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 The Road Home
Eclipsing any romantic comedy or drama
from Hollywood in the last 30 years, The Road Home achieves so much by
doing very little. Master filmmaker Zhang Yimou successfully captures
what it's really like to fall in love for the first time through his
use of cinematography (sumptuous as always), unparalleled attention to
detail, and, as always, a super strong cast (spearheaded by relative
newcomer, the beautiful Zhang Ziyi). Unlike most romance movies, there
is no love-making in this film. There is no kissing. The characters
show their love through little things that we often take for granted:
preparing food, giving small yet meaningful gifts, and other gestures.
Like most of Zhang Yimou's films, there is relatively little music,
however, the music that is there is perfect. It rises to the occasion
when needed and dies down when not.
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 Good Men Good Women (2002)
Good Men Good Women is one of Hou's more
ambitious films. It, like the Puppet master, attempts to meld the lives
of its main character to the history of the period of Taiwan in which
that character lived. In this film, Hou examines the life of an actress
in the present day as she prepares for her next role as an anti-Japanese
freedom fighter who was of some national acclaim in the 1940's and
1950's. The film freely changes time periods between the modern day
actress's life, the life of the freedom fighter she's playing, the
actress's own past, and the actress's conception of her role in outtakes
from the film she's to shoot. This is somewhat confusing, as the film
expects you to put it all together yourself, but the answers are all
there for you to find. The film's acting and pacing are similar to other
films by Hou, but the film is shorter than most of his others, which
might make it a great introduction to his work. I'd recomend it highly
to anyone though, as it proves challenging, artistic, politically bold
films are still being made.
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 Yi Yi
(2000)
Once in a while you walk out of the
theatre and you find yourself giving a big sigh. When that happens,
it's not because you're tired about a movie you just have seen. On the
contrary. In my case it means that I just experienced an art form that
cannot be compared with any other kind of art. Yi Yi is a good example
of this. For those who watch carefully, they will discover that the
story of Yi Yi is not more than a saga, perhaps even a soap plot of a
ordinary middle class family in Taipei. But those who have patience to
go beyond the facade of the ordinary, they will see a movie dealing
about individualism, childhood, commitments, second chances, urban
loneliness, broken promises, families, despair and death. But Yi Yi
also shows us the small qualities of life: humor, laughter, life
questions posed by a diligent and intelligent young kid, first love,
courage, the meaning of life and the search for happiness.
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 The Last Emperor
Everything that was good about the
163-minute theatrical release of Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last
Emperor in 1987 is even better in this new 218-minute director's
cut. By contrast, much that was peculiarly distant and lifeless the
first time around isn't really better or worse in this edition.
Conclusion: the net gains are considerable if you invest time to
appreciate Bertolucci's full feeling for the odd story of Pu Yi,
China's final monarch. You remember the saga: taken from his mother at
the age of three, Pu Yi is brought into the enclosed walls of the
Forbidden City to replace the real emperor. There he becomes a
pampered prisoner and hollow symbol of an older monarchy that has
since given way to a ruthless, 20th century republic.
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 Mulan
Solid entertainment from a new group of
Disney animators. The story source is a Chinese fable about a young
girl who disguises herself as a man to help her family and her
country. When the Huns attack China, a call to arms goes out to every
village, and Mulan's father, being the only man in the family, accepts
the call. Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen, sung by Lea Salonga) has just
made a disastrous appearance at the Matchmaker and decides to
challenge society's expectations (being a bride). She steals her
father's conscription notice, cuts her hair, and impersonates a man to
join the army. She goes to boot camp, learning to fit in with the
other soldiers with some help from her sidekick, Mushu, a
wise-cracking dragon (voiced by Eddie Murphy). She trains, and soon
faces the Huns eye-to-eye to protect her Emperor.
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 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- An epic set against the breathtaking landscapes of ancient China, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, combines the exhilarating martial arts choreography by Yuen Wo-Pind (The Matrix) with the sensitivity and classical storytelling of an Ang Lee film. The result is something truly unexpected: romantic, emotionally powerful entertainment.
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 Not One Less
- Zhang Yimou's (Raise the Red Lantern) tale of a plucky adolescent substitute teacher in a rural Chinese village, cast entirely with nonreactors and shot on location, is an astute example of censorship politics. Taking on touchy issues with a veneer of can-do spirit and happy-ending fantasy, his film is at once rousing and eye-opening. Wei Minzhi is a stubborn young woman who takes a substitute teaching job in a tiny provincial town because they can't afford anyone else. When one troublemaking boy heads off to the city to help support his starving family, it's not a sense of responsibility that drives her rescue mission, it's money: She won't receive her bonus if any students are missing. Her efforts to raise money for the city trip pulls the class together in a sense of purpose, and even drives the lessons, but when she finally reaches the city she's shocked to discover an urban jungle of lost and runaway kids.
