Chinese Movies: My Favorite Films

Chinese Movies: My Favorite Films

I find it quite hard to distinguish the style of Chinese movies
geographically, i.e. HK, Taiwan, and mainland China. Instead, I would
like to review some renowned films in relation to the directors and
their works.

1. "2046"
Dir: Wong Kar Wai.
A film about love and its many languages. Starring Tony Leung, Faye
Wong, Takuya Kimura, Gong Li, & Zhang Zi Yi. Very powerful casts. This
film is said to be the semi sequel of "In the Mood for Love" (Fa Yeung
Nin Wa) and "Days of Being Wild" (A Fei Zheng Xhuan). It is even
assumed as the summary of all films he has done. You might also want
to check out another film of WKW "Happy Together" (Cheun Gwong Tsa Sit).

2. "Farewell My Concubine"
Dir: Chen Kaige.
A very beautiful film on the issues of homosexuality and political
movements in China in relation to Beijing Opera.

3. "Hero"
Dir: Zhang Yimou.
Playing with colors is Yimou's specialty. Instead of powerful scenes
in martial arts, you will see beautiful colors and coreography in this
film. Some people find the plot annoying, while I find it brilliant!
Don't forget to see "Raise the Red Lantern" (Da Hong Deng Long Gao Gao
Gua) as well. Gong Li acted very well in that movie. "House of Flying
Daggers" (Shi Mian Mai Fu) is worth watching as well.

4. "Little Cheung"
Dir: Fruit Chan.
I met Fruit in person in Melbourne, and he's really funny. Being an
independent filmmaker, he is very relaxed. His films are the scenes you
really get in the street of HK. He said "Little Cheung" can be
categorized as a docudrama. Very interesting indeed.

Some really good Chinese movies include Tony Leung & Leslie Cheung in
their cast; indeed they are very good actors.
As for new Chinese filmmakers, The Melbourne International Film Festival introduced me with Jia Zhangke, a new director from mainland China. His films are really
exhaustive because the issues are really deep.