Chinese movies (2015 list)
It is a bit late but, anyway, I wanted to share the list of Chinese movies I watched last year. I classified them in 3 groups: liked them, meh, and didn’t like them. I also included some Hong Kong movies. I think watching movies is a good way of practising your listening comprehension and also of learning more about the culture. Just a word of warning: these are the Chinese movies I watched in 2015, but not all of them are from last year. I am usually not too aware of the latest releases.
Chinese movies I liked:
– Blind Massage (推拿): it feels almost more like a documentary than like a movie. It is the story of some blind people working in a massage parlour.
– A Simple Life (桃姐): Hong Kong movie. A very beautiful story about a middle aged man and the old lady who was his nanny and worked for his family for all her life.
– Spring in a Small Town (小镇之春): a classic from 1948. It was one of the last movies shot in Mainland China before the Communist takeover and, as such, very interesting because it provides a very sharp contrast with what came later.

“Spring in a Small Town poster” by Wenhua Film Company – http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/denton2/courses/c505/temp/springtown.html. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons.
– The Blue Kite (蓝风筝): perfect to compare with Spring in a Small Town, because the story takes place in Beijing in 1953. The movie was filmed in 1993, it was censored and its director was banned from making more movies for ten years. I have to say, I don’t think it is so “offensive” that the guy deserved to be banned, but it seems if you made a movie about the 1950s or 60s during the 90s, your chances of people in China watching it were pretty slim (as it also happened with Zhang Yimou, who was banned from filmmaking for two years after To Live).
– People Mountain, People Sea (人山人海): a thriller about a man in Guiyang looking for the murderer who killed his brother. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been banned, because it shows pretty ugly things about China (corruption, guanxi, backward and dirty places), but it wasn’t. Maybe because now the political agenda says denouncing corruption and guanxi is ok?
– Jian Bing Man (煎饼侠): a completely different story and one of the blockbusters of the year. It is the first movie of comedian Da Peng, who has a very successful internet show (屌丝男士). I thought it was very funny but I love this guy, so I’m not sure I’m impartial. A lot of famous people appear, mostly Chinese, but also Jean-Claude Van Damme. It is about a director who has lost everything, including his reputation, and has to film a superhero movie with basically no money.

“Jian Bing Man Chinese film poster” by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.
– Monster Hunt (捉妖记): another blockbuster, I think because it is the first Chinese movie in which special effects don’t suck, ha ha. It is a mix of comedy and action in the Chinese “Middle Ages”, when monsters roamed free.
– 12 Citizens (十二公民): remake of 12 Angry Men. The members of a jury have to decide unanimously if the murder suspect is guilty or not. As there are no juries in the Chinese system, the premise in the movie is a mock trial in a Law school to study the American system.
– Go away, Mr. Tumor (滚蛋吧!肿瘤君): this one was also a huge success. It is the true story of a girl who got cancer and drew a comic book about it. She is very imaginative and kind of crazy. Hidden spoiler: prepare the tissues.
– The Dead End (烈日灼心): this one I am also not sure why it was not censored, as there are pretty “strong” themes (considering we are in China, of course). Three men committed a crime many years ago but managed to avoid justice… for the moment.
– Goodbye, Mr. Loser (夏洛特烦恼): a “loser” in the wider sense of the term gets the chance to go back to the past and get things right in the future. Funny.

“Goodbye Mr Loser film poster” by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.
Chinese movies that left me “meh”:
– The Underdog Knight (硬汉): I don’t really remember anything from this movie but I gave it a 6, so it should be ok if you don’t have anything else to do/watch. It is from Hong Kong.
– Rigor Mortis: a Hong Kong horror movie pretty unremarkable.
Chinese movies that I didn’t like:
– Gone with the Bullets (一步之遥): what a piece of sh*t. I couldn’t finish it, and I can’t say anything about the plot, because everything was very confusing. Something about Shanghai in the 20s. So disappointed with Jiang Wen, the director, who usually delivers interesting movies like Devils on the Doorstep. He screwed big time in here.

