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Thread: Chinese Movies

  1. #1
    Yekhefah
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    Thumbs up Chinese Movies

    Upon Cherryripeboy's request, here's a thread on the subject...

    I am wildly in love with Chinese cinema and it looks like I may not be the only one. Anyone else like these movies? My favorite director is Zhang Yimou. Here are some of my favorite Chinese movies:

    To Live (greatest film of all time)
    Happy Times (hilarious yet poignant comedy)
    The Shanghai Triad
    Raise the Red Lantern
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
    Eat Drink Man Woman (technically it's Taiwanese, but same language)
    The Last Emperor
    Ju Dou

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    Default Re: Chinese Movies

    Eat, Drink Man Woman and The Last Emperor and the original movie Shall We Dance was based on are great movies.

  3. #3
    madmaxine
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    Default Re: Chinese Movies

    Do John Woo movies count? (He's from Hong Kong) I loved "Bullet in the Head" and "A Better Tommorrow." (Warning, very violent though.)

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    Default Re: Chinese Movies

    The Eye and The Eye 2. Not Chinese, I believe, but SOOO good.


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    Default Re: Chinese Movies

    :-) Yekhefah Thanks!

    Lets include Mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. But try to stay away from my other favorite foreign films, Japanese movies.

    Sorry I was not back sooner but I was summoned for retail therapy… grr I still want that leather jacket.

    My favs:

    The Bride with White Hair
    I just die for this story.

    Once Upon a time in China 1-3 are still my favorite Jet-Li films. This is where you see just how good he is. Hero was enjoyable, but I still prefer fully foreign productions, when it comes to the movies, they can do a lot more action. Hero was very commercial, but good none the less. It is also one of those stories I vaguely remember from childhood.

    Somewhere in the mists of antiquity I ran across a series of cheap coloring books (and some reading books) that had translated Chinese tales in them. The basis for hero was there, I remember the hero initially not being allowed a hundred paces within the emperor.

    Another story was the girl with green eyes. This story haunts me to this day. I know very little about it. I’ve also never encountered a green-eyed Asian. Perhaps I don’t want to (if they exist), In the story a spy fell in love with her against his kings orders and she saw right through the heart of the spy. I believe he ended up getting killed. – If I remember it I’ll post it.

    Now back to the movies:

    A Chinese Ghost Story is also one of my favorites. I loved the story and even the music/singing. This is probably the first modern Hong Kong type movie I saw. I think I like it because an ordinary man becomes something more, and finds a better life. He does it all for a love he will never have….

    The always-good Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. As I said before Zhang Ziyi steals the show. Between looking hot, acting well, and keeping up with the martial arts, I'd love to see her again.

    Stormriders is one of the best for making you feel as if you are in a different time and place. It is based on the comic series, and of course die-hard fans were never happy with the cutting. I’m pulling this one out of storage this week. I’m actually listening to the theme now.

    I still love Michelel Yeoh, for her skill. Check her out in Wing Chun.


    I enjoy Chow Yun Fat, but his role in Crouching Tiger is a real turn around for me. I'm used to seeing him as mafia or a hit man, even though he isn’t. God of Gamblers 2 was a good movie but too brutal in the first 10 minutes. Gave me nightmares for weeks. Unfortunately a lot of the movies I saw with him did not have the titles in English. There is this great one where he is a retired assassin, and a child calls on him in his quest for vengeance. Another good one is All About Ah-Long

    The Young and Dangerous series is great. I was also one of the first HK movies I saw. I never liked the subtitles though, because a dagger is a long way from a machete, not to mention a few other things.

    There is one called Tide and Time, it was a love story, but it is only vaguely in my head now. I tried finding it on IMDB but it did not seem like the right description.

    John Woo is originally a Hong Kong director so include him. His style is quite difficult to match, and is almost a trademark. Just about anytime you see a guy with two guns sliding across a floor of broken glass it is his work. He directed a few of the earlier Chow Yun Fat films. I think he did that one I forget the title on. I know hit was his symbolism for certain.

    Sometimes I wish they’d just translate the work, rather than bring it over and westernize it. I’ve never been completely happy with the Jackie Chan stuff done entirely in English, and well Jet Li, I want Fong Sai Yuk back please or at least that level of action.


    Eat Drink Man Woman. I just love this one so much, love and roles in society, and that lovely phrase “I have an announcement to make”. This movie is so visually stimulating with the images of food, life, and timing. The sound, to the action, to the felling it is so good at some points. I even have a few stories about this movie, don’t know if I want to share them though, it was one of those times I was almost seduced much like the boy in the story.

    I've omited the countless Jackie Chan cop movies, and the bjillions of HK Cop/gangster films. I'll get to them later. I'm more for the arty, love, and swordfighting/sorcery stuff, but there are some really good ones there. I know there is one fat actor, that always plays a good role but forgot who he was. I know it is not Samo Hung.
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    Default Re: Chinese Movies

    I agree with your list Yek (those I have seen), though Happy Times made me really sad. I really really wanted to reach through the screen and give that girl a box of cookies.

