China, Taiwan
by Eriko_Tsogo | created - 26 May 2012 | updated - 12 Feb 2014 | Publicgeneral overview of the most notable and essential films from China and Taiwan through the years.
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1. For Fun (1993)
97 min | Comedy, Drama
A charming story of a group of senior citizens who set up a Peking Opera club in hopes of finding revitalization through singing and dancing.
Director: Ying Ning | Stars: Zongluo Huang, Wenjie Huang, Shanxu Han, Qi Mo
Votes: 128
2. Lao gong zhi ai qing (1922)
30 min | Short, Comedy, Romance
Cheng the fruit seller is in love with the daughter of his neighbor the doctor, but the good doctor won't let him marry her unless Chang finds him more patients. With some creative ... See full summary »
Director: Shichuan Zhang | Stars: Zhegu Zheng, Zhengqiu Zheng, Ying Yu
Votes: 293
3. Yichuan zhenzhu (1926)
101 min | Drama
Taken from a short story by Maupassant, the action revolves around a middle-class couple. The husband borrows a pearl necklace from a jeweller friend for his wife to wear to a party. It is ... See full summary »
Director: Zeyuan Li | Stars: Xiadian Lei, Xiandian Lei, Hangou Liu, Hanjun Liu
Votes: 34
4. Xi xiang ji (1927)
50 min | Drama, Romance
A famous Chinese story about a young couple who consummate their marriage without the approval of their parents.
Directors: Minwei Li, Hou Yao | Stars: He Minzhuang, Chichang Lin, Dandan Li, Cijiang Ge
Votes: 164
5. Hongxia (1929)
94 min | Action
A young woman's grandmother is killed by a warlord and she goes on to become an unstoppable force for justice and assassinate him.
Director: Yi-Min Wen | Stars: Xuepeng Fan, Yi-Min Wen, Shaoquan Zhu
Votes: 87
6. Huangjiang nüxia (1930)
74 min | Action, Drama, History
Two sword-slinging heroes, a brother and sister, combat a golden hawk in order to save a small boy and are then beset by villainous monks while resting at a temple.
Directors: Kengran Chen, Guanwu Shang | Stars: Qin-fang Xu, Zhigang He, Yisheng Zheng, Guanwu Shang
Votes: 26
7. Tao hua qi xue ji (1931)
TV-PG | 100 min | Drama, Romance
The daughter of a peasant family that works on a landowner's property is in love with the owner's son but the parents force them to separate.She lands up having a child out of wedlock.
Director: Wancang Bu | Stars: Lingyu Ruan, Yan Jin, Lili Zhou, Guilin Wang
Votes: 188
8. Yi jian mei (1931)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama
Bai Le De and Hu Lin Tung are military cadets. After graduating, Hu Lin Tung is appointed captain of Guangdong headquarters and goes away. Later, Bae Le De is appointed to a post at the ... See full summary »
Director: Wancang Bu | Stars: Lingyu Ruan, Cho-cho Lam, Cilong Wang, Yan Jin
Votes: 75
9. Yinhe shuangxing (1931)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama, Romance
A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the Shanghai movie scene, with parallels to the true-life story of popular actress Ruan Lingyu. A simple girl is plucked from the countryside by a ... See full summary »
Director: Dongshan Shi | Stars: Zhanfei Gao, Yan Jin, Jiqun Liu, Law-Lin Tsz
Votes: 61
10. Huo shan qing xue (1932)
100 min | Drama
A warlord's nephew lusts for farmer Song Ke's sister. When Song refuses, the whole family is thrown into jail and the sister commits suicide. The father dies of grief and Song lives with ... See full summary »
Director: Yu Sun | Stars: Li-li Li, Junli Zheng, Ying Tan, Tianxiu Tang
Votes: 73
11. Nan guo zhi chun (1932)
98 min | Drama, Romance
To please his dying father, Hong Yu, a college student, is forced to abandon his girlfriend, Little Hong, and marry his cousin, with disastrous results.
Director: Chusheng Cai | Stars: Zhanfei Gao, Yanyan Chen, Jiqun Liu, Shaoying Chen
Votes: 22
12. Wild Rose (1932)
70 min | Drama, Romance
A feisty country girl Xiao Feng nicknamed Wild Rose has moved to the city with her artist friend Jiang after her father's disappearance. They move to Shanghai and discover that it is a city that only caters for the privileged few.
