Directory of World Cinema: China
Vol 12 and 26
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- DirectorHaibin DuThe "Great Sichuan Earthquake" took place at 14:28 on May 12, 2008. 10 days after: Scenes not seen on official/TV, "survival" is the keyword. Ordinary people are salvaging destroyed pig farms in the mountains, recuperating cents-worth scrapped metals, or pillaging victims' homes. Behind the highly-mediatized official visits, inconsolable grief of families searching for loved ones. Throughout, a vagabond in tattered clothes wanders among the ruins, observing tragic scenes. A monk and a Taoist visionary suggest: "the earthquake is the consequence of Earth-Gods no longer worshipped." 210 days after: Harsh winter, villagers preparing for Lunar New Year, the vagabond and family are detailing grievances about the ill-handling of rebuilding schemes and relief funds. Gearing up for a high official's visit, comes a thorough clean-up of the villages and tent-resettlement for refugees. Promise made for all to live in houses in winter seems tough to keep. Fake parts in the community transformer brought electricity blackout for New Year's Eve reunion dinners. New Year Day starts as never-ending parade of tourists buying DVDs of the most horrific scenes, souvenir albums of corpses being pulled out of the ruins, and photos taken in front of Beichuan, the town most severely hit, where over 70,000 people perished in seconds.
- DirectorJohn WooStarsLung TiLeslie CheungChow Yun-FatA reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.
- DirectorEdward YangStarsChang ChenLisa YangKuo-Chu ChangBased on a true story, primarily on a conflict between two youth gangs, a 14-year-old boy's girlfriend conflicts with the head of one gang for an unclear reason, until finally the conflict comes to a violent climax.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsChia-bao ChangNeng ChangChih-Chen ChenThe semi-autobiographical film on director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's childhood and adolescence, when he was growing up in Taiwan, living through the deaths of his father, mother and grandmother.
- DirectorClifton KoStarsLeslie CheungStephen ChowRaymond Pak-Ming WongA romantic Chinese New Year comedy about the three Shang brothers. Eldest brother Shang Moon is a philandering businessman who treats his hideous yet hard-working wife like dirt. Middle brother Shang Foon is a disc jockey/playboy who tries to score with as many girls as possible. Youngest brother Shang So is an obviously gay dance instructor. Moon soon gets the tables turned on him as his wife leaves to become a glamorous karaoke hostess, and Foon gets into a bizarre relationship with a fan so obsessed with movies that she constantly acts out characters on dates, until he suddenly becomes temporarily mentally ill. And So is continually at odds with obvious butch lesbian family cousin. Hilarity ensues.
- 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.
- DirectorAnn HuiStarsGeorge LamCora MiaoSeason MaA Japanese photojournalist revisits Vietnam after the Liberation and learns harsh truths about its regime and its "New Economic Zones".
- DirectorJohn WooStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiJacky CheungWaise LeeWhen three close friends escape from Hong Kong to war-time Saigon to start a criminal's life, they all go through a harrowing experience which totally shatters their lives and their friendship forever.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsYo HitotoTadanobu AsanoMasato HagiwaraThe story revolves around Yoko Inoue, a pregnant woman in search of a cafe that was frequented by a Taiwanese composer whose life she is researching.
- DirectorTe-Sheng WeiStarsVan FanChie TanakaMin-HsiungA unusual group of people in a village on the coast of Taiwan form a band to perform at a beach concert, while the lead singer searches for the intended recipient of 7 lost love letters.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiShu-Fen HsinSung-Young ChenThe story of a family embroiled in the "White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government after their arrival from mainland China in the late 1940s.
- DirectorRingo LamStarsChow Yun-FatYueh SunDanny LeeAn undercover cop infiltrates a gang of thieves who plan to rob a jewelry store.
- DirectorKing HuStarsPei-Pei ChengHua YuehChih-Ching YangBandits kidnap a governor's son and demand their imprisoned leader to be set free in exchange. The governor's daughter, a skilled martial artist, is sent to rescue him, but eventually finds herself overmatched and in need of assistance.
- DirectorKing HuStarsPolly Ling-Feng Shang-KuanChun ShihYing BaiWhen the children of an executed General are pursued in 1457 China, some heroic martial arts swordsmen intervene.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsSihung LungKuei-Mei YangWang Yu-wenA senior chef lives with his three grown daughters; the middle one finds her future plans affected by unexpected events and the life changes of the other household members.