    Anyway, I am going to spell this wrong and maybe even mess up the titles of the movies out of sheer laziness (so I am not a *huge* fan, but an admirer I guess), but I like War Kong Kai's impossiblely weird stuff. "2046" had some nice costumes, and besides Crouching Tiger, was the only movie in which I really thought Zhang Ziyi stood out.

    Also, while it's technically a Canadian movie, the internationally flavoured "Clean" I found to be excellent. It stars the Chinese actress Maggie Cheung, who I adore, and is set in Canada, England, and France. She speaks French, English, and Cantonese in the movie, depending on who she's with. Her English and French are both impressive, and the movie features one of my favourite bands "Metric". Really would recommend it if you can find this little film. It's about a woman, the widow of an overdosed rockstar, who tries to kick the junk and get her kid back from her inlaws. It's so original- very honest, and doesn't draw distinct moral lines.

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    God/dess Deogol's Avatar
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    Default Re: Chinese Movies

    I liked Kung Fu Hustle and movies like that.

    The serious stuff always - ALWAYS - seems to have one of the lovers dying at the end.

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    Default Re: Chinese Movies

    ^^^ Should I try to learn the 'Lion's Roar" ?

    I assume you also liked 'Shao-Lin Soccer' ?

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    Default Re: Chinese Movies

    I really liked "In the Mood for Love" its by the same guy who did 2046, great costumes and sets.. plus the story is just beautiful. My girlfriend and I were both crying by the end.

    I also liked "Infernal Affairs" its a HK cop/gangster movie, but done very intelligently.. definitely my favorite cop/gangster movie of all time.

    I also like a lot of Japanese and Korean films, but thats probably another thread.

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    Default Re: Chinese Movies

    The Shanghai Triad- Yek are they wearing gangster era trench coats in this one? I remember one where there were 3 invistigators, two males one female, and they were investigating opium smuggling, only to find out the uncorruptable General the wanted so desperatly to contact, was actually the leader of the syndicate.

    I've been wanting to see 2046 for a while, seems like my kind of movie. The juxtaposition of everyitng really gets to me.


    I'm going to have to see if the local Ballbuster video has some of the ones I have not seen.


    Has anyone picked up on the lighting and colour differences, between these movies and American or European ones? Use of colour is also different.

    mollyzmoon, I've seen so many Hong Kong undercover cop flicks that I have forgotton their titles. They all blend and blur in a mish mash of awesome police chases, on foot over traffic, in cars through the New Terrorites, constantlly wondering who the good guys are, and almost always ending in tragedy. I only really remember one actor, the fat man, he always plays a good role. Not really good looking, and a really big guy, but his characters were always my favourites. Always emotion, and trying to do a good thing. I think he was translated as Uncle Fatty, in about half his films.

    Shao-Lin Soccer was good but I tend to graviate towards the romantic or swordfighitng ones, rather than the comedy.
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    Default Re: Chinese Movies

    I'm really trying to avoid getting into the Japanese ones, even the few Korean ones I've seen. It is hard to get the Korean ones subtitled here so unless they get on SBS I'm sol. That and watching a subtitled movie with a 3 year old running arround is an interesting experience.


    Andy Lau is one of my fav leading actors, but outside of Internal Affairs I'm having trouble placing him. I know I've seen a lot of his movies.

    Getting back to Jet Li, check out The Young Master. You'll see a quite young Jet Li, and it is a good story. One of the three even takes place in LA.


    If you want something really crazy, check out The Gods Must be Crazy, Hong Kong.
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  12. #12
    Yekhefah
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    Default Re: Chinese Movies

    For all of you who mentioned 2046 and other films by Wong Kar-Wai, he's shooting another film right now all over the USA. It's a road movie (my favorite genre) called My Blueberry Nights and stars Norah Jones. The supporting cast includes Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Kevin Spacey, and Rachel Weisz. It sounds pretty good.

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    Default Re: Chinese Movies

    I saw bits of 2046 on tv the other day. Holy shit I forgot how sad half that movie is. The thing with the main guy and Ziyi's prostitute character probably shouldn't remind me of my 'boyfriend', but alas!

    Anyway- i needed to add the movie "Saving Face" (especially for Yekhefah). It is again mostly in English, set in New York, but it's a smart little movie about two second generation Chinese lesbians in love (hot, so very hot), and also stars the impossibly pretty Joan Chen as a serious MILF. It's a sweet movie, but good god, so much hotness.

  14. #14
    Yekhefah
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    Default Re: Chinese Movies

    Oh wow, Molly, I NEED to see that. I'm going to hunt that down. Thank you!

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    I'm going to try and rent that at my local BallBuster video, last time I rented 5 sexually themed arthouse movies, I got a few strange looks.

    Looks like someone also nicked the copy of 2046 that they had!
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    Default Re: Chinese Movies

    I thoroughly enjoyed Raise the Red Lantern. It's great if you don't mind english subtitles.


  17. #17
    Yekhefah
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    Default Re: Chinese Movies

    Everyone who knows of Zhang Yimou thinks Raise the Red Lantern was his best movie - except me. I think To Live is better by far. In fact, I think it's the Great Human Tragedy; it's the only movie I've ever seen that perfectly sums up the human condition. It's the greatest film that has ever been made, in my not-so-humble opinion. If you liked Lantern, then you should definitely check out To Live.

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