Director: Yu Sun | Stars: Langen Han, Yan Jin, Renmei Wang, Juanjuan Ye
Votes: 114
13. Tianming (1933)
116 min | Drama
Fishing village girl Ling Ling sets off to look for her cousin in Shanghai. She soon finds out that Shanghai is a city full of vice: she is raped, sold into prostitution, and later becomes ... See full summary »
Director: Yu Sun | Stars: Zhanfei Gao, Langen Han, Li-li Li, Jiqun Liu
Votes: 175
14. Xiao Wanyi (1933)
114 min | Drama, War
Sister Ye is the master craftswoman in a village of toymakers that is subject to outside attacks. A series of personal tragedies reduces her to a shell of herself, until she breaks and rallies the townsfolk to fight their oppressors.
Director: Yu Sun | Stars: Lingyu Ruan, Congmei Yuan, Li-li Li
Votes: 224
15. Chun can (1933)
100 min | Drama
This early classic of Golden Age Shanghai cinema echoes Visconti's classic La Terra Trema in its beautifully rendered story of a humble silk-farming family struggling to be free of debt to exploitative middlemen.
Director: Bugao Cheng | Stars: Ying Xiao, Yuexian Yan, Chia-Nung Kung, Qianping Gao
Votes: 92
16. Shen nu (1934)
TV-PG | 85 min | Drama
Street walker by night, devoted mother by day, a woman fights to get her young son an education amid criminal and social injustice in China.
Director: Yonggang Wu | Stars: Lingyu Ruan, Tian Jian, Zhizhi Zhang, Keng Li
Votes: 2,468
17. Taoli jie (1934)
102 min | Drama
The story of various college graduates and their attempts to improve China, often in the face of corruption.
Director: Yunwei Ying | Stars: Muzhi Yuan, Bo'er Chen, Huaiqiu Tang, He Bai
Votes: 65
18. Queen of Sports (1934)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama, Sport
Young sprinter Lin Ying enrolls in a sports college in Shanghai. As she becomes a sports celebrity, she starts to mangle with the upper class and has gradually forgotten the true essence of sports.
Director: Yu Sun | Stars: Li-li Li, Yi Zhang, Xu Yin, Lu Bai
Votes: 88
19. Yu guang qu (1934)
56 min | Drama
About the trials and tribulations of the family of a poor fisherman.
Director: Chusheng Cai | Stars: Renmei Wang, Langen Han, Peng Luo, Congmei Yuan
Votes: 143
20. Twin Sisters (1934)
82 min | Drama
Twin girls separated at birth are reunited when the one raised in poverty becomes a servant in the household of her sister, now the pampered wife of a warlord general.
Director: Zhengqiu Zheng | Stars: Xiaoqiu Zheng, Zhiyuan Tan, Jinglin Xuan, Meijun Gu
Votes: 108
21. The Big Road (1935)
Not Rated | 104 min | Comedy, Musical, Drama
Six young men from the city take jobs on a road crew, building a highway of strategic importance to the Chinese Army. The story relates the men's interactions with each other, the local ... See full summary »
Director: Yu Sun | Stars: Yan Jin, Yanyan Chen, Li-li Li, Peng Luo
Votes: 323
22. New Women (1935)
106 min | Drama
Overnight, the sexy Wei Ming will become a successful novelist. But, desperate to get the money that she needs to cure her little daughter (and harassed by a rich, unscrupulous rake), she ... See full summary »
Director: Chusheng Cai | Stars: Lingyu Ruan, Naidong Wang, Junli Zheng, Moqiu Wang
Votes: 267
23. Children of Troubled Times (1935)
89 min | Drama, Musical
The young poet Xin Baihe flees Shanghai with his friend, Liang. Liang soon joins the resistance against the Japanese invaders, but Xin chooses to pursue a relationship with a glamorous and ... See full summary »
Director: Xingzhi Xu | Stars: Renmei Wang, Muzhi Yuan, Ying Tan, Menghe Gu
Votes: 49
24. Lang shan die xue ji (1936)
70 min | Drama
Ostensibly a tale of a village attempting to fend off a pack of vicious wolves. In reality, the wolves were a euphemism for the Japanese army who had recently occupied Manchuria.
