Beijing besieged by waste [垃圾围城]

Released: 2011  Viewed: September 2019 The documentary opens on one of the hundreds of landfill sites surrounding Being. A group of ‘scavengers’ and their sheep are going through recently delivered waste to identify anything edible or valuable. Director Wang Jiuliang (Plastic China) tracks how the waste is collected from his own apartment block, sorted and…

Plastic China [塑料王国]

Released: 2017  Viewed: September 2019 The title might suggest an overview of plastic recycling in China but this is very much a small-scale observational documentary looking at one small ‘recycling’ operation in Shandong province. Following up on his earlier Beijing beseiged by waste, Director Wang Juiliang now provides a focus on externally produced waste and how…

Spring Subway [開往春天的地鐵]

Released: 2002  Viewed: September 2019 Beijing, 2000. Xiao Hui [Xu Jinglei] and Jian Bian [Geng Le] arrived in Beijing in 1993, (wearing ridiculous ‘we are from the country’ outfits). They have been together now for seven years but, at least for Xiao Hui, the shine is wearing off the relationship. Jian Bian has lost his…

We are Gamily [伪婚男女]

Released: 2017  Viewed: September 2019 Set in Chengdu, Wu Gang [Tang Chen-Kang] is in a long-term relationship with his (allegedly South African) boyfriend Sam [Andrew Chau]. (The reason Sam speaks fluent Chinese, does not have a South African accent and is less embarrassing than the normal foreigner in Chinese films is probably because Chau is…

The Substitute [替身]

Released: 2017  Viewed: September 2019 The film opens in Beijing. Han Lu aka LuLu [Lu Jie] is a student and judo expert who is unsure about her sexuality. Her older brother died young and, as she was born on the same day, her mother (now in the early stages of dementia) assumed she was the…

Blood 13 [血十三]

Released: 2018 Viewed: September 2019 There are a number of promising aspects to this murder hunt, the first feature from director Candy Li (Li Lingcong), including the acting of leads Huang Lu (Blind Mountain, A Yellow Bird) and Xie Gang. Ultimately, however, the story is a bit of a mess and the viewer is likely…

The Chinese Style Widows [中国式寡妇]; Listen to the Wind [听风]

Viewed: September 2019 Two short (1 hour and 1 hour 20 minutes) online movies (both available on Youtube and elsewhere). In contrast to several such films which focus on sexuality in Chinese cities (reviewed here and here) both focus on female sexuality in rural areas. Chinese-style Widows focuses on three women living in a remote…

The Summer is Gone [八月]

Released: 2016 Viewed: September 2019 This is very much a personal statement for first-time director Zhang Dalei. Set in the early 1990s in Hohot, Inner Mongolia, it shows the life of little Xiaolei [Zong Weiyi]  and his family as the country moves from the closed Maoist system to ‘opening up and reform’. The family live…

Young Style [青春派]

Released: 2013  Viewed: September 2019 The strangely titled Young Style (Youth in Chinese) is an ode to the Gaokao, the Chinese national college  entrance examination. While such examinations probably receive more criticism than praise, the Gaokao has, in particular, been criticised for its emphasis on rote learning and the psychological pressure it puts on students.…

The Old Barber [剃头匠]

Released: 2006    Viewed: September 2019 Uncle Jing [Jing Kui] is 93 years old but he is still active, cycling around the hutongs of Beijing on his tricycle to visit and shave his remaining customers. He takes part in lively mahjong games with his friends. But the cycle of life is coming towards a close.…