love with her.
- DirectorYibai ZhangStarsKaren MokWenli JiangEason ChanThe relationship between a teenage son and his mother becomes complicated when they take a secretive young woman into their home.
- DirectorChangwei GuStarsJing AnLi FengChangwei GuChina in the late 1970s and early 1980s: the life of an ordinary working family as seen through its three siblings.
- DirectorJohn WooStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiTakeshi KaneshiroFengyi ZhangThe first chapter of a two-part story centered on a battle fought in China's Three Kingdoms period (220-280 A.D.).
- DirectorJohn WooStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiTakeshi KaneshiroFengyi ZhangSecond and final part of epic tale about a legendary battle that changed the course of China history.
- DirectorJiarui ZhangStarsWei FanLu HuangHongyi LiAboard a bus in the rural mountains of China, a naive young girl name Li Chunfen attends to passengers' needs, all the while speaking of the virtues of the Communist Party. The always loyal Li is happy to serve the driver, Old Cui, a kind of father figure to her who also acts as the consoling voice of the party. When she develops an acute case of puppy love for a frequent passenger -- an emotion that leads to a chased kiss and a rape report, she learns all too well that her party and driver might not always have her best interests in mind. But how big of hand will the Cultural Revolution play in Li's life? How much control will she have over her own fate? Spanning five decades of Li's life, The Road is a coming-of-age tale of epic proportions. Heartbreakingly beautiful -- the countryside cinematography is jaw-dropping -- and tragically timely, the film stands out as a masterful work from a powerful new Chinese voice, director Zhang Jiarui, reminding us of a painful history and warning us never to repeat it.
- DirectorDayyan EngStarsYu XiaBingbing LiBeibi GongChen Wen, an antique shop worker and aspiring author, who has just met the girl of his dreams. The only problem is that she only wants him as a very close friend, not as a boyfriend.
- DirectorTsai Ming-liangStarsKang-sheng LeeShiang-chyi ChenYi-ching LuA watch salesman meets a young woman soon leaving for Paris and becomes infatuated, so he begins to change all the clocks in Taipei to Paris time.
- DirectorXiaosong GaoStarsXun ZhouYu XiaShu PuA story about the lives and love among two young men and a beautiful girl.
- DirectorMei HuStarsChow Yun-FatXun ZhouJianbin ChenThe life story of the highly-influential Chinese philosopher, Confucius.
- DirectorKaige ChenStarsGong LiFengyi ZhangZhou SunIn pre-unified China, the King of Qin sends his concubine to a rival kingdom to produce an assassin for a political plot, but as the king's cruelty mounts she finds her loyalty faltering.
- DirectorXiaogang FengStarsYou GeShu QiWei FanAfter making a killing, Fen returns to China a rich man. After seeking a wife on internet, he meets many women but only likes air hostess Liang/Shu Qi, who's in love with a married man and only wants friendship.
- DirectorKuo-Fu ChenQunshu GaoStarsXun ZhouBingbing LiHanyu ZhangFollowing a series of assassination attempts on officials of the Japanese-controlled puppet government in 1942 Nanjingn (Nanking), the Japanese spy chief gathers a group of suspects in a mansion house for questioning. A tense game of "cat and mouse" ensues as the Chinese code-breaker attempts to send out a crucial message while protecting his/her own identity.
- DirectorJiarui ZhangStarsJingchu ZhangNick CheungLoletta LeeA haunting, tragic love story about the aftermath of the American War in Vietnam, and the long-term effect it had on ordinary people's lives. Set in a border town between China and Vietnam, it is a universal story that could be about any war, in any country.
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsZiyi ZhangHonglei SunHao ZhengPrompted by the death of his father and the grief of his mother, a man recalls the story of how they met in flashback.
- DirectorYibai ZhangStarsLe GengYang ZhangLan KeA young man and a young woman have been in Beijing for seven years since they came here together to find their career. But life is pretty tough and their love is facing a crisis now.