Director: Mu Fei | Stars: Qiong Liu, Li-li Li, Yi Zhang, Lan Ping
Votes: 47
25. Shi zi jie tou (1937)
Not Rated | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Four students in Shanghai have recently finished university. All are unemployed. Xu contemplates suicide but his friend Zhao talks him out of it. Zhao lives in a shabby room with just a ... See full summary »
Director: Xiling Shen | Stars: Dan Zhao, Yang Bai, Ban Lü, Yin Ying
Votes: 182
26. Song at Midnight (1935)
Not Rated | 124 min | Horror, Romance
China's first horror film, this is loosely based on The Phantom of the Opera. A disfigured musical genius roams a traditional Chinese opera house, punishing those who offend him.
Director: Weibang Ma-Xu | Stars: Menghe Gu, Ping Hu, Shan Jin, Chao Shi
Votes: 941
27. Street Angel (1937)
91 min | Comedy, Drama
In old Shanghai, two sisters, a prostitute and a singer, tried to escape from the local scoundrels with the help of a trumpet player and a newspaper seller.
Director: Muzhi Yuan | Stars: Dan Zhao, Heling Wei, Xuan Zhou, Jiting Wang
Votes: 943
28. Lian hua jiao xiang qu (1937)
106 min | Comedy, Drama
The film is composed of eight short stories.
Directors: Chusheng Cai, Mu Fei, Mengfu He, Fu Shen, Huimin Situ, Yu Sun, Youliu Tan, Shilin Zhu | Stars: Lan Ping, Xi Mei, Fu Shen, Yanyan Chen
Votes: 42
29. Xiangxiapo Congjun (1937)
Comedy
Director: Shu-Sun Chiu | Stars: Cho-Fan Ng, Tai-Hau Ho, Mui-Mui Lam, Sau-Nin Wong
30. Orphan Island Paradise (1939)
100 min | Drama
Set during the Orphan Island period of Shanghai, the film follows a group of revolutionary patriots-cum-assassins who finally earn the support of the suffering public.
Director: Chusheng Cai | Stars: Li-li Li, Li Qing, Ming Jiang, Ma Lan
Votes: 20
31. Princess Iron Fan (1941)
Not Rated | 73 min | Animation, Fantasy
Three travelers needing to pass through a fiery mountain seek the magical fan of a princess, but she does not wish to part with it.
Directors: Wan Laiming, Guchan Wan | Stars: Guanxiang Liu, Chen Zhengfa, Zhou Jirang, Shi Fengai
Votes: 320
32. Hong lou meng (1945)
125 min | Drama, Romance
Director: Wancang Bu | Stars: Meiyun Yuan, Xuan Zhou, Hong Bai, Danfeng Wang
Votes: 37
33. Along the Sungari River (1947)
Not Rated | 130 min | Drama
Unfortunate events beset a poor Chinese girl as she escapes from invading Japanese forces, narrowly avoids being raped, and seeks solace in a neighboring village.
Director: Shan Jin | Stars: Ruifang Zhang, Renlu Wang, Ke Pu, Diao Zhou
Votes: 70
34. Taitai Wansui (1947)
112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After setting up a new company with his father-in-law's money, a man neglects his supportive wife for a seductive gold digger.
Director: Hu Sang | Stars: Tianliu Jiang, Fa Zhang, Zhen Lin, Fei Han
Votes: 172
35. The Spring River Flows East (1947)
192 min | Drama, War
1930's China. The village of a poor family is taken over by the occupying Japanese army. One son, Zhongliang, leaves his wife and young son to join a medic group for the Chinese Army. The ... See full summary »
Directors: Chusheng Cai, Junli Zheng | Stars: Yang Bai, Jin Tao, Yinyan Wu, Yunzhu Shangguan
Votes: 369
36. Wanjia denghuo (1948)
Not Rated | 124 min | Drama
This tale of familial warfare and sacrifice takes place in hard-pressed Shanghai at the end of the 1940s. Hu Zhiqing can barely support his wife and children, and his situation is worsened ... See full summary »
Director: Fu Shen | Stars: Ma Lan, Yunzhu Shangguan, Qiaqia Shi, Yinyan Wu
Votes: 153
37. Sorrows of the Forbidden City (1948)
120 min | Drama, History
Set in the Qing Dynasty, years of emperor Guangxu. Guangxu feels involuntarily like a puppet because of dowager Cixi's reigning behind the curtain. He wants to support a political reform.
