Favorite Chinese movies

Funny timing, I just finished watching In the Mood for Love and 2046 by director Wong Kar-Wai. They were both quite good and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them. In the Mood for Love is beautifully shot, has an excellent thematic song and an interesting story about two neighbours who find out their spouses are cheating (with eachother). 2046 is a pseudo-sequel that follows in the same vain. After years of the same old formulaic Hollywood shloc I am really enjoying Chinese films. It is refreshing to watch films made in a different syle that follow new (to me) archetypal story patterns which always leave me guessing. The only predictable thing is that unlike American films, they usually have unhappy or muted endings.

As far educational use goes, I think it’s just good for practice, try and see how much of the dialogue you can pick up while having the subtitles below. Sort of like those stories you hear of people teaching themselves English by watching American soap operas. One thing I didn’t get was that in 2046 it sounded like Tony Leung was speaking Cantonese while Zhang Ziyi was speaking Mandarin (they were talking to eachother). I have noticed in a few Chinese movies that I will sometimes hear words that sound distinctly Cantonese spoken in the same sentence with words that sound distinctly Mandarin. Hopefully someone more fluent than I can clear this up, am I hearing this correctly?

Hi Mike,

thanks for the recommending “Blue Gate Crossing”, I need to check it out as you mention the dialogs are simple to follow.
Any other movies that are good for the purpose of studying?

Lately I’ve been watching Taiwanese dramas you youtube, “Devil besides me” and “Love contract”. Other then that, the time I used to spend watching movies is now all taken up by chinesepod…

In the mid-90′s I saw an artsy sort of movie from mainland China (as I recall), that had some hauntingly beautiful singing in it. I believe the English title was something like, “A Good Woman”. I don’t remember much about the plot, except that it was good, but the singing is what really sticks in my memory.

Unfortunately, I think the singing was in a non-Mandarin dialect. It wasn’t Cantonese either. My wife said it was probably one of the more minor dialects.

Eat drink man woman–great for learning, great for watching, but those of us outside of China and Taiwan will be left with a hunger (for food) that, for us, is unassuagable.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Yes, I know, itis over exposed and not Chinese enough, but the actors are gorgeous, the settings are gorgeous and the Mandarin is crystal clear, perhaps because it doesn’t come naturally (according to my teacher) to Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun Fat.

Mulan. Yes, Mulan, the Disney-dubbed version with English subtitles. This is the “official” translation and they even translated all the songs. Great fun and easy to understand.

I love martial arts films (or at least the fights therein) especially Jackie Chan because they’re silly, but I don’t like serious movies of any sort or nationality. That’s probably why I’m enjoying Devil Beside You. My teacher highly recommends the TV drama Fog Wind something something. Although she gave me a copy, I haven’t watched it yet.

I’ve joined the local Chinese video rental shop so I’ve seen a few Chinese movies recently. Some of my favorites are,

“Eat, Drink, Man, Woman”

I know I enjoyed “House of the Flying Daggers”, but I can’t remember the story now. It was a good adventure/ action movie though.

“Pushing Hands” also by Ang Lee, is about an old man (same guy who plays the father in “Eat, Drink, Man, Woman) who moves to America to live with his son’s family after his wife dies.

“Shadow Magic” is about a guy from England who moves to China to try and make his fortune showing side show films at the start of the twentieth century. His Chinese assistant falls for the daughter of the local Chinese opera star, who is in direct competition with the film show. This movie is mostly in Chinese but has some English.

“Terracotta Warrior”. One of the generals of the first emperor of China is cursed and entombed in one of the Terracotta Warriors, for trying to run away with a virgin that was to be sacrificed. Thousands of years later he wakes up in 1920′s China. This is a good comedy.

“Beijing Bicycle” is about a county boy who moves to Beijing to find work and gets a job as a bicycle courier. Unfortunatly it’s not long before his brand new bicycle is stolen. This is a good comedy about a country bumpkin that is totally out of place in a big city.

“The Personals” is about a woman doctor in Taipei who wants to start a new life so she quits her job and puts an add in the newspaper for a new boyfriend. This is also a comedy.

Finally a good Gong-li movie is “Shanghai Triad”, about gang wars in 1920′s Shanghai.

It’s Saturday evening and I’m off to the DVD store with list in hand. One of the great things about this place is the cheap ($1) DVDs, even if they are of dubious legality. (They’re sold openly in thousands of stores thoughout the country.)

