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.
Bodyguards and Assassins (2009)
6.8/10
Director: Teddy Chen
Starring: Donnie Yen, Hu Jun, Leon Lai, Nicholas Tse, Simon Yam, Wang Xueqi, Eric Tsang, B...
1906, City of Victoria (British Colony of Hong Kong). In five hours, in the distance of thirteen blocks, the one man who holds a nation's fate must su... Read more
The Message (2009)
7.4/10
Director: Qunshu Gao, Kuo-fu Chen
Starring: Xiaoming Huang, Dahong Ni, Wang Zhiwen, Zhang Hanyu
1942, Nanking: following a series of assassination attempts on Japanese officials, the spy chief collects those suspected of the attempted-sabotage in... Read more
Zhou Yu's Train (2003)
Director: Sun Zhou
Starring: Gong Li, Tony Leung (Ka Fai), Sun Honglei
This stylized romantic drama sees Zhou Yu (Gong Li) take a long train ride twice a week to meet her poet lover, Tony Leung. But accompanying her on t... Read more
Rouge (1989)
5.8/10
Director: Stanley Kwan
Starring: Anita Mui, Leslie Cheung, Emily Chu, Man Tsz-Leung
This stunning film tells the story of a ghost's return to search for her long lost lover, leaping spontaneously between Hong Kong in 1934 and the pres... Read more
Going To School With Dad On My Back (1998)
Director: Youchao Zhou
Starring: Yan Danchen, Jiang Hualin, Qiang Zhao
Shiwa, the son of a poor Chinese farmer, is doing well at school. But when his mother dies and his sister leaves the house, he's the only one left to... Read more
Happy Together (1997)
7.8/10
Director: Wong Kar-wai
Starring: Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung (Chiu Wai), Chang Chen
This mesmeric story of love lost and endured focuses on two gay lovers who go to Buenos Aires to start over, but find themselves in a familiar vicious... Read more
House of Flying Daggers ( Blu-ray ) (2004)
7.6/10
Director: Zhang Yimou
Starring: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Zhang Ziyi, Song Dandan
Zhang Ziyi, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau star in this stunning blend of lyrical romance and eye-popping fight scenes. Mei is an exotic, beautiful bl... Read more
Shanghai Triad (1995)
7.2/10
Director: Zhang Yimou
Starring: Gong Li, Li Baotian, Li Xuejian, Sun Chun
Zhang Yimou's absorbing tale of the Chinese underworld in the 1930s, focusing on a boy who's hired to be the silent servant of a pampered nightclub qu... Read more
A Chinese Ghost Story (2011)
5.7/10
Director: Wilson Yip
Starring: Elvis Tsui Kam Kong, Kara Hui, Louis Koo, Yifei Liu
A kinetic remake of the classic Hong Kong original. Whilst spending the night in a haunted house tax collector Ning meets and falls in love with Sian,... Read more
The Mermaid (2016)
6.3/10
Director: Stephen Chow
Starring: Deng Chao, Yun Lin, Show Luo, Yuqi Zhang, Pierre Bourdaud
From Stephen Chow, director of Kung Fu Hustle, comes The Mermaid: the comedic action-filled phenomenon that has become China's biggest film of all ti... Read more