- DirectorShaohong LiStarsXun ZhouJun WuMing CaiWhen Yan'ni starts college, she believes she is embarking on a new life away from her family, and she is but without the new beginning she anticipates. Once at school, she immediately meets Muyu and falls in love with him. What she does not know is that from the moment he met her, he began an intricate deception that would lead to the loss of her child and the future she believes in.
- DirectorLixin FanStarsChanghua ZhangYang ZhangSuqin ChenA couple embarks on a journey home for Chinese new year along with 130 million other migrant workers, to reunite with their children and struggle for a future. Their unseen story plays out as China soars towards being a world superpower.
- DirectorGordon ChanAndy Wing-Keung ChinDanny KoStarsDonnie YenXun ZhouKun ChenAn action-thriller centered on a vampire-like woman who eats the skins and hearts of her lovers.
- DirectorTeddy ChanStarsXueqi WangTony Ka Fai LeungJun HuIn 1905, revolutionist Sun Yat-Sen visits Hong Kong to discuss plans with Tongmenghui members to overthrow the Qing dynasty. But when they find out that assassins have been sent to kill him, they assemble a group of protectors to prevent any attacks.
- DirectorXiaoshuai WangStarsYuanyuan GaoBin LiHao QinIn the 1980s, encouraged by the government, a large number of families leave Chinese cities to settle in the poorer regions of the country, in order to develop local industry. The film's main character is a 19 years old girl who lives in the Guizhou province, where her parents have settled. That's where she has grown up, where her friends are and where she first experiences love. But her father believes that their future lies in Shanghai. How can they all keep on living together when they don't share the same dreams ?
- DirectorYibai ZhangStarsMasahiro MotokiWei ZhaoNaomi NishidaA Japanese make-up artist is in Shanghai working at the NEAsian Music Awards. Later he's hit by a woman taxi driver. Despite language problems they spend the night together driving around Shanghai etc.
- DirectorTony ChanWing ShyaStarsNicholas TseJacky CheungRene LiuThe whole city is burning up during the hottest summer on record. Tempers flare, irrational feelings erupt and the impossible becomes possible. And in every corner of the city, love explodes like fireworks.
- DirectorTen ShimoyamaChih-yen YeeYibai ZhangStarsMisaki ItôChen Bo-linYui IchikawaDrama about queer woman and the challenge of forming a family. Themes such as motherhood, sexuality and discrimination are mixed. At the center stands the bisexual lawyer Macy, who reverts on ex-girlfriend Anita when both are pregnant.
- DirectorYe LouStarsXiaodong GuoHao QinLei ZhangA drama centered around the employees of a Nanjing massage parlor who share a common trait: they are all blind.
- DirectorYi'nan DiaoStarsFan LiaoGwei Lun-MeiXuebing WangAn ex cop and his ex partner decide to follow up on investigation of a series of murders that ended their careers and shamed them, when identical murders begin again.
- DirectorYi'nan DiaoStarsRongcai FuChao JiDan LiuWu 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.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsShu QiChang ChenYun ZhouA female assassin receives a dangerous mission to kill a political leader in eighth-century China.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiZiyi ZhangFaye WongSeveral women enter a science fiction author's life over the course of a few years, after the author has lost the woman he considers his one true love.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsShu QiJack KaoChun-hao TuanThe ethereally beautiful Vicky recalls her romances with Hao Hao and Jack in the neon-lit clubs of Taipei.
- DirectorChi-jan HouStarsBryan Shu-Hao ChangNikki HsiehGwen YaoA visual love poem of magical realism.
- DirectorJing-Jie LinStarsGwei Lun-MeiMorning Tzu-Yi MoHsiao-Kuo ChiaThree young souls, with different purposes, comes to the coast and search for the meaning of their life, a journey considerably longer than any of them has taken before.
- DirectorJohnny MaStarsGang ChenNai AnHongwei WangA psychological thriller about a taxi driver battling bureaucracy and legal manipulation in China.
- DirectorBo HuStarsYu ZhangYuchang PengUvin WangFour people in a Chinese city live through a complicated day as their lives intersect.