Director: Shilin Zhu | Stars: Xuan Zhou, Shi Shu, Rhoqing Tang, Fong Pau
Votes: 63
38. Spring in a Small Town (1948)
98 min | Drama, Romance
A lonely housewife finds her monotonous life altered when her childhood sweetheart returns to town.
Director: Mu Fei | Stars: Chaoming Cui, Wei Li, Yu Shi, Wei Wei
Votes: 3,346
39. Crows and Sparrows (1949)
113 min | Drama
A story of a corrupt party official who attempts to sell an apartment building he has appropriated from the original owner and the struggles of the tenants to prevent themselves being thrown onto the street.
Director: Junli Zheng | Stars: Dan Zhao, Yinyan Wu, Daolin Sun, Yunzhu Shangguan
Votes: 319
40. Orphans of the Street (1938)
Approved | 64 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Orphaned Tommy Ryan is informed that the money from his father's estate has run out, and he will have to leave the Holbrook Military Academy. Bunting, the dour superintendent,forces Tommy ... See full summary »
Director: John H. Auer | Stars: Tommy Ryan, Robert Livingston, June Storey, Ralph Morgan
Votes: 18
41. Life of a Beijing Policeman (1950)
120 min | Drama, History
Fifty years of modern Chinese history (1900-1950), including wars, revolutions and corrupt politics, as seen through the life and times of a simple Beijing policeman and his family.
Director: Hui Shi | Stars: Hui Shi, Heling Wei, Yang Shen, Wei Li
Votes: 204
42. The Life of Wu Xun (1951)
208 min | Drama
The life-story of Wu Xun, a beggar in the Qing dynasty who set up free schools for poor children.
Director: Yu Sun | Stars: Dan Zhao, Zongying Huang, Boxun Zhou, Mo Cheng
Votes: 65
43. New Year Sacrifice (1956)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama
Before the Revolution of 1911, widow Aunt Xianglin heard that her mother-in-law would sell her. Therefore, she ran to the Lu town and worked as a servant in Lord Lu Si's house, but she made... See full summary »
Director: Hu Sang | Stars: Ran An, Yang Bai, An-an Cai, Xiaotong Che
Votes: 173
44. City Without Nights (1957)
130 min | Drama
Director: Xiaodan Tang | Stars: Lin Bin, Daolin Sun, Han Tao, Hua Yang
Votes: 14
45. Woman Basketball Player No. 5 (1957)
86 min | Drama, Romance, Sport
"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 ... See full summary »
Director: Jin Xie | Stars: Qiwei Cao, Qiong Liu, Yi Qin, Ke Bi
Votes: 127
46. Wu duo Jinhua (1959)
Not Rated | 105 min | Musical, Romance
Ah Peng meets a girl named Jinhua at a festival and they agree to meet the next year. He searches for her and finds other girls named Jinhua.
Director: Jiayi Wang | Stars: Likun Yang, Zijiang Mo, Jingzhen Sun, Raozhong Tan
Votes: 98
47. The Lin Family Shop (1959)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama
A store in Zhejiang province comes to series of troubles when Japanese invade China and the war break out.
Director: Choui Khoua | Stars: Tian Xie, Bin Lin, Wei Ma, Tao Han
Votes: 155
48. Lin Zexu (1959)
102 min | Drama, History, War
Set in the middle of 19th century, in city of Guangzhou. The United Kingdom stretches her tentacles to China, the country of great antiquity. UK exports a lot of opium to the Qing Dynasty ... See full summary »
Directors: Fan Cen, Junli Zheng | Stars: Dan Zhao, Zheng Gao, Nan Deng, Bo Gao
Votes: 126
50. The Red Detachment of Women (1961)
92 min | Drama, War
In 1930s, Wu Qionghua was a housemaid of Nan-ba-tian, a cruel warlord of a village in Hainan Island, China. Often abused by her master, Qionghua was finally rescued by Hong Changqing, ... See full summary »
Director: Jin Xie | Stars: Xijuan Zhu, Xingang Wang, Mei Xiang, Naihua Jin
Votes: 363
51. Big Li, Little Li and Old Li (1962)
82 min | Comedy, Drama
Sports gain acceptance among workers at a meat processing plant.
