Incense [香火] (2003)

Before he became a rich and famous movie director and producer of films such as No More Bets, Ning Hao started off by making interesting 'independent' films like this one, his graduation film for the BFA. Set in a cold and arid Shanxi (Ning Hao's home province), the film focuses on a poor monk [Li…

No More Bets [孤注一掷] (2023)

No More Bets has been the surprise box office hit of the Summer looking likely to be at or close to the top of the 2023 Chinese box office. It has even earned a cinema release in some European countries. It tells the story of online fraud and gambling carried out by Chinese gangs based…

Women’s Choice [女人的抉择] (2023)

An interesting proto-feminist (melo) drama on Tencent. This micro-drama (24 episodes of 10 minutes but also available in 8 of 30 minutes) says more than many more high-profile and high budget (and more lengthy) dramas. As the drama opens, Su Yuning [Zhao Shuai] seems to have everything. She is the successful CEO of a beauty…

The Woman in the Storm [我经过风暴] (2023)

Excellent film about gender-based and domestic violence. It is often a difficult watch which is a tribute to this film's unusually realistic presentation. In China, on average, every 7.4 seconds, a woman becomes a victim of domestic violence.  As the film opens we see Xu Min [Tong Liya] trying unsuccessfully to get a divorce from…

Sweet Breeze Young Men [台北焦油] (2016)

Despite the English title, this is another film about two men and a girl. Set in Taipei this is a lengthy (45 minute) short written and directed by Hu Chih Kai. Our three heroes/losers, Azhi, Achun and Shanghai [Xiao Yong-yu, Wu Li-shiang and Lee Ya-chen] have come to Taipei to study but now that they…

The Breaking Ice [燃冬] (2023)

The latest Zhou Dongyu film directed by Singaporean Anthony Chen (director of the brilliant Ilo, Ilo). This looks like a very promising mix and, for once, expectations are not disappointed. Shown at Cannes earlier this year and just released in China in August 2023. The film opens in Yanji, a small city close to the…

The Eve [前夜] (2023) ep 1-2

This is the latest MinGuo (Republic) era spy drama set in Shanghai, this time on Tencent. It runs to a lengthy 32 episodes of 45 minutes each. The drama does look well with considerable time and resources clearly invested in in its look and costumes and, for example, an impressive 1940s CGIed Bund. Though how…