Painted Skin – Chinese fantasy movies

Fantasy movies - often (very) loosely based on some well-known story - form a significant part of the current Chinese cinema output, This post looks at no less than three versions (all from 2022) allegedly based on the original Painted Skin story by Pu Songling (below). The original short story titled "Huapi" (畫皮) was published…

The Evidence Tells [消失的痕迹 (2023) ep 1-4

This is the latest crime drama on iQiyi and, most unusually, the two lead characters are women. But if it is on iQiyi, it is not an iQiyi production (unlike the Light On series) and the quality of the series is not up to those standards. The dramas opens in 2018 as police officer Bai…

When Dreams End [春梦了无痕] (2016)

Set in a mining city in Shanxi province, this short film tells the story of two young graduates who are assigned to underground work in the local mine. As the film title implies, this is not a pleasant experience. It is dirty, dangerous, physically demanding and poorly paid. Wang Chao [Fan Zhengfeng] is not happy…

Triffin Dilemma [闭环] (2020)

A triffin dilemma is, apparently, the conflict of economic interests that arises between short-term domestic and long-term international objectives for countries whose currencies serve as global reserve currencies. This does not have very much to do with the subject of this short film and the Chinese title - Closed Loop - would be more appropriate. A…

Somewhere [地儿] (2022)

Shown at Cannes, the Pingyao Film Festival and a number of other festivals, this is a short (24 minute) film. Bald Head [Lin Kangjing] has just been released from prison. He tries to contact his father who seems to be less than interested. He goes to visit his (unnamed) friend [Ji Jian] who was the…

Lost in the Mountains [迷山] (2019)

Set in the far north of China, near the Russian border, the Shilu Ewenki people are traditionally reindeer hunters but have now mainly moved down from the mountains to the local towns. Lin Ke [Qi Chao] and his mother are amongst them. When his mother falls ill, Lin Ke returns to the mountains to poach…

Imperfect Victim [不完美受害人] (2023)

The latest drama from iQiyi, Imperfect Victim addresses important issues of gender-based violence and gender inequality as China struggles to address its own #MeToo issues. In fairness, the drama does follow through on the issues in a credible manner to the end. The problem is that the end comes almost 22 hours after the beginning…