- DirectorWei LoStarsBruce LeeNora MiaoJames TienA young man seeks vengence for the death of his teacher.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiMichiko HadaMichelle ReisIn the "flower houses" (upscale brothels) of Shanghai, various interweaving stories of love, loyalty, and deceit play out subtly.
- DirectorTsai Ming-liangStarsKang-sheng LeeShiang-chyi ChenKiyonobu MitamuraOn a dark, wet night a historic and regal Chinese cinema sees its final film. Together with a small handful of souls they bid "Goodbye, Dragon Inn".
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsJieh-Wen KingKuei-Ying HsuAnnie Shizuka InohA glimpse at the lives of two petty criminals in Taipei.
- DirectorJohn WooStarsChow Yun-FatTony Leung Chiu-waiTeresa MoA tough-as-nails cop teams up with an undercover agent to shut down a sinister mobster and his crew.
- DirectorAlfred CheungStarsCarol 'Do Do' ChengTony Ka Fai LeungAlfred CheungShapely mainland Chinese police inspector Cousin is forced to work with a Hong Kong cop, fighting against him almost until the end credits roll, when she reveals more than her Communist credentials.
- DirectorWen JiangStarsYu XiaWei ChenShaobo DaiBeijing, 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."
- DirectorYi ChangI-Chen KoTe-chen TaoStarsEmily Y. ChangSylvia ChangChi ChenFour short films from four different directors, spanning from the 1950s to the 1980s.
- DirectorKim ChunStarsKim ChunYee FokChung-Ping Geung
- DirectorYimou ZhangFengliang YangStarsGong LiWei LiBaotian LiIn 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.
- DirectorKaige ChenStarsYuan XieXuewen YangShaohua ChenThis film is adapted from the novel of Ah Cheng. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), a young man is assigned to teach in village school.
- DirectorKing-wai CheungKJ is a biography of a HK musical genius. At the age of 11, KJ won the Best Pianist price and went to Czech to perform with a professional orchestra. Touching on subjects such as the meaning of life, God and the artistic process, the director's 6-year-conversations with KJ reveal how a young man inspires by his music teacher, Nancy Loo and how he conflicts with his peers and parents. KJ is not about the victory of a genius, but how he learns to be a "human being".
- DirectorYi ChangStarsHui-Shan YangHsiang-Ping HuLi-Chun LeeThis film tells of a woman's never-ending struggle to keep herself and her family fed and clothed.
- DirectorVincent ChuiStarsIvy HoTony HoDuncan Lai
- DirectorCheh ChangStarsJimmy Wang YuChiao ChiaoChung-Hsin HuangA noble swordsman, whose arm had been chopped off, returns to his former teacher to defend him from a villainous gang of rival swordsmen.
- DirectorChing DoeStarsJeanette Lin TsuiHong MuJulie Yeh Feng
- DirectorZhangke JiaStarsHongwei WangHongjian HaoBaitao ZuoA small town pickpocket whose friends have moved on to higher trades finds himself bitter and unable to adapt.
- DirectorZhangke JiaStarsHongwei WangTao ZhaoLiang JingdongA theatre troupe from rural Fenyang struggles under the decline of communism and rise of popular culture in China in the 1980s.
- DirectorJohnnie ToStarsSimon YamSuet LamRuby WongWhen an obnoxious detective loses his gun to four young thugs, it's up to the P.T.U. (Police Tactical Unit) and their iron-willed leader to recover the weapon and clean up the mess before daybreak.
- DirectorStanley KwanStarsLeslie CheungAnita MuiAlex ManFleur is the blue angel in one of Hong Kong's "flower houses" - bordellos and night clubs of the 1930s. A detached and beautiful performer, she falls in love with Twelfth Master Chan, heir to a chain of pharmacies. They agree to a suicide pact. 50 years later, in modern Hong Kong, Fleur's ghost appears in Yuen's newspaper office, wanting to place an ad to find Chan, who never arrived in the afterlife. Yuen, and his equally bewildered girlfriend, An Chor, are captivated by Fleur and her story.
- DirectorMu FeiStarsChaoming CuiWei LiYu ShiA lonely housewife finds her monotonous life altered when her childhood sweetheart returns to town.
- DirectorZhuangzhuang TianStarsJingfan HuJun WuBai Qing XinThe eight-year marriage of Liyan and Yuwen has left them both unfulfilled and distant. A visitor arrives from Shanghai, a doctor who's an old school friend of Liyan's and, unbeknownst to her husband, Yuwen's childhood sweetheart.
- 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.