I’m also interested to kinow more about Mike’s comment: “I know Ang Li is an exceptional global director and one would not even know he is from Tainan based upon his current movies” How can you tell if someone is from Tainan???

Carl

I have Ke Ke Xi Li and have not watched it yet. As Ken mentioned if you have never been to China , DVD’s are 1$ so it is very easy to build up a large collection. And I love Chinese/Taiwanese movies both new as well as pre 1950. Of the ones on your list besides Green Tea I would reach for Balzac and The Little Seamstress if you want to watch an excellent little movie in terms of acting, location and history. If you just want to laugh then of course Kung Fu Hustle. It rips every western and asian Kung Fu movie made.

To Ken, while walking close to the line of politics. I have watched Ang Li movies for a long time. Even sat next to him on a plane once. damn I didn’t know until we almost landed. I think in the States most people would not know he is Asian or born in Taiwan. And of course it seems he is being celebrated across the Chinese speaking world even though his last movie is about a subject less likely to be admitted over here. Nonetheless I was surprised to learn he is from Tainan. Last week or the week before he was in Tainan to celebrate his mother’s 80th birthday as well as host a party for his old high school friends.

Taiwan has a lot of politics both related to internal as well as the obvious external. The North (Taipei) and the South (Tainan) even more so than Kaoshiung really are at extremes much more so than the Red and Blue states in America or the Labor/Conservative in Britain. So it was I think a real statement perhaps intentional that Ang Li went home to Tainan Taiwan and not to Tainan ROC. That’s how I think it would be viewed in the south.

Enough said about that.

I am going to rewatch Green Tea and write about it tomorrow especially in terms of watching and listening in Chinese only. Will have to get used to the hard r’s of the Beijinger’s.

Mike in Jubei

Mike-

That would mean you’re flying business class when you travel=next time you’re in town, drinks are on Uncle Mike.

Awaiting the Green Tea review…these are good to know as I’ve been hooked on Korean cinema for the past few months (as are Chinese/Thai/etc with Korean TV)

Aric

Favorite film: To Live 活着 (Zhang Yimou 1991) [see below]
Sad fact: the film was banned in China, and Zhang and Gong Li were barred from filmmaking for two years.

Clearly, I like Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Ang Lee, and Stephen Chow. While I do like Wang Kar-wai, I think he can be a bit pretentious (think 50s French New Wave).

Note 1: It’s a shame there aren’t more women directors.
Note 2: I stole the plot outlines from Internet Movie Database (imdb.com).
Note 3: I guessed some of the Chinese titles.

Here’s a few of my favorites:

Modern Comedy-Drama
Happy Times 幸福时光 Xìngfú shíguāng (Zhang Yimou 2004)
Plot Outline: Zhao is an aging bachelor who hasn’t been lucky in love. Thinking he has finally met the woman of his dreams, Zhao leads her to believe he is wealthy and agrees to a wedding far beyond his means. [Compassion meets cruelty. Westerners might think it hard to find the humor.]

Together 和你在一起 Hé nǐ zài yīqǐ (Chen Kaige 2002)
Plot Outline: A violin prodigy and his father travel to Beijing, where the father seeks the means to his son’s success while the son struggles to accept the path laid before him. [Uplifting: great music, great ending.]

Chungking Express 重庆森林 Chóngqìng sēnlín (Wong Kar-wai 1994)
Plot Outline: The Chinese title means “Forest of Chungking”, referring to the metaphoric concrete jungle of the city, as well as to Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui, where much of the first part of the movie is set. The English title refers to Chungking Mansions and the Midnight Express food stall that Faye Wong’s stands outside during the end of the film. The movie comprises two different stories, told one after the other, each about a romance involving a policeman who has broken up with a girlfriend. [I liked Chungking Express, not the least because Wang Fei was in it. However, I can no longer listen to The mamas and the Papas' song, "California Dreamin'" and I'm wary of canned pineapples.]

Eat Drink Man Woman 饮食男女 Yǐnshínánnǚ [Food, drink and sex (the prime desires)] (Ang Lee 1994)
Plot Outline: A senior chef lives with his three grown daughters; the middle one finds her future plans affected by unexpected events and the life changes of the other household members. [Unpredictable, in a good way. Funny. Don't watch if you're hungry.]

