Chinese Language Films : Chinese Films

Based on the novel Aftershock by Zhang Ling, the film follows a family who became victims in the Tangshan earthquake. The father, Fang Daqiang, was crushed while trying to rescue his children, Fang Deng and Fang Da, who were trapped in the house. Unable to save both kids, the mother, Li Yuanni, is forced to sacrifice Fang Deng for her feeble younger brother Fang Da, a decision that proved agonizing for the entire family.

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Possibly one of the best epics of all time, Farewell My Concubine is a feast for the eyes and heart. Spanning over 50 years, we follow the lives of two opera stars from their entry as young boys into the Peking Opera School in 1924 to their reunion in 1977. the boys endure the rigorous and sometimes torturous training at the hands of Master Guan (Qi Lu) who molds their talents, preparing them for their life-long roles as a concubine and a king. Douzi (Leslie Cheung), who's role is that of the Concubine, is conditioned to live as a girl in order to perfect his role. He develops a romantic love for Shitou (Fengyi Zhang), who can only return a fraternal love, choosing instead the beautiful Juxian (Gong Li), a prostitute that becomes his wife, driving Douzi into deep despair.

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A young man from rural China struggles to make good in Beijing in this drama, which suggests an updated and relocated variation on the neorealist classic Ladri di Biciclette. Guei (Cui Lin) is a teenager who arrives in the big city looking for work; he and a handful of other youngsters are hired as bicycle messengers, with their employer giving them new mountain bikes under the condition that they're paid ten yuan for each message they deliver, and the bicycles are theirs once they've made 58 trips. Guei discovers the job is not an easy one, as he deals with the complexity of the huge city, confusion over who gets what message, and the condescending attitude Beijing residents often display toward the new arrivals.

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Told from the perspective of a young boy, Tietou, the film traces the fate of a Beijing family and their neighbors through the political and social upheavals in 1950s and '60s.

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A semi-biographical account of the life of martial arts master Yip Man.
"Set in Fo Shan, China during the Sino-Japanese War, Ip Man vividly brings to life the brutality of the infamous Japanese occupation, where once proud men are forced to fight [to the] death for a precious bag of rice. Defined by courage and humility, Ip Man, whose fighting skills are revered all over China, rises to the fore front. Upon refusing to teach his martial arts to the invading Japanese soldiers, he is forced to fight for the honor of his country in a series of battles that will culminate in a kill-or-be-killed showdown with Japan's greatest fighter"--Container.

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Based on a true story about a Chinese photographer and an Englishman who arrives with "moving pictures". Liu unintentionally defies his families traditions to help bridge the gap between Chinese culture and the inventions and western technologies. In order to better his standing in society, so he can marry the woman he loves, Liu must decide if he wants to risk everything to help bring the motion picture industry to China.

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Centuries ago, two 'sworn sisters' are isolated by their families, but stay connected through a secret language written in the folds of a white silk fan. Now in modern-day Shanghai, their descendents must draw inspiration from the past as they struggle to maintain their own eternal bond in the face of life's complications. What unfolds are two stories, generations apart, but everlasting in their universal notion of love, hope and friendship.

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In a small Chinese village a farmer (Qing Lai) and his chief quarrel over land. When Qing Lai is injured by the chief, who kicks him in the groin, Qing's wife Qiu Ju begins a quixotic odyssey that takes her from her small village to the provincial capital. She is relentless in her one-woman crusade to wreak a simple justice from the proud Chief ... she wants him to apologize.

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Set in the 1930's in war-torn China and inspired by true events. George Hogg is a young Englishman who leads sixty orphaned boys on an extraordinary journey of almost a thousand miles across the snow-bound Liu Pan Shan mountains to safety on the edge of the Mongolian desert. During his journey, George learns to rely on the support of Chen, the leader of a Chinese partisan group who becomes his closest friend. He soon finds himself falling in love with the Australian adventurer Lee, an unsentimental nurse. Along the way, Hogg befriends Madame Wang, an aristocratic survivor who has also been displaced by war. She helps the young Englishman, his friends and their sixty war orphans make their way to safety near the western end of the Great Wall of China.

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Unspoken affection binds Li Mu Bai (Yun Fat), who has vowed to avenge his master's death, and Shu Lien (Yeoh), as they join forces to recover the master's stolen sword, Green Destiny.

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When a delivery man crashes into a girl, she asks him to feed the pets in her apartment, while she is in the hospital. What he finds there is a diary that exposes the young girl for who she really is.

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In 1920s China, a young woman is forced into marriage and is then abused by her elderly husband. Her suffering attracts the sympathy of her husband's younger, kinder nephew, and the two begin a secret affair that could lead to tragic consequences.

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A 13-year-old girl is ordered to a remote Chinese village to be a substitute teacher. Barely older than her students, the shy girl is charged with keeping the class intact for one month or she won't be paid. When one of her students disappears into the city to find work, the stubborn teacher is determined to follow the boy and bring him back to school. Once in the city, her simple peasant pleas fall on deaf ears, and only when the local television sympathizes does her search bear fruit.

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As a son helps his mother arrange for the burial of his father in the traditional Chinese custom of his mother's village, the beautiful and touching story of his parent's courtship unfolds. His father was from the city and came to his mother's village to become the schoolmaster. In the days of arranged marriages, the son discovers that his parents marriage was the first marriage based on love.
Based on the novel "Remembrance" by Bao Shi.

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During the reign of the Tang dynasty in China, a secret organization called "The House of the Flying Daggers" rises and opposes the government. Leo is a police officer who sends officer Jin to investigate a young dancer named Mei, claiming that she has ties to the "Flying Daggers" organization. Leo ends up arresting Mei, only to have Jin break her free in a plot to gain her trust and lead the police to the new leader of the secret organization. But things are far more complicated than they seem.Mandarin, dubbed English or dubbed French dialogue, English or French subtitles

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When a small-town boy heads to Beijing for violin lessons, he discovers a new world filled with first loves, lasting friendships...and a secret that will change his life forever.

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Three generations of a middle-class Taiwanese family living in modern Taipei have their personal problems - failing business, lost love, endangered health, and more - to deal with in Edward Yang's nicely observed slice-of-life drama. Filmed with a static camera and edited in an unhurried rhythm, this intimate story unfolds over the course of a year that begins with a wedding and ends with a funeral.

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