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.
The Road Home (1999)
7.9/10
Director: Zhang Yimou
Starring: Sun Honglei, Zhang Ziyi, Zheng Hao, Zhao Yuelin, Li Bin
An exotic and exquisite film set in the unfamiliar Chinese outback that tells a simple, sweet love story in flashback. Sun Honglei, Zheng Hao and Zhao... 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
The King of Masks (1996)
7.6/10
Director: Wu Tianming
Starring: Chu Yuk, Chao Yim Yin
"The King of Masks" tells a tale steeped in ancient tradition, simultaneously challenging the socio-sexual inequity still plaguing China today. On the... Read more
Temptress Moon (1996)
6.9/10
Director: Chen Kaige
Starring: Leslie Cheung, Gong Li, Kevin Lin, He Saifei
1920's Shanghai is displayed in all it's decadence with opium-addicted Ruyi (Gong Li) forced to officially head the Pang family after the death of the... Read more
Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre (1995)
7.5/10
Director: T F Mou
Portrays the ordeals of the members of a poor Chinese family as they try to survive the Japanese occupation of their city. This is an uncompromising p... Read more
Fallen Angels (1995)
7.7/10
Director: Wong Kar-wai
Starring: Leon Lai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Michelle Reis
A hitman's "agent" is falling in love with him, while a silent ex-con breaks into stores at night, opens them up and forces people to buy merchandise... Read more
Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker (1995)
7/10
Director: He Ping
Starring: Ning Jing, Wu Gang, Zhao Xiaorui, Gao Yang
A beautiful woman is torn between loyalty to her ancestral heritage and her sensual desire for a rebellious artist. A visually stunning film set again... 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
Chungking Express (1994)
8.1/10
Director: Wong Kar-wai
Starring: Tony Leung (Chiu Wai), Faye Wong, Brigitte Lin, Valerie Chow
This intoxicating slice of Hong Kong romance noir is split into two stories: A cop gets dumped by his Girlfriend and tries to fall in love with the ne... Read more