The Wedding Banquet 喜筵 Xǐyán (Ang Lee 1993)
Plot Outline: To satisfy his nagging parents, a gay landlord and a female tenant agree to a marriage of convenience, but his parents arrive to visit and things get out of hand. [About time a Chinese director maturely addressed homosexuality. 'Course, it was filmed in N.Y. by a Taiwanese director. This is the only time I've seen a character for triple happiness!三重喜]

Pushing Hands 推手 (Ang Lee 1992)
Plot Outline: Master Chu, a retired Chinese Tai-Chi master, moves to Westchester, New York to live with his son Alex, his American daughter-in-law Martha, and their son Jeremy. However, Martha’s second novel is suffering from severe writers’ block brought on by Chu’s presence in the house. Alex must struggle to keep his family together as he battles an inner conflict between cultural tradition and his modern American lifestlye. [Another good East-meets-West flick.]

The Story of Qiu Ju 秋菊打官司 Qiū Jú dǎ guānsi (Zhang Yimou 1992)
Plot Outline: Tells of a peasant woman, Qiu Ju, who lives in a rural area of China and whose husband suffers a slight at the hands of the village head. She then travels to a big city despite her pregnancy but has to deal with its bureaucrats in order to find justice. [Good slice of rural life.]

Action-Adventure

House of Flying Daggers 十面埋伏十面埋伏 shí miàn mái fú (Zhang Yimou 2004)
Plot Outline: A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful member of a rebel army out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem. [Story line kind of hokey, but the film is just gorgeous]

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 卧虎藏龙 Wòhǔcánglóng [unnoticed talent] (Ang Lee 2000)
Plot Outline: Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are lead to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman’s daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life. [Beautiful cinematography. Fabulous directing.]

The Emperor and the Assassin 荆轲刺秦王 Jīng Kē cì Qīn wáng (Chen Kaige 1999)
Plot Outline: In pre-unified China, the King of Qin sends his concubine to a rival kingdom to produce an assassin for a political plot, but as the king’s cruelty mounts she finds her loyalty faltering. [Visually stunning. Well-edited]

Hero 英雄 Yīngxióng (Zhang Yimou 2002)
Plot Outline: A series of Rashomon-like flashback accounts shape the story of how one man defeated three assassins who sought to murder the most powerful warlord in pre-unified China. [Exciting.]

Drama

A World Without Thieves天下无贼 Tiānxià wú zéi (Feng Xiaogang 2004)
Plot Outline: An unmarried con-team couple (Andy Lau & Rene Liu) head west after taking a city businessman for his BMW. The woman is trying to abandon her criminal lifestyle for the sake of her unborn child’s karma. But an encounter with a naive young carpenter travelling home with his life savings challenges their fate as thieves. [Not your typical Hong Kong fare.]

Chicken Poets象鸡毛一样飞 Xiàng jīmáo yíyàng fēi (Meng Jinghui 2002)
Undecided about his future, Yun Fei, an unknown young poet, goes to visit an old university friend in the suburbs of Beijing to seek his advice. He discovers that his friend has gone into business, and is successfully breeding black chickens. This first film, a deliberately allegorical visual fantasy, focuses on the 30-something generation in China, who have to adapt to a materialistic society very different from the political utopia of their childhood. [Cool avant-garde film. I met this director during the premier of this film and he seemed pretty hip. Unfortunately, the film crashed and burned at the end and we missed the last 10 minutes. Alas...alack...wellaway: can't buy the film in the U.S. ]

In the Mood for Love (花样年华 Huāyàngniánhuá [flower of life] (Wong Kar-wai 2000)
Plot Outline: Hong Kong 1962, chief editor of a local newspaper, Chau and his wife move into new accommodation of Shanghainese building where he meets Li-chun, lives in next-door and moves in the same day. It’s also a coincidence that both of them are moving in without help from their spouses…[Loved the color.]

The Road Home 我的父亲母亲 Wǒde fùqin mǔqin (Zhang Yimou 1999)
Plot Outline: Prompted by the death of his father and the grief of his mother, a man recalls the story of how they met in flashback. [Lots of good life lessons. Plus, Zhang Ziyi.]

Not One Less一个都不能少Yī gè dōu bù néng shǎo (Zhang Yimou 1999)
Plot Outline: In a remote mountain village, the teacher must leave for a month, and the mayor can find only a 13-year old girl, Wei Minzhi, to substitute. The teacher leaves one stick of chalk for each day and promises her an extra 10 yuan if there’s not one less student when he returns. [This is a good film for newbie-intermediate dialogue]

Happy Together 春光乍泄 Chūn guāng zhà xiè (Wong Kar-wai 1997)
Plot Outline: A gay couple from pre-handover Hong Kong visits Argentina to renew their lagging relationship. Among other sites, they want to visit the Iguassu waterfalls which serve as a leitmotiv in the movie and represents their desire to revive the intensity of attraction they felt at the outset of their relationship. The couple runs out of money and are forced to work in order to return to Hong Kong.