Director: Jin Xie | Stars: Haha Fan, Hongda Guan, Xiasheng Liu, Xiaoman Shi
Votes: 93
52. Li Shuangshuang (1962)
Not Rated | 104 min | Comedy
The film described the country woman Li Shuangshuang's character which is straightforward,honest and optimistic
Director: Ren Lu | Stars: Ruifang Zhang, Xinghuo Zhong, Duo Cao, Wenshun Cui
Votes: 46
54. Xiao hua (1979)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Romance, War
This movie is adapted from the novel Heroes in Tongbai. Xiao Hua, a sister of Zhao Yongsheng, is deserted by her poor family. He Xiangdong, a woodworker, adopts her and rename her He Cuigu.... See full summary »
Director: Zheng Zhang | Stars: Guoqiang Tang, Joan Chen, Xiaoqing Liu, Cunzhuang Ge
Votes: 171
55. Troubled Laughter (1981)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama
The film depicts the lives and fates of Chinese intellectuals in an era of cultural revolution manipulated by the Gang of Four. In the winter of 1975, when the newspaper office was reduced ... See full summary »
Directors: Yimin Deng, Yanjin Yang | Stars: Mu Bai, Zhi Cheng, Hengzhi Fu, Fei Gong
Votes: 46
56. Evening Rain (1980)
Not Rated | 86 min | Drama
This is a film which has deep influence upon China in the 1980s. During the period of cultural revolution manipulated by the Gang of Four, Qiu Shi, a poet was sent by Li Yan and Liu Wenying... See full summary »
Director: Yigong Wu | Stars: Bin Lin, Yu Zhang, Ming Qiang, Xinghuo Zhong
Votes: 132
57. Legend of Tianyun Mountain (1980)
126 min | Drama
Director: Jin Xie | Stars: Jianlan Shi, Fuli Wang, Shi Wei-Jian, Xuemin Hong
Votes: 195
58. My Memories of Old Beijing (1983)
96 min | Drama
The film shows the society and life in Beijing in 1920s through the eyes of a 6 year old girl. Yingzi Lin moves to Beijing from Taiwan with her parents. They live in a lane in the southern ... See full summary »
Director: Yigong Wu | Stars: Jie Shen, Min Zhang, Fengyi Zhang, Zhenyao Zheng
Votes: 513
59. Hai tan (1984)
90 min | Drama
Conflicts between the industrialization model and traditional life styles, like small scale fishing and farming.
Director: Wenji Teng | Stars: Gong-jian Du, Jian Gao, Xinchang Gao, Xia-jing Li
Votes: 20
60. River Without Buoys (1983)
Not Rated | 86 min | Drama
The film describes the frustrated experience and love of Pan Laowu, who drains off waste water. It reflects the suffering brought about by the ultra-left route.
Director: Tian-Ming Wu | Stars: Ronghua Hu, Wei Li, Baosen Song, Qingming Tang
Votes: 43
61. Yellow Earth (1984)
TV-PG | 89 min | Drama, History, Music
A communist soldier travels to Shanbei to collect folk songs for propaganda while visiting a poor family.
Director: Kaige Chen | Stars: Xueqi Wang, Bai Xue, Quiang Liu, Tuo Tan
Votes: 2,566
62. In the Wild Mountains (1986)
100 min | Drama
The story of two brothers who are faced with great upheavals when they set up in business after years of communal farming.
Director: Xueshu Yan | Stars: Yuan Du, Lin Pai, Yuzhen Qiu, Xihe Tan
Votes: 75
63. Sacrificed Youth (1986)
92 min | Drama
A young girl from the city is sent out to work in a village of Dai people in China's cultural revolution. Here she learns to enjoy being young and gains a new outlook on life.
