Burned Wings [南风] (2012)

A more recent take on a group of young thugs this time in the northern seaside city of Huludao (Liaoning province). Well worth watching if somewhat uneven. The handsome Ming [Yang Shicong] is the leader of a small group of gangsters though how they earn their living is never very clear. They are involved in…

Fujian Blue [金碧辉煌] (2007)

A lively take on a group of young criminals in a booming China. The film is divided into two segments. In the first (Neon Knights) we see our young heroes as they career around Fuqing city. The film shows a montage of large mansions, nightclubs and wanted criminal posters. Fujian apparently has a long history…

Twisted Strings [良辰吉時] (2022)

An unusual Taiwanese (seven episode) series with Hou Hsiao-hsien as executive producer. It has been described by the director as a satirical anthology of selfishness, greed and ignorance. The first episode focuses on a squabbling family of three siblings who have come together to 'grieve' the loss of their farther. But the twist is that…

Eight Diagrams [八卦] (2008)

This is director Fu Xinhua's follow-up to Stranger's Street. We are again in Guangzhou on the eve of Chinese New Year (when, of course, people should be at home with their families to celebrate). The film explores the lives of several (unconnected) groups of migrant workers over one evening and night. One man wants to…

Stranger’s Street [客村街] (2003)

Stranger's Street is one of several independent films influenced by the early Sixth Generation which focus on realistic urban stories set in an actually existing China (and are shot on a low budget). The film focuses on two migrant workers in Guangzhou. He [Yuan Kongbin] is a medical salesman struggling to sell his goods, originally…

Lush Reeds [之子于归] (2018)

Director Yang Yishu's follow up to One Summer (2015) and, like that movie, a highly unusual film in a Chinese context. Available on CathayPlay. Xiayin [Huang Lu, who else?] is a journalist. She is recently married to a university professor and is coming to terms with the reality of married life. Her husband is boring,…

Crossroads [十字街头] (1937)

Crossorads tells the story of a small group of young men and women struggling to survive in 1930s Shanghai or as the film would have it 'at the crossroads' in their lives. After a montage of city sights, the film opens on the riverside where Xu [Yi Ming] is contemplating suicide. His fried Zhao [Zhao…

Modern China on CathayPlay

A number of shorts on CathayPlay loosely grouped because of their concern with Chinese modernity. Summer Dream [下沙牛一] (2018) A striking short film (22 minutes) set in a neon-lit Shenzhen. Zhang Niuyi [Wang Yanshin] is a private detective. Xiasha [the beautiful Zheng Liyi] is a thief who works, in part, for a local gangster. Their paths…

Face’s a Verb [对立面] (2022)

Although presented as a standard movie, this is in fact a collection of seven short (averaging less than 15 minutes) films from the FIRST training camp run by the excellent FIRST Film Festival. It presents the work of seven young directors (although only one of them a woman).Now available on iQiyi. There is no real…

Flowers or poisonous weeds? Three satires from the 1950s

This post looks at three satirical films from 1956-57 - around the time of the Hundred Flowers campaign - directed by Lv Ban. Todays these look like mild satire but, at the time, they ended the film career of the longstanding filmmaker and staunch Communist. Lv Ban had been a film actor in the 1930s…