King of Masks 变脸 Biànliǎn (Tian-Ming Wu 1996)
Plot Outline: Wang Bianlian is an aging street performer known as the King of Mask for his mastery of Sichuan Change Art in a true story. His wife left him with and infant son over 30 years ago. The son died from illness at age 10. This left Wang a melancholy loner aching for a male descendent to learn his rare and dying art. [Charming with no melodramatic ending.]

Shanghai Triad 摇呀摇﹐摇到外婆桥 Yào ya yào, yào dào wàipó qiáo (Zhang Yimou 1995)
Plot Outline: The story is about a young boy, Tang Shuisheng, who just arrived in Shanghai working as a servant in a Triad owned nightclub. He is assigned to Bijou, a cabaret singer and girlfriend of the Boss.

Vive l’Amour 爱情万岁Àiqíng Wànsuì (Tsai Ming-liang 1994)
Plot Outline: The film focuses on three city folks who unknowingly share the same apartment: Mei, a real estate agent who uses it for her sexual affairs; Ah-jung, her current lover; and Hsiao-ang, who’s stolen the key and uses the apartment as a retreat. [Different.]

Wooden Man’s Bride (Huang Jianxin 1994)
Plot Outline: Camels carry a bride to her groom’s house; he is a wealthy tofu maker and the bride’s father is in debt to him. Leading the caravan is Kui, a strong, courageous, and naive peasant. Bandits intercept them and carry off the bride. Kui follows: two days later, at the bandits’ stronghold, he seeks her return. [Stereotypical Chinese melodrama.]

Farewell My Concubine 霸王别姬 Bàwáng bié jī (Chen Kaige 1993)
Plot Outline: “Farewell, My Concubine” is a movie with two parallel, intertwined stories. It is the story of two performers in the Beijing Opera, stage brothers, and the woman who comes between them. At the same time, it attempts to do no less than squeeze the entire political history of China in the twentieth century into a three-hour time-frame. [Deserved the Best Foreign Film Oscar.]

To Live 活着 Huózhe (Zhang Yimou 1991)
Plot Outline: Fugui and Jiazhen endure tumultuous events in China as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry. Addicted to gambling, Fugui loses everything. In the years that follow he is pressed into both the nationalist and communist armies, while Jiazhen is forced into menial work. They raise a family and survive, managing “to live” from the 40′s to the 70′s in this epic, but personal, story of life through an amazing period. [My favorite Chinese film. And a pretty good, non-propagandistic overview of recent Chinese history. No wonder the Chinese authorities banned it.]

Life on a String 边走边唱 Biān zǒu biān chàng (Chen Kaige 1991)
Plot Outline: Two blind men pursue ephemeral and unlikely hopes. One is an aged master, a wandering troubador venerated as a saint, in physical decline, waiting to break his 1,000th banjo string, an event his own master promised years before would bring him sight. The other is his apprentice, Shidou, who longs for a woman’s love and is enchanted with the radiant and spirited Lanxiu. [Spiritual.]

Raise the Red Lantern大红灯笼高高挂 Dà hóng dēnglong gāogāo guà (Zhang Yimou 1991)
Plot Outline: China in the 1920′s. After her fathers death, nineteen year old Songlian is forced to marry Chen Zuoqian, the lord of a powerfull family. Fifty year old Chen has already three wives. [Lush.]

Ju Dou 菊豆 Jú Dòu (Yang Fengliang, Zhang Yimou 1990)
Plot Summary: A woman married to the brutal and infertile owner of a dye mill in rural China conceives a boy with her husband’s nephew but is forced to raise her son as her husband’s heir without revealing his parentage in this circular tragedy. Filmed in glowing technicolour. [Another visually-stunning film from Zhang Yimou, who scored an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and a best director award at Cannes with Ju Dou. Banned in China because of it's hidden political message.]

Red Sorghum 红高粱 Hóng gāoliang (Zhang Yimou 1987)
Plot Outline: An old leper who owned a remote sorghum winery dies. Jiu’er, the wife bought by the leper, and her lover, identified only as “my Grandpa” by the narrator, take over the winery and set up an idealized quasi-matriarchal community headed by Jiu’er. When the Japanese invaders subject the area to their rule and cut down the sorghum to make way for a road, the community rises up and resists as the sorghum grows anew. [Some pretty heavy melodrama.]