- DirectorYe LouStarsXun ZhouHongsheng JiaZhongkai HuaAfter getting out of prison, small-time crook Mardar stumbles upon a woman who looks exactly like his long-lost lover.
- DirectorEdward YangStarsChin TsaiHsiao-Hsien HouI-Chen KoLung is a former member of the national Little League team who lives with his old childhood sweetheart Ah-chin, a traditional family woman. Although they live together, Ah-chin is weary of Lung's past liaison with another girl.
- DirectorCheh ChangStarsDavid ChiangLung TiKuan Tai ChenAssassin Chang and his brother Hung meet up with a soldier, Mu. Together, they form a small mountain army, but when Hung's wife arrives, emotions swell, and Mu leaves for the army. After long, Mu summons his friends to join him, but all the while, he has longed for Hung's wife, and tries to have Hung murdered. This treason forces Hung to take up arms against his former comrade.
- DirectorZhuangzhuang TianStarsTian YiWenyao ZhangXiaoman ChenThe 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.
- DirectorTsai Ming-liangStarsKuei-Mei YangKang-sheng LeeMiao TienWhile never-ending rain and a strange disease spread by cockroaches ravage Taiwan, a plumber makes a hole between two apartments and the inhabitants of each form a unique connection, enacted in musical numbers.
- DirectorZhuangzhuang TianPeicheng PanStarsRigzin TseshangJiji DanDaibaA Tibetan man struggles to provide for his family.
- DirectorYuen ChorStarsShen ChanKuan Tai ChenMei Hua ChenA group of people are crowded together in a crappy tenement slum. The place is ruled with an iron fist by its strict landlady, who along with her sleazy husband, tries to exploit their tenants in whatever way they see fit.
- DirectorJohn WooStarsChow Yun-FatDanny LeeSally YehA disillusioned assassin accepts one last hit in hopes of using his earnings to restore vision to a singer he accidentally blinded.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsTien-Lu LiGiong LimKuei-Chung ChengPuppeteer Li Tian-lu tells his life story, and through it, the story of Taiwan in the first half of the 20th century.
- DirectorEdward YangStarsCora MiaoLi-Chun LeeShih-Chieh KingA metaphysical mystery about the lives of three couples in Taipei that continually intersect over a span of several weeks.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsWinston ChaoMay ChinAh-Lei GuaTo satisfy his nagging parents, a gay landlord and a female tenant agree to a marriage of convenience, but his parents arrive to visit and things get out of hand.
- DirectorTian-Lin WangStarsGrace ChangYang ChangPo-Chien ChinGrace Chang seduces as Hong Kong's most sensual Carmen ever. The torrid passions of Bizet's famous opera gets a postmodern reading when it is transposed to the noir-like setting of Hong Kong's Wanchai district. One of the most exhilarating and energetic musicals in the Chinese language.
- DirectorZhangke JiaStarsTao ZhaoTaishen ChengJue JingAn exploration on the impact of urbanization and globalization on a traditional culture.
- DirectorJie HuStarsJingyao WangPioneering filmmaker Hu Jie uncovers the tragic story of a teacher beaten to death by her students during the Cultural Revoution. In 1966, the Cultural Revolution exploded throughout China, as Mao's Red Guards persecuted suspected Rightists. Bian Zhongyun, the vice principal of a prestigious school in Beijing, was beaten to death by her own students, becoming one of the first victims of the revolutionary violence that would engulf the entire nation.
- DirectorChia-Liang LiuStarsChow Yun-FatNina Li ChiConan LeeA seasoned cop and his rookie partner are a pair of mismatched partners in this Hong Kong action-comedy in the style of 'Lethal Weapon'. The wacky twosome are up in arms as they try to solve the murder of a heroin trafficker.
- 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.
- DirectorFei XieStarsSiqin GaowaYujuan WuKesheng LeiThe tragedies of two Chinese country women: a wealthy sesame oil seller and her daughter-in-law, married to her son.
- DirectorEdward YangStarsNien-Jen WuElaine JinIssei OgataEach member of a middle-class Taipei family seeks to reconcile past and present relationships within their daily lives.
- DirectorHo-Cheung PangStarsEric KotTat-Ming CheungAsuka HiguchiDuring a slack period, contract killers market their business as a consumer experience.
- DirectorChia-Liang LiuStarsChia-Hui LiuLieh LoYue WongA man studies kung fu at the Shaolin Temple to fight back against the oppressive Manchu government.
