Chinese Cinema
Alice's collection of Chinese films is growing as the film industry there expands and begins to embrace an ever-increasing international audience. Films from China are often marked by great craft and attention to detail, and the stories are involved and often carry a political subtext. Though we have very little that is pre-1990, there is everything here from engaging personal stories to sweeping historical epics.
Pictured: Maggie Cheung in the stylized and breath-takingly beautiful 'Hero' from master craftsman Zhang Yimou.
Shadow Magic (1999)
7.2/10
Director: Ann Hu
Starring: Jared Harris, Xia Yu, Liu Pei Qui
Peking, 1902. Travelling English showman Jared Harris teams with photographer Xia Yu to bring the amazing new art form of motion pictures to remote vi... Read more
Shanghai (2010)
6.4/10
Director: Mikael Hafstrom
Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, David Morse, Franka Potente, Gong Li, Hugh Bonneville, John Cusack...
Set in 1941 on the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the story revolves around American spy Paul Soames (John Cusack), who arrives in Japane... Read more
Ju Dou (1989)
7.7/10
Director: Zhang Yimou
Starring: Gong Li, Li Wei, Li Baotian, Zhang Li
This erotic drama follows the passion as a beautiful young bride is drawn to the handsome, strong nephew of her new husband. An exquisitely photograph... Read more
Millennium Mambo (2001)
7/10
Director: Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Starring: Shu Qi, Jack Kao, Chun-hao Tuan, Yi-Hsuan Chen, Jun Takeuchi, Doze Niu
The first part of a planned series about life in modern Taipei, this intellectually challenging film begins with bar hostess Vicky (Shu Qi) imagining... Read more
The Warlords (2007)
7.1/10
Director: Peter Ho-Sun Chan
Starring: Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Jinglei Xu
Far from the stylistic martial arts pics of recent times, this unrelentingly violent historical epic set during the Qing Dynasty of the late 19th cent... Read more
Life Show (2002)
Director: Huo Jianqi
Starring: Tao Hong, Tao Zeru
Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Chi Li, this affecting character study centres on Lai Shuang Yang a young, single woman living in revolutionary Ch... Read more
Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)
7/10
Director: Zhang Yimou
Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li, Jay Chou, Liu Ye, Dahong Ni, Junjie Qin, Man Li
Zhang Yimou's characteristically lush historical melodrama, set near the end of theTang Dynasty, with Chow Yun-Fat as the Emperor whose wife (Gong Li)... Read more
A Touch of Sin (2013)
7.1/10
Director: Zhangke Jia
Starring: Zhao Tao, Wang Baoqiang, Wu Jiang, Lanshan Luo, Li Meng
Four independent stories set in modern China about random acts of violence. The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival... Read more
The Blue Kite (1993)
7.7/10
Director: Tian Zhuangzhuang
Starring: Lu Liping, Zhang Wenyao, Pu Quanxin
This harrowing tale of a family's struggle to survive in revolutionary China is told from the perspective of a young boy, Tietou, who witnesses first... Read more
Assembly (2007)
7.3/10
Director: Feng Xiaogang
Starring: Zhang Hanyu, Yuan Wenkang, Deng Chao
Acclaimed Chinese director Feng Xiaogang brings the little known Chinese Civil War into light with this powerful and unflinching film based on a true... Read more