Director: Nuanxing Zhang | Stars: Fengxu Li, Yuanzheng Feng, Tao Song, Jianguo Guo
Votes: 141
64. The Big Parade (1986)
94 min | Drama
Stories occurred in the training days before the big parade in the 35th anniversary National Day of China in 1984.
Director: Kaige Chen | Stars: Qiang Guan, Lu Lei, Chun Sun, Li Tung
Votes: 197
65. The Black Cannon Incident (1985)
Not Rated | 96 min | Comedy
Engineer Zhao Shuxin likes playing chess a lot. Once during his business trip, he loses a black cannon chessman which leads to unexpected consequences for him.
Director: Jianxin Huang | Stars: Zifeng Liu, Ming Gao, Gerhard Olschewski, Hui Ge
Votes: 498
66. A Girl from Hunan (1987)
110 min | Drama
The heartbreaking tale of a young girl sold into an arranged marriage with a 2 year old boy who she must raise.
Directors: U Lan, Fei Xie | Stars: Renhua Na, Xiaoguang Deng, Zongxiang Guan, Dang Hiu-Gwong
Votes: 225
67. Hibiscus Town (1987)
164 min | Drama, History, Romance
Love, humiliation, and politics play out in a distant village of China during the Cultural Revolution.
Director: Jin Xie | Stars: Wen Jiang, Linian Liu, Xiaoqing Liu, Ning Xu
Votes: 1,364
68. The Horse Thief (1986)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama
A Tibetan man struggles to provide for his family.
Directors: Zhuangzhuang Tian, Peicheng Pan | Stars: Rigzin Tseshang, Jiji Dan, Daiba, Drashi
Votes: 1,549
69. The Old Well (1987)
129 min | Drama, Romance
A married village worker teams up with an old girlfriend to try to dig a well for his water-starved village. The well collapses and they are trapped. Their enforced confinement leads to ... See full summary »
Director: Tian-Ming Wu | Stars: Yujing Liang, Yuqing Liao, Liping Lü, Xingli Niu
Votes: 369
70. Hai zi wang (I) (1988)
93 min | Adventure, Horror
The story begins when Tien Tien is about to be born. Her father was fighting the demon who has stolen lots of children. Her mother is killed and her father has taken up the fight.
Directors: Chun-Liang Chen, Yang-Ming Tsai | Stars: Chu-Ko Liang, Hsiao-Lao Lin, An An, Hsiao-Mei Chang
Votes: 23
71. Red Sorghum (1988)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, History, Romance
When a leprous winery owner in 1930s China dies a few days after his arranged marriage, his young widow is forced to run the winery to make a living while contending with bandits, her drunkard lover, and the invading Japanese army.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Gong Li, Wen Jiang, Rujun Teng, Ji Liu
Votes: 9,859
72. Woman Demon Human (1987)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
The fictional life and career of a famous actress in Chinese opera, a woman who goes against tradition by specializing in playing male roles, especially that of Zhang Kui, a benevolent ... See full summary »
Director: Shuqin Huang | Stars: Shouli Xu, Baotian Li, Qilin Ji, Yanling Pei
Votes: 145
73. Niu-Peng (1989)
86 min | Drama
In August 1966, the Cultural Revolution in full swing, 13-year-old Tian Ben is arrested for playing a pop record; he's sent to a remote mountain camp in Niu-Peng. There he's called "Four ... See full summary »
Director: Sijie Dai | Stars: Liang Yi Guo, Quan Ngieu Tieu, Cheung Siang Chang, Sam Chi-Vy
Votes: 89
74. Ben ming nian (1990)
107 min | Crime, Drama
A semi-literate who was deprived of schooling during the Cultural Revolution, Li Huiquan, is released from labor camp. But his attempts to make good are continually thwarted. His street ... See full summary »
Director: Fei Xie | Stars: Wen Jiang, Cheng Lin, Hong Yue, Xiaoning Liu
Votes: 552
75. Ju Dou (1990)
PG-13 | 95 min | Drama, Romance
In rural China, the young bride of a tyrannical owner of a silk-dyeing business finds temporary solace in the arms of her husband's nephew, but problems arise when she becomes pregnant.