- DirectorXiaogang FengStarsDaoming ChenChen LiYi LuThe epic story of a family separated as a result of the Great Tangshan Earthquake of 1976.
- DirectorPatrick TamStarsAaron KwokCharlie YeungIan Iskandar GouwAfter his mother flees the family home, a son turns to thieving in order to support his father, an abusive sort who is addicted to gambling.
- DirectorMabel CheungStarsChow Yun-FatCherie ChungDanny Bak-Keung ChanFilmed in New York, story of naive young woman from Hong Kong who goes to New York to study. Street-wise cabbie cousin takes care of her in the big city.
- DirectorShu Shuen TongStarsLisa LuRoy ChiaoHilda Chow HsuanA woman falls in love with a visiting cavalry captain, but chooses to suppress it for the sake of her daughter.
- DirectorYuan ZhangStarsJian CuiWen LiBian TianshuoA rock musician looks for his girl-friend who left while pregnant, trying to decide whether to keep the baby.
- DirectorYu SunStarsYan JinYanyan ChenLi-li LiSix 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 community, and two friendly and flirtatious young local girls who become part of their circle. Meanwhile, their hard work is countered by a traitorous foreman bribed by Japanese agents to sabotage the road.
- DirectorYonfanStarsStephen FungDaniel WuShu QiThe emotional travails of a handsome gigolo and a hunky cop, who are trying to come to terms with their sexuality.
- DirectorJianxin HuangStarsZifeng LiuMing GaoGerhard OlschewskiEngineer 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.
- DirectorRonny YuStarsBrigitte LinLeslie CheungFrancis NgCho Yat-Hang, the unwilling successor to the Wu-Tang clan throne and the unsure commander of the clan's forces in a war against an evil cult, falls in forbidden love with Lien Ni-Chang, a killer for the evil cult.
- DirectorYan-Yan MakStarsJosie HoEric KotYuan TianA married teacher/closeted lesbian meets a young, free spirited singer who will allow her to rediscover herself.
- DirectorStanley KwanStarsMaggie CheungHan ChinTony Ka Fai LeungBiopic of 1930s Chinese actress Lingyu Ruan.
- DirectorShu Shuen TongStarsChi-Lu TsengHsiao-Ling ShawPao-Hsien FengFour college students and a doctor try to escape the Cultural Revolution.
- DirectorSiu-Tung ChingStarsLeslie CheungJoey WangWu MaAfter a string of bad luck, a debt collector has no other choice than to spend the night in a haunted temple, where he encounters a ravishing female ghost and later battles to save her soul from the control of a wicked tree demon.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsBrigitte LinTakeshi KaneshiroTony Leung Chiu-waiTwo melancholic Hong Kong policemen fall in love: one with a mysterious female underworld figure, the other with a beautiful and ethereal waitress at a late-night restaurant he frequents.
- DirectorPeter Ho-Sun ChanStarsMaggie CheungLeon LaiEric TsangTwo Chinese-mainlanders living in Hong Kong form a close friendship. Over the years this grows into love, but there are obstacles.
- DirectorXiling ShenStarsDan ZhaoYang BaiBan LüFour 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 flimsy wall of planks separating him from the room behind. Miss Yang, in town to take a factory job, moves in behind. Her nails into the wall knock Zhao's photos down. The unseen neighbours start playing tit for tat... Zhao gets a job as proofreader at a newspaper. He sees that pretty girl on the tram to work every day. He doesn't know her, but it's Miss Yang... Zhao is assigned to cover labour conditions for the paper. He is sent to a factory, the one where Miss Yang works...
- DirectorAng LeeStarsChow Yun-FatMichelle YeohZiyi ZhangA young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.
- DirectorHark TsuiStarsLieh LoChen-Chi LinAlbert AuThree lazybones friends manufacture a firebomb and place it in a cinema. Pearl, a sadistic young girl, has observed the scene, follows the bombers and starts to manipulate them. The four criminals plan more and more daring acts.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsLeslie CheungMaggie CheungAndy LauA man tries to find out who his real mother is after the woman who raised him tells him the truth.
- DirectorWen JiangStarsWen JiangKenya SawadaHongbo JiangVillagers in World War II China are unsure what to do with the two enemy prisoners who have been left in their care.
- DirectorJohnnie ToStarsLouis KooYuanyuan GaoDaniel WuAn original twist on an eternal triangle, where secret crush and unrequited love take on altogether newfangled meanings of their own.
