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.
Last Train Home (2009)
7.7/10
Director: Lixin Fan
Offering a rare glimpse into little-seen aspects of Chinese society, this documentary looks at the annual migration of urban workers,130 million stron... Read more
Hero (2002)
7.9/10
Director: Zhang Yimou
Starring: Jet Li, Tony Leung (Chiu Wai), Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, Donnie Yen
Director Zhang Yimou's highly stylized martial arts epic stars Jet Li as a nameless expert swordsman, who tells the ruler of one of ancient China's wa... Read more
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ( Blu-ray ) (2000)
7.9/10
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Chang Chen, Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi
A pair of martial arts masters and would-be lovers, an independent young woman with a dark secret, and the search for a stolen mystical sword all come... Read more
Blind Mountain (2007)
7.5/10
Director: Li Yang
Starring: Yang Youan, Zhang Yuling, Huang Lu
In rural early 90's China, Bai (Huang Lu), a pretty and enterprising college student, travels to a remote, mist shrouded mountain village in the compa... Read more
The Founding of a Republic (2009)
4.9/10
Director: Jianxin Huang, Sanping Han
Starring: Andy Lau, Chen Kaige, Donnie Yen, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, John Woo, Stephen Chow, V...
Featuring (in roles large and small) a host of China's biggest films stars, this epic tells the story of post-WWII China and the troubles it faced. Th... Read more
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2010)
6.1/10
Director: Wayne Wang
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Vivian Wu, Russell Wong, Bingbing Li, Gianna Jun
Based on the best-selling novel by Lisa See, this sweeping drama tells the story of seven-year-old girls Snow Flower and Lily, in 19th Century China,... Read more
Black Coal, Thin Ice (2014)
6.7/10
Director: Yi'nan Diao
An ex cop and his ex partner decide to follow up on investigation of a series of murders that ended their careers and shamed them, when identical murd... Read more
Not One Less (1999)
7.7/10
Director: Zhang Yimou
Starring: Wei Minzhi, Zhang Huike
Follow the adventures of a 13 year old girl who, despite her age, finds herself working as a substitute teacher in the school of her small Chinese vil... Read more
Unknown Pleasures / Xiao Wu (2002)
Director: Jia Zhang-ke
Starring: Zhao Tao, Zhou Qing Feng, Zhao Wei Wei, Wu Qiong, Wang Hong Wei
Two films from acclaimed director Jia Zhang-Ke take a look at contemporary China, its inequalities, direction and disaffected urban youth. 'Unknown Pl... Read more
The Secret of the Magic Gourd (2007)
5.3/10
Director: John Chu, Frankie Chung
Starring: Gigi Leung, Guo Kai Min, Zhu Qi Long
Based on a classic children's book by Zhang Tian Yi, Disney's first film created for Chinese audiences combines live action and animation to chronicle... Read more