Yellow Earth黄土地 Huáng tǔdì (Chen Kaige 1984)
Plot Outline: Yellow earth focuses on the story of a Communist soldier who is sent to the countryside to collect folk songs for the Communist Revolution. There he stays with a peasant family and learns that the happy songs he was sent to collect do not exist; the songs he finds are about hardship and suffering. He returns to the Army, but promises to come back for the young girl, Cuiqiao, who has been spellbound by his talk of the freedom women have under Communist rule and who wants to join the Communist Army. [Brought out the nostalgic and the sentimental commie in me.]

Comedies-Action Spoofs

Kungfu Hustle 功夫 Gōngfu (Stephen Chow 2004)
Plot Outline: In Shanghai, China in the 1940s, a wannabe gangster aspires to join the notorious “Axe Gang” while residents of a housing complex exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf. [Road Runner cartoon on crank meets Buddha Bar.]

Shaolin Soccer 少林足球 Shǎolín zúqiú (Stephen Chow 2001)
Plot Outline: A young Shaolin follower reunites with his discouraged brothers to form a soccer team using their martial art skills to their advantage. [Simply hilarious.]

God of Cookery 食神 Shíshén (Stephen Chow, Lik-Chi Lee 1996)
The God of Cookery, a brilliant chef who sits in judgement of those who would challenge his title, loses his title when a jealous chef reveals him to be a con-man and humiliates him publicly. [Bizarrely funny.]

From Beijing with Love 国产零零七 Guóchán línglíngqī (Stephen Chow 1994)
Plot Outline: An incompetent 007-wannabe is sent to locate a stolen dinosaur skull. [Odd mixture of comedy and violence in this 007 spoof.]

Iron Monkey 少年黄飞鸿之铁马骝 Shǎonián Huáng Fēihóng zhī tiě mǎ liú (Yuen Woo-ping 1993)
Plot Outline: A doctor fights the corrupt authorities as a masked Robin Hood hero, even while another martial artist/doctor is forced to hunt for him. [Brill.]

Supercop (AKA, Police Story III) 警察故事三 Jǐngchá gùshi sān (Stanley Tong 1992)
Plot Outline: A Hong Kong police officer, Chia Chu is sent undercover to mainland China to break up a drug smuggling ring.
[I'm in love with Michelle Yeoh.]

These are the only movies which I didn’t see mentioned above and would consider watching again.
They all offer some insight into China in addition to being entertaining. Nothing pretentious here.

You Hua Haohao Shuo (有话好好说）
Jia Fang Yi Fang （甲方乙方）
Da Hua Xi You （大话西游）
Bu Jian Bu San （不见不散）
Guo Chan 007 (国产007）
Durian Durian (榴莲飘飘）
Heimao Jingzhang（黑猫警长）
Warriors of Heaven and Earth (天地英雄）
Shower (洗澡）
Da Wan （大腕）

Excellent suggestions!

Mike, I’m new to the Korean area, but knew I would like it after watching Park Chan Wook’s (sp) trilogy.

“Oldboy”, if you can stomach parts, is the most mind-blowing film I’ve seen in ages. Story, shot, pace…the other “Sympathy’s” are amazing as well, but “Oldboy” should bring SK film to the forefront.

Now, I’m off to call Ken to let him know I won’t be in for another week as I think it my producer’s responsibility to watch everything everyone mentioned-would hate to be rude!

Speakin’ of Ken, I try not to compliment him, but helluva post…I might have to take 2 weeks off to honor him.

Aric

Review : Green Tea 绿茶 Mandarin movie about 3 years old filmed in Beijing
Director : Zhang Yuan
Stars: Zhao Wei 女人 nǚrén
Jiang Wen 男人 nánrén
Cinematography : Chris Doyle (extremely important)

The first time I saw this movie was when it first came out on a DVD purchased in Beijing. ( I was still in Beijing at the time as well) The copy did not have English subtitles and my chinese was basically just Ni Hao. And yet I liked it.

I watched it again this past September with English subtitles and really liked it. So I went back this weekend and watched again with just the madarin titles on.