- DirectorWoo-Ping YuenStarsJackie ChanSiu-Tin YuenJeong-lee HwangWong Fei-Hung is a mischievous yet righteous young man, but after a series of incidents his frustrated father has him disciplined by a master of drunken martial arts.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsGrace ChenShu-Fang ChenShu-Fen HsinA young couple leave their mining town home for Taipei where they struggle to eke out a living in an industrial wasteland.
- DirectorTieli XieStarsDaolin SunFang XieYunzhu ShangguanJianqiu is a high school teacher and sympathizes Mrs. Wen, a widow whose husband was Jianqiu's schoolmate and died in the Guangzhou Uprising. Jianqiu and Lan fall in love, but Jianqiu decides to marry Mrs. Wen.
- DirectorYuan ZhangStarsSi HanJun HuJing YeBefore 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.
- DirectorYin-jung ChenStarsYo YangDuncan LaiKing ChinA gay teenager falls for an architect after moving to the city to find a summer job.
- DirectorMong-Hong ChungStarsShiao Hai PiShih-Chieh KingLei HaoTen year-old Xiang faces a lonely future after his father dies. Just when he thinks he's going to spend his life in the orphanage, his estranged mother shows up. And his life changes forever... A loveless mother, a hateful stepfather, a chilly home. Where's Xiang heading to? He finds comfort in drawing and his work reveals his longing for care and affection. Life is full of hope again when he meets the old school janitor who doesn't show his kindness easily and a portly man who has crazy ideas and is haunted with nightmares of his brother. A scary truth is about to be unmasked. Will Xiang be able to depict his own image in the fourth portrait?
- DirectorJohnnie ToKa-Fai WaiStarsAndy LauTakashi SorimachiKelly LinTwo very different hitmen find themselves to be in each other's way. They use all their skill to solve the problem.
- DirectorClement Sze-Kit ChengChi-Kin KwokStarsSiu-Lung LeungKuan Tai ChenTeddy Robin KwanWeedy office worker Cheung is sent to a remote village to secure property rights for his real estate company. Two martial artists run the village's teahouse, which was once the kung-fu school of their teacher Master Law. Law is in fact lying unconscious upstairs in a three decades-long coma, but he awakes when gym boss and local landlord Pong attempts to secure the teahouse for redevelopment. Law mistakes Cheung for a former student and starts training him in preparation for a martial-arts tournament at Pong's gym that will decide all their fates.
- DirectorJing WongStarsChow Yun-FatAndy LauJoey WangA master gambler loses his memory and is befriended by a street hustler who discovers his supernatural gambling abilities.
- DirectorCheh ChangStarsPei-Pei ChengJimmy Wang YuLieh LoThe indomitable martial arts team of director Chang Cheh and stunt choreographer Liu Chia-liang continues the compelling saga of Golden Swallow from King Hu's Come Drink with Me in this sequel of heartbreaking romance, jianghu intrigue and stunning action.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiZiyi ZhangJin ZhangThe story of martial-arts master Ip Man, the man who trained Bruce Lee.
- 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.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsLeslie CheungTony Leung Chiu-waiChang ChenA couple take a trip to Argentina but both men find their lives drifting apart in opposite directions.
- DirectorPeter Ho-Sun ChanChi LeeStarsLeslie CheungCarina LauAnita YuenA singer is so desperate to meet a famous record producer and his singer girlfriend that she disguises herself as a man, resulting in a wild love triangle.
- DirectorJin XieStarsWen JiangLinian LiuXiaoqing LiuLove, humiliation, and politics play out in a distant village of China during the Cultural Revolution.
- DirectorHo YimStarsJosephine KooSiqin GaowaWeixiang XieCoral, a Hong Kong woman tortured by city life, returns to her hometown to visit her two old friends. They all find that some precious things in life that disappear through the years can never be recovered.
- DirectorAndrew LauAlan MakStarsAndy LauTony Leung Chiu-waiAnthony Chau-Sang WongA story between a mole in the police department and an undercover cop. Their objectives are the same: to find out who is the mole, and who is the cop.
- DirectorAndrew LauAlan MakStarsEdison ChenShawn YueAnthony Chau-Sang WongIn this prequel to Mou gaan dou (2002), Chan Wing Yan has just become an undercover cop in the triads while Lau Kin Ming joins the police force. Both the triads and the police find an enemy in a rival crime boss.
- DirectorAndrew LauAlan MakStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiAndy LauLeon LaiMonths after the events of the original film, Ming suspects a police superintendent as being a new mole for the triads, while years earlier, Yan embarks on his first mission.