Directors: Yimou Zhang, Fengliang Yang | Stars: Gong Li, Wei Li, Baotian Li, Zhang Yi
Votes: 9,007 | Gross: $1.99M
76. Life on a String (1991)
110 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A blind man's master told him that after he has broken 1000 strings on his Banjo, he can open the Banjo to get a script for his eyes. After 60 years he broke the 1000th string...
Director: Kaige Chen | Stars: Zhongyuan Liu, Lei Huang, Qing Xu, Yao Er Ga
Votes: 704
77. Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
PG | 125 min | Drama, Romance
China in the 1920s. After her father's death, Songlian is forced to marry the wealthy Master Chen. With three wives already, each living in a separate house, there is fierce competition for his attention and the privileges that are gained.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Gong Li, Jingwu Ma, Saifei He, Cuifen Cao
Votes: 35,299 | Gross: $2.60M
78. Mama (1990)
90 min | Drama
A young woman who has been abandoned by her husband is left to cope with her mentally challenged and epileptic 13-year-old son. Dong Dong suffered brain damage during an acute epileptic ... See full summary »
Director: Yuan Zhang | Stars: Qingyu Yan, Xiaodan Yang
Votes: 50
79. The Story of Qiu Ju (1992)
PG | 100 min | Comedy, Drama
A peasant woman seeks justice after the headman of her village has kicked her husband in the groin.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Gong Li, Peiqi Liu, Liuchun Yang, Kesheng Lei
Votes: 6,640 | Gross: $1.89M
80. Beijing Bastards (1993)
88 min | Drama
A rock musician looks for his girl-friend who left while pregnant, trying to decide whether to keep the baby.
Director: Yuan Zhang | Stars: Jian Cui, Wen Li, Bian Tianshuo, Li Wei
Votes: 192
81. The Blue Kite (1993)
140 min | Drama, History
The lives of a Beijing family throughout the 1950s and 1960s, as they experience the impact of the Hundred Flowers Campaign, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution.
Director: Zhuangzhuang Tian | Stars: Tian Yi, Wenyao Zhang, Xiaoman Chen, Liping Lü
Votes: 3,254 | Gross: $0.36M
82. The Days (1993)
80 min | Drama
The Days is Wang Xiaoshuai's 1993 debut. Filmed in black-and-white, The Days follows the life of two married artists who have graduated from the Beijing Art Institute.
Director: Xiaoshuai Wang | Stars: Xiaodong Liu, Ye Lou, Hong Yu
Votes: 191
83. Farewell My Concubine (1993)
R | 171 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Two boys meet at an opera training school in Peking in 1924. Their resulting friendship will span nearly 70 years and endure some of the most troublesome times in China's history.
Director: Kaige Chen | Stars: Leslie Cheung, Fengyi Zhang, Gong Li, You Ge
Votes: 33,077 | Gross: $5.22M
84. Woman Sesame Oil Maker (1993)
105 min | Drama
If money can't buy happiness, can it at least buy control over others? Xiang is hard-working, running a small sesame oil business. Her husband is lazy and drinks; her son is blood simple. ... See full summary »
Director: Fei Xie | Stars: Siqin Gaowa, Yujuan Wu, Kesheng Lei, Baoguo Chen
Votes: 404
85. Ermo (1994)
Not Rated | 98 min | Comedy, Drama
A woman gets obsessed with buying a television for her family.
Director: Xiaowen Zhou | Stars: Liya Ai, Peiqi Liu, Zhijun Ge, Haiyan Zhang
Votes: 461 | Gross: $0.06M
86. In the Heat of the Sun (1994)
134 min | Drama, Romance
Beijing, 1970s. Now that the CR has driven most adults to the provinces, 14-year-old Monkey and his pals have free reign over the city. They hang around, get up to no good, and discover that unsolvable mystery referred to as "girls."