This movie is not Hero or Flying Daggers. It is basically two people talking and trying to come to grips with the rapidly changing world of China on a personal level. The two actors Jiang Wen and Zhao Wei are excellent. He (Jiang) is a director as well as actor. I would guess in his 40′s and is the kind of guy I think is good looking. Aggie, Jenny or other ladies please feel to comment. He tends to play parts were he is physically strong and even when he must display emotion the physical side is quite evident. In an interview Ms. Zhao said all people look like animals and Jiang is a gorilla. I see him more as a big brown bear. Now Ms. Zhao Wei on the other hand is the kind of woman I love to look at. Last year in some lad mag she was voted second sexiest female behind Zhang Ziyi. In this movie she plays a very repressed character who does not believe she is attractive. She wears grey or black pant suits, shirt buttoned up to the collar and (I think they goofed she has on heels) when I think she should have been wearing those slipper with the strap across the front. Her hair is pulled back in a bun and she wears glasses. So she is supposed to look extremely plain. Oh yea Right!

The two characters meet on a blind date in an upscale coffee/tea bar. ( Could sobody help me on the characters for blind date it looks like it starts with 租 zu ) Ziang’s character clearly has money, we catch a glimpse of his silver Audi but has just been dumped by his girl friend. Zhao’s character is still in grad school studying Comparative Literature and she carries plenty of books as well as baggage in her heart.

The whole story evolves around can the sensitive but physical guy win over first the trust and then the love of the completely introverted yet yearning to be released woman. So why is it call Green Tea?

Ms. Zhao drinks green tea. Real green tea. And it was only after I learned that Chris Doyle was in charge of cinematography I understood. He was done most of Wong Kar-wai’s films as well as Yimou’s Hero, Chen Kaige and recently Rabbit Proof Fence a great Australian movie.

An aside to Aric: The movie Chungking Express, the apartment that Tony Leung’s character lives in and Faye changes is in fact where Doyle lived and still does!

Doyle is a master of color. When Zhao’s character takes the dry green tea and disperses it into the glass (not cup) of hot water, the tea leaves begin to open and change to a brilliant virginal green. The only better moment is watching the close up of her lips sipping in the tea.

The defining moment in the dialog to me is when her character says “my best friend said to me, the best thing about you is you are conservative, the worst thing about you is you are conservative.”

I find this an interesting aspect observing people in Taiwan and more so in China where so much is happening in one generation. What to hold on to and what to change.

So if you like “small movies” absolutely beautiful camera work without it being overwhelming like in Hero and seeing two beautiful actors, you might like this movie on a part of China today.

As to whetheris it good for learning Chinese.

Yes. I am “Elementary level” listening and maybe somewhere in the vast Intermediate level reading. Since this movie is just two people there is little back ground noise. You can “see ” them talk and they never talk over each other. As they often think before responding their is time to try to absorb the words as well. I found even with the chinese subtitles turned off I could follow the movie better than listening to Jenny and Aggie on an Advance Level or high intermediate level lesson.

Also for those of you longing for the hard “r’s” of the Beijingers you’ve got them here.

I hope this was useful. I will try to do another later this week perhaps.

Mike in Jubei

Maybe this is a private message to Aric, but to everyone else, hey come on talk about movies, this is such a rich vein of Chinese culture of today.

Ok, my movie report for today is : Hands in the Air or in Chinese 做 頭 —–zuòtóu.

The movie takes place in modern day Shanghai. The music is Nat King Cole and most of the scenes are from the old French District. So for anyone who knows Shanghai or wants to see a very special part of Shanghai, here it is.

But the most important part of this movie is the actress – Ms. Rosamund Kwan of Hong Kong who is the star and I am not sure you are a man if you do not fall in love with her in this movie. And ladies I would assume this is what many of you are or hope to aspire to. It is almost funny or shows the immaturity of the reviewer who mentions this is about an “ordinary woman whose beauty is fading” STOP right there , no fading she oozes beauty and sex especially as Ms. Kwan has never done so in all her movies before. I was shocked she is so beautiful and the camera loves her in this movie. The story is immaterial.

So find it , watch it. I would love to hear from Aric as well as Aggie and Jenny what they think.

Now as to is it good for learning chinese. Yes, if you can tear your eyes away from Ms. Kwan. I believe she is from Hong Kong so Cantonese rather than Putonghua is her first language. So it seems she speaks slowly as well as more clearly than would a native speaker. Ok I was hanging on every word that came from those lips, but even so, I think if you are at the elementary level you can grasp much of what she says in one listening sesson.

If you can find it, watch it— first for Shanghai but then for a beautiful woman. And then watch again and again to watch a beautiful woman. And finally, to improve your chinese.

Mike in Jubei