#Chinese Film

[linghxr]

10 movies I watched in Chinese class

This post is the unofficial sequel to 10 iconic Mandopop songs from Chinese class. No one asked for it, but I watched to chronicle what I could remember before more fades from my memory! I saw these movies in Chinese class in high school and college, and I had to do some sleuthing to find some names.

The synopses are from IMDb, revised by me. I put links to watch for free on YouTube when I was able to find one, but they might not work in your country.

1. 《和你在一起》 Together (2002) A violin prodigy and his father travel to Beijing, where the father seeks the means to his son's success while the son struggles to accept the path laid before him.

Watch on YouTube

2. 《谁的青春不迷茫》 Yesterday Once More (2016) Lin Tianjiao, the top student in her class, is struggling to cope under intense academic pressure. After she is nearly caught cheating on a test, she befriends Gao Xiang, a free-spirited slacker.

Watch on YouTube

3. 《活着》 To Live (1994) Based on the novel by Yu Hua, four generations of the once-wealthy Xu family experience the difficult changes of the Chinese Civil War, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution.

Watch on YouTube

4. 《喜宴》 The Wedding Banquet (1993) To satisfy his parents, Gao Wai-Tung, a gay man in a fulfilling relationship with his partner Simon, marries his female tenant Wei-Wei. Things get out of hand when his parents come to visit.

5. 《饮食男女》 Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) A widowed chef lives with his three grown daughters, who each experience ups and downs in their lives and romantic relationships as they leave the family home.

Watch on YouTube

6. 《哑孩儿》 Dumb Child* (2016) After graduating from college, Fang Yan takes a job as a teacher in a rural area of China. There she meets a young girl named Yaya who doesn't attend school due to her hearing impairment.

Watch on YouTube

*Dumb as in mute. It's not a great English name...

7. 《重返20岁》 20 Once Again/Miss Granny (2015) A 70-year old woman living unhappily with her son's family is magically transformed into her 20-year-old self. She befriends her grandson and decides to fulfill the dreams of her youth.

Watch on YouTube

8. 《北京爱情故事》 Beijing Love Story (2014) Different generations look at love, romance, and commitment, all from a uniquely Beijing perspective. All 5 couples and stories are intertwined a la Love Actually.

9. 《蓝风筝》 The Blue Kite (1993) 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.

Watch on YouTube

10. 《青春派》 Young Style (2013) Struggling with romantic woes after his plan to confess to his crush goes awry, Ju Ran fails the college entrance exam (gaokao) and is forced to repeat his last year of high school.

Watch on YouTube

[hellish-cruelty]

Wong Kar-Wai's In the mood for love deleted scene.

[honeygleam]

leslie cheung as cheng dieyi in farewell, my concubine (1992) dir. chen kaige

[efemmera-archive]

Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (1972), Dir. Chor Yuen

[theersatzcowboy]

Hero / 英雄 (2002)

Legendary Chinese filmmaking visionary Zhang Yimou teams up with legendary cinematographer Christopher Doyle to create a timeless wuxia epic that switches eras and perspectives through scenescapes defined by different primary colors.

Director: Zhang Yimou

Cinematographer: Christopher Doyle

Starring: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, Donnie Yen, and Chen Daoming

[celluloidrainbow]

自梳 | INTIMATES (1997) dir. Jacob Cheung Two stories, one in the present and one in the past. In the present, Theresa Lee is a single architect with a struggling relationship to boyfriend Winston Chao. Meanwhile, she has to escort her Aunt Foon to Guangzhou to meet an old friend. From there unfolds the past story of young Foon, who walks a road enforced chastity after refusing an arranged marriage. Foon ends up working for rich merchant Chan and befriending his ninth wife, Wan, a former prostitute who married him to leave her past behind. After Wan's husband barters her in a business agreement, she leaves him, finding that only Foon is loyal to her. The two women find solace in their friendship, and slowly their feelings grow stronger and deeper. (requested by @tendergazing, link in title)

[zhanglinghez]

Yesterday Once More 倒数说爱你, 2023.

[von-vom]

[psykopaths]

Fallen Angels, (1995)

[radishprincesss]

fallen angels (1995)

[bebemoon]

zhang ziyi in "house of flying daggers" (2oo4), dir. zhang yimou .

[hellish-cruelty]

Maggie Cheung on the set of Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love (2000).

[splinteredsoul]

PK.COM.CN (2008)

dir. Xiao Jiang

[honeygleam]

the aesthetic of: millenium mambo (2001) dir. hou hsiao-hsien

[theersatzcowboy]

Farewell My Concubine / 霸王別姬 (1993)

Chen Kaige’s achingly beautiful (and tragic) tale of unrequited love and artistic sacrifice — set against the backdrop of China’s 20th century sociopolitical upheaval — features a once-in-a-generation performance by Leslie Cheung, a queer icon on and off screen.

Director: Chen Kaige

Cinematographer: Gu Changwei

Production Designers: Yuhe Yang and Zhanjia Yang

Costume Designer: Changmin Chen

Starring: Leslie Cheung, Gong Li, and Zhang Fengyi

[celluloidrainbow]

無言 | SPEECHLESS (2012) dir. Simon Chung A Frenchman named Luke is found naked by the banks of a river in Wuhan. When he can't, or refuses to, speak, he's sent to a local hospital for diagnosis. Unable to determine the cause of Luke's condition, the hospital decides that he must be sent to a psychiatric hospitals, but Luke's nurse, Xiao Jiang, discovers his superiors' plan and decides to rescue the mysterious man and smuggle him out to his uncle's village, where they will have to evade capture from the local police. As Xiao Jiang slowly uncovers Luke's past, the reason for his speechlessness becomes clear. (link in title)