Starting Station [始发站] (2021)

An unusual drama set almost entirely outside the gate to Wuliqiao Park in east Beijing (between the Fourth and Fifth Ring Roads) which uses long, static and distant camera shots to observe its characters. Chen Chu [Zhang Zhao] is a college graduate and former IT worker who now runs a corn stall (on a tricycle)…

B for Busy [爱情神话] (2021)

B for Busy is an unusual Shanghai-based rom com featuring middle-aged characters and apparently more influenced by British rom coms like About a Boy than mainstream Chinese comedy. After an evening at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, Mr. B aka Lao Bai [Xu Cheng, excellent in the role] ends up in bed with his would-be…

Good Night Beijing [曾经相爱的我们] (2021)

Another example of the two countries, one system approach to film making, this largely Hong Kong/Taiwan-staffed, BJ-based 'romance' fails at every level as a group of 'young' (that's born in the 80s) people struggle to look young and/or like they are striving to survive in Beijing.. Set in a clean and shiny Beijing, the film…

Invisible Bedmate [看不见的枕边人] (2020)

A decent little thriller directed by low-budget thriller specialist Louis Chan aka Zhan Jiawei. It is interesting to compare this film to the recent big budget The Door Lock starring Bai Baihe. Unlike that film, this is a low budget online movie from Tencent but otherwise the similarities are striking. Like TDL, this film opens…

Life and Death [生死同心] (1936)

An interesting left-wing film of the 1930s although it does not have the subtlety of the best of the genre. Set in 1926 during the Warlord era, political prisoner Li Tao [Yuan Muzhi who directed Scenes of City Life and Street Angel] is in prison. When a fire breaks out, he takes advantage of the…

The Falls [瀑布] (2021)

The Falls (Waterfall in Chinese for reasons we discover late in the film) is an excellent psychological drama about a troubled Taipei family. In the tradition of Taiwanese family dramas, it is an appropriate follow up to director Chung Mong-Hong's last film A Sun. Opening in early 2020, 18 year old daughter Xiao Jing [Gingle…