Director: Wen Jiang | Stars: Yu Xia, Wei Chen, Shaobo Dai, Hua Fang
Votes: 5,517
88. On the Beat (1995)
102 min | Comedy
Take crime out of police work, and what's left is procedures. In the western sector of Beijing, we follow the tedium of police officers. A rabid dog is loose in Guoli's beat: a gang of ... See full summary »
Director: Ying Ning | Stars: Li Jian, Liu Ying Shu, Liangui Wang, Tao Xu
Votes: 176
89. Xiaoshan Going Home (1995)
59 min | Drama
A cook living in Beijing, whose employment is coming to an end, plans to return home to his rural village for the New Year. He approaches several of his old friends, also working in the ... See full summary »
Director: Zhangke Jia | Stars: Shuzhe Dong, Hongwei Wang, Sheng Yao, Xiaomin Zhou
Votes: 182
90. East Palace, West Palace (1996)
90 min | Drama
Before the 1990s P.R.China criminalized the LGBT population. Without family law and marriage law for the LGBT couples, many had to secretly encounter for sexual activities with the risk of police arrests.
Director: Yuan Zhang | Stars: Si Han, Jun Hu, Jing Ye, Wei Zhao
Votes: 1,085 | Gross: $0.05M
91. The King of Masks (1995)
91 min | Drama
In a remote area of China, in the 1930s, a street performer named Wang practices the change-mask opera art of bian lian. Seeking to pass his art, Wang buys what he believes to be an orphan boy, but quickly learns his new disciple's secret.
Director: Tian-Ming Wu | Stars: Xu Zhu, Renying Zhou, Zhigang Zhao, Li Chen
Votes: 3,469 | Gross: $1.10M
92. Wu Shan Yun Yu (1996)
96 min | Comedy, Drama
Mai Qiang is a 30-year old bachelor, withdrawn, with little in his life besides his job at an isolated signal station along the Yangtze River and his ink drawings he uses as toilet paper. ... See full summary »
Director: Ming Zhang | Stars: Xiu Jiang, Bing Li, Shengguo Wang, Wenqiang Wang
Votes: 177
93. Out of Phoenix Bridge (1997)
110 min | Documentary
This groundbreaking work from Li Hong, China's first independent female documentarian, follows two years in the lives of four young women from the countryside who have come to Beijing for ... See full summary »
Director: Hong Li
Votes: 9
94. Pickpocket (1997)
Unrated | 108 min | Drama
A small town pickpocket whose friends have moved on to higher trades finds himself bitter and unable to adapt.
Director: Zhangke Jia | Stars: Hongwei Wang, Hongjian Hao, Baitao Zuo, Ma Jinrei
Votes: 3,285
95. Jiang Hu: Life on the Road (1999)
150 min | Documentary
A documentary of the Yuanda Song and Dance Tent Show, a wandering troupe from the countryside of Henan Province that is on the road all four seasons of the year.
Director: Wenguang Wu
Votes: 18
96. Not One Less (1999)
G | 106 min | Drama
In a remote mountain village, the teacher must leave for a month, and the mayor can find only a 13-year old girl, Wei Minzhi, to substitute. The teacher leaves one stick of chalk for each ... See full summary »
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Minzhi Wei, Huike Zhang, Zhenda Tian, Enman Gao
Votes: 9,354 | Gross: $0.59M
97. The Road Home (1999)
G | 89 min | Drama, Romance
Prompted by the death of his father and the grief of his mother, a man recalls the story of how they met in flashback.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Ziyi Zhang, Honglei Sun, Hao Zheng, Yulian Zhao
Votes: 13,904 | Gross: $1.28M
98. Shower (1999)
PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy, Drama
A young wealthy businessman's icy attitude toward his working-class background is about to thaw as he is forced to reconnect with his elderly father and mentally challenged younger brother, who together run a public bathhouse.
Director: Yang Zhang | Stars: Jiayi Du, Zheng Fang, Bing He, Wu Jiang
Votes: 4,220 | Gross: $1.15M
99. Devils on the Doorstep (2000)
139 min | Comedy, Drama, War
Villagers in World War II China are unsure what to do with the two enemy prisoners who have been left in their care.
Director: Wen Jiang | Stars: Wen Jiang, Kenya Sawada, Hongbo Jiang, Teruyuki Kagawa
Votes: 8,607 | Gross: $0.02M
100. Platform (2000)
154 min | Drama, History
A theatre troupe from rural Fenyang struggles under the decline of communism and rise of popular culture in China in the 1980s.
Director: Zhangke Jia | Stars: Hongwei Wang, Tao Zhao, Liang Jingdong, Tian-yi Yang
Votes: 3,071
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