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 The Emperor's Shadow
- The First Emperor of China is a very controversial historical figure. Even to this day historians are not sure what to say about him. On the one hand, he was very brutal. So brutal that shortly after his death, his dynasty was overthrown. However, it was he who unified China, started to build the Great Wall, had the Terra Cotta Warriors built. So, do the ends justify the means? Do we accept his brutality as a necessity to unify China? Historians are still not sure and this is the question that both this film and the Emperor and the Assassin deal with.
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 The Emperor and The Assassin
- The Emperor and the Assassin is an underrated masterpiece from Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine). Set in the third century B.C., the film tells the story of Ying Zheng (played by Li Xuejian, who also starred in The Blue Kite and Shanghai Triad), the ruler of the Qin kingdom, who seeks to unite China by force and become its first emperor. At first his goals are lofty, but in pursuit of what he considers a heavenly mandate and his historical destiny, he ends up killing thousands of people. Ultimately, he is confronted by an assassin named Jing Ke (Zhang Fengyi) who is bent on ending his grand but misguided plans.
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 To Live- This epic saga from the director of "Raise the Red Lantern" follows four generations of one family as they struggle through the turbulence of 20th-century China. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.
- Students' Movie Reviews
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- Raise the Red Lighten
The old master of a powerful family in 1920's China supports three wives. Each has her own house within the closed world of the family compound, where every evening a red lantern is lit in front of the door of the wife with whom the master chooses to sleep. Let the rivalries begin.
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- Eat Drink Man Woman
A Chinese widower and father of three beautiful daughters discovers that no matter how good his cooking is, it's not as tempting as sex in this comedy from the director of "The Wedding Banquet." Academy Award Nomination: Best Foreign Language Film.
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 Judo - An erotic tale of forbidden love as an embittered and impotent factory owner's battered bride and his overworked nephew secretly maintain a relationship until it seems murder is the only only way to be together freely. Ultimately, JU-DOU addresses the problems of China's feudal society in the 1920s. Martin Scorse, Woody Allen, and other major filmmakers spoke out against Chinese officials who attempted to censor the film and keep it out of theaters.
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 Farewell My Concubine
The critically-acclaimed film that won both the Palm D'Or at Cannes and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, this picture tells the story of two best friends torn apart by a beautiful woman. Set amidst the turmoil of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, this passionate tale captures the essence of a changing world without losing sight of the intimate and touching details of its simple love story. Academy Award Nominations: Best Cinematography. Academy Awards: Best Foreign Language Film. |
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 The Story of Qiu Ju- A woman fights tradition, bureaucracy and
provincialism in order to seek justice for her wronged husband in this satirical look at
modern China. Winner of Best Film & Best Actress 1992 Venice Film Festival.
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 Xiu Xiu The Sent Down Girl - Between 1967 and 1976, nearly eight million Chinese youths were
"sent down" for specialized training to the remotest corners of the country in
order to rid them of any revolutionary thoughts. In 1975, a beautiful city girl of 15, Xiu
Xiu, is taken from her family by the government and sent to the high steppes near Tibet to
live with a horse trainer. This, the directorial debut from actress Joan Chen, was filmed
surreptitiously in communist China and subsequently banned in that country.
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 King of Masks
At the end of his life, The King of Masks (Chu
Yuk), a master of an ancient and revered form of mask making, seeks to pass on his craft.
However, tradition dictates that he can only teach the form to a male heir. Desperate to
preserve his art, and in some sense himself, the heirless old man purchases a destitute
child on the black market. When the boy reveals an unexpected secret, The King of Masks is
torn between filial affection and ancient customs.- Students'
Movie Reviews
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 Iron and Silk
Fascinated with martial arts and the Chinese
culture, Mark takes a job teaching English at a small college in mainland China. Instead
of finding the serene, spiritual place he imagined, he finds a bustling city full of
political turmoil and a distrust for foreigners. Based on a true story.
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 Blue Kite
This critically acclaimed award-winner was banned in China for its harshly realistic
portrayal of life under Chairman Mao. The story follows a young boy and his family through
the social upheaval of the '50s and '60s.
- Students'
Movie Reviews
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 Pushing Hand- When a widowed t'ai-ch'i master travels from
Beijing to New York to live with his son he must rely on his inner teachings to get along
in a society he doesn't understand. A comedy of manners from the director of EAT DRINK MAN
WOMAN and THE ICE STORM.
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 Joy Luck Club
Four women of different ages use their varied life
experiences to understand and help each other. Based on the novel by Amy Tan.-
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Beijing Bicycle (2002)
