The Bionic Life [仿生人间] (2023), ep 1-3

The Bionic Life (formerly just Bionic) is the latest iQiyi drama. Unfortunately it is rather a disappointment despite the interesting (if not very original) premise. This was originally part of the Light On series, but this branding seems to have been dropped for some reason though it retains the short 12 episode format. Set in…

Mr and Mrs Chen [梅花桃红] (2003), ep 1-4

Republican era (Minguo) spy dramas are another stable of Chinese dramaland. Regular readers will know that I struggle to get beyond one or two episodes of these usually uninteresting dramas. But this one from Tencent, is one of the most entertaining I have seen (at least so far). Set in 1940, so before the 1941,…

Faithful [九义人] (2023)

Romantic period dramas are a stable of Chinese drama output. While such dramas could be used to highlight contemporary issues, this appears to occur very rarely. So Faithful (on Tencent) is a rare example of a period drama which is clearly intended to reflect current day events, in this case sexual exploitation and the difficulty…

Salute [我心我行] (2022)

A rather unusual documentary (described as an experimental documentary feature film) about Taiwanese dancer Sheu Fang-Yi. Ms. Sheu is internationally recognised and starred in the Martha Graham company in New York. Amongst her many claims to fame is an appearance in Hou Hsiao-Hsien's The Assassin. Mr. Hou is producer on this film which is directed…

Under the Light [坚如磐石] (2023)

Just opened in China in time for the autumn holidays, this is the latest film by Zhang Yimou. The film opens with a bus hijacking in (fictional) Jinjiang City. A man is threatening the bus passengers with what appears to be a bomb. The police are called in and Vice Mayor Zheng Gang [Zhang Guoli]…

Tainted Love [鹦鹉杀] (2023)

Another brilliant performance by Zhou Dongyu with films starring Ms Zhou turning out to be one of the few positive elements in a disappointing year for Chinese cinema. Zhou Ran [Ms. Zhou] is a 30-year old single woman living in Beijing but originally from the north of China. She is being pressured by her family…