A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella

A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella 1995

7.70

This sequel to "Pandora's Box" continues director Jeffrey Lau's adaptation of the Buddhism saga "Journey to the West". Stranded five centuries in the past, Joker Monkey King must battle a variety of monsters, seductive women and super-powered villains to save the dying Pak Jing-Jing.

1995

Code Name: Cougar

Code Name: Cougar 1989

5.50

A commercial airliner on a routine flight between Taipei and Seoul is hijacked and taken to mainland China by the Taiwan Revolutionary Army Front. Chinese authorities cannot seize the plane because of the presence of an important business figure on board, but agree to cooperate with Taiwanese authorities to defuse the tense situation.

1989

A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box

A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box 1995

7.50

When the Goddess of Happiness tosses the Longevity Monk and his disciples out of heaven (because the Monkey King tried to attain immortality), the Monkey King is reincarnated as the Joker. He now spends his time chasing two jealous women. When one of them is dying, the Joker goes back in time in an attempt to save her.

1995

Ju Dou

Ju Dou 1990

7.20

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, this tale of romantic and familial love in the face of unbreakable tradition is more universal than its setting.

1990

Red Sorghum

Red Sorghum 1988

7.19

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.

1988

Back to Back, Face to Face

Back to Back, Face to Face 1994

8.00

Wang Shuangli is Deputy Director of the local Cultural Centre, and hopes to be appointed Director. However Old Ma is brought in from the country and installed as Director. This starts a long train of events with Wang's cronies using the bureaucracy to try to oust the new director.

1994

Warriors of Heaven and Earth

Warriors of Heaven and Earth 2003

6.30

A Chinese emissary is sent to the Gobi desert to execute a renegade soldier. When a caravan transporting a Buddhist monk and a valuable treasure is threatened by thieves, however, the two warriors might unite to protect the travelers.

2003

The Emperor's Shadow

The Emperor's Shadow 1996

7.30

Epic drama about China's first emperor (221 BC) who struggles to make his childhood best friend, now China's greatest composer, succumb to his will and compose a grand anthem to his exploits.

1996

Shower

Shower 1999

7.00

An aged father and his younger, mentally challenged son have been working hard every day to keep the bathhouse running for a motley group of regular customers. When his elder son, who left years ago to seek his fortune in the southern city of Shenzhen, abruptly returns one day, it once again puts under stress the long-broken father-son ties. Presented as a light-hearted comedy, Shower explores the value of family, friendship, and tradition.

1999

Quitting

Quitting 2001

6.60

An actor becomes increasingly introverted and psychotic and his entire family attempts to intervene.

2001

The Swordsman in Double Flag Town

The Swordsman in Double Flag Town 1991

6.50

Honoring his father's dying words, a young man comes to the dusty desert village of Double Flag Town to claim his bride. Everyone looks down upon him because he looks inept and ignorant. When he kills a man who is attempting to rape his bride, he provokes the wrath of the Lethal Swordsman who is the rapist's brother and also a famous killer. Will our hero choose to escape with his bride or face the Lethal Swordsman? A highly stylized martial-arts film, in the style of Sergio Leone meets Hiroshi Teshigahara.

1991

The Quiet Little Li River

The Quiet Little Li River 1984

5.00

When the villagers in Qingshuilian village along the Xiaoli River in northern Shaanxi have to evacuate to intruding forces of Hu Zongnan, only a stubborn grandfather is left behind.

1984

Sweet Grass

Sweet Grass 1994

1

Niu Er is a peddler who provides for the widow Gan Cao and her mother and son. Gan Cao sews and cooks for Niu Er but is reluctant to get close to him, because she is in love with Ba Dun, a gambler.

1994

At the Beach

At the Beach 1984

1

"At he beach" - A hidden masterpiece: one part rural elegy, one part urban romance, forged together in an editing tour de force. Rarely screened in China or outside, this story of a fisherman’s daughter caught between factory work and feudal forced marriage is simply astonishing.

1984

Spicy Love Soup

Spicy Love Soup 1999

6.80

Six different episodes about different generations' relationships. Love can be sweet, sour, or spicy.

1999

My 1919

My 1919 1999

8.50

To the Chinese, the Conference at Versailles was more of an insult at their dignity and sovreignity than a celebration of peace.

1999

No Regrets About Youth

No Regrets About Youth 1991

1

Zheng Jianong, a bulldozer driver, has been suffering from illness for years and his wife leaves him

1991

A Beautiful New World

A Beautiful New World 1999

5.70

A satirical comedy about a country bumpkin who goes to the big city, and ends up teaching the cynical city folk a few lessons about basic human decency. The hero leaves home for the first time to go to Shanghai, to collect his lottery prize - a brand new apartment. However, when he arrives, he is told by the developers that his apartment block will take a year and a half to complete. He decides to find a job in Shanghai and wait for his apartment to materialise...

1999

Wheat

Wheat 2009

6.40

"Wheat," is a historical action drama about the women left behind when their men have gone off to war -- and the lies they are told to keep them from knowing the awful truth.

2009