“Gone with the Bullets poster” by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.
– The Continent (后会无期): this is the first movie directed by Han Han, a famous blogger and writer. He is something like the “representative figure of the 80s generation”. He is also a race car pilot, and he should have kept on doing that, because this movie was pretentious and boring. I couldn’t finish it. It is about some friends looking for someone or something on a island. BOOO-O-O-ORING.
– Monk Comes Down the Mountain (道士下山): I just cannot believe this piece of rubbish was directed by Chen Kaige. What happened to you, man? I saw almost all of it and then went to bed before the end, because I was not interested at all.
Did you watch any of these movies? Do you have any recommendations for this year?
Chen kaige is a pretty crappy director, it is said the movie “Farewell My Concubine” which makes him famous is directed by his father. Although it is one of my favorite movie , i have to say there is no comparision between Chen kaige and Zhang yimou.
I did not know that rumour! Wow! I also like Zhang Yimou, especially the old movies (Ju Dou and Raise the red lantern are my favourites).
I saw the assassin in the theatre. Visually very beautiful but plot and acting was average at best. But the movie did inspire my creative thinking in terms of how I would like to kill everyone in the theatre who was talking and checking their wechat THE WHOLE MOVIE. Thanks for the reviews, I think I’ll check out that People Mountain, People Sea movie this weekend.
We started watching The Assassin at home but it had no English subtitles and I wasn’t understanding anything of that ancient Chinese style xD
Yep, every time I go to the cinema there is someone answering the phone… wtf…
I liked Blind Massage. Agree on Monster Hunt. Heard positive things about Jian Bing Man, and the sequel to (very good) Let the Bullets Fly wasn’t any good?!
Thanks for your list, I always mean to learn more about Chinese film~
I didn’t see the prequel! I will try. But I absolutely hated Let the bullets fly. Reminded me of the videoclip style of Moulin Rouge and I also hated that one haha.
I’m particularly interested in those 2 films having to do with the time around the Cultural Revolution since my father’s family fled China during this time. Thanks for the recommendations. I’ll see if I can find any of them. Great list!
Then check also To Live if you haven’t watched it! It should be pretty easy to find these movies, particularly Spring in a small town as it is already public domain so you can even watch it on youtube.
An older movie – Belzac and the Little Seamstress.
Thanks! I haven’t watched it yet.
Thanks for this, i need to get more into watching things in Chinese, especially now i don’t get to hear it every day. Do you know the best way to download Chinese language films with English subtitles, or even Chinese subtitles?
Mmm we always watch movies with the Xiaomi box for tv, but it should be pretty easy to find these movies in the usual downloading spots :D
From this list I only saw monster hunt thus far. Just no time to watch any movies last year/ this year (only movie I actually saw in the cinema was Star Wars!!)
Star Wars The Force Awakens sucked @ss. Was disappointed. Its plot is basically a rehash of A New Hope’s.
Well, it always depends on the individual. I for example enjoyed this movie. In the end each movie is just a rehash of another one
Didn’t watch Star Wars, I am not really interested in that saga… please don’t stop talking to me xD
Whaaaat how is that possible. Even my wife liked the movie though she had zero interest before and has no clue about all the previous movies
Haven’t seen any of these, so thanks for the recommendations.
Hahaha!! Jian Bing Man!! Darn, if they show this in Malaysia, I would totally watch it!!
If it is not shown then look it up online :P I think you would like it!
I haven’t seen any of these, but we went to the cinema a few times to watch new Chinese movies and there were quite a few good ones!
The last one we saw in the cinema was “Mr Six”, it was alright!
These are all new to me, so thank you. I have seen some great Chinese movies on DVD in Beijing. I love your ‘like them’ group – excellent choices they seem…I am going to try and track them down. Few movies I liked are ‘last train home’ about migrant workers returning to their villages for the New Year’s festival, ’33 postcards’ about lost siblings in China and links to Australia and finally ‘to live’ a story about four decades of political turmoil in China with beautiful actress Gong Li.
I have watched To Live, it is a classic! I will look for the other two, thanks!
Most welcome.
Crazy posters!!
Thanks for putting together this great list – based on your recommendations I am about to watch Spring in a Small Town and I really want to watch Blind Massage if I can get my hands on it! They both sound so interesting!
Cool! Spring in small town can even be watched on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN_iu_1kVjA
That’s where I found it :-) I started watching it but it is way too advanced for me without subtitles at this stage (youtube did offer subtitles for it in Russian but that doesn’t help me much ;-) )
Oh goodness you watched a lot of movies! On the movies you “liked” are there any top choices? It’s a lot to go through!!
I loved your blunt review for the bullets movie at the end, haha. “What a piece of sht.” You’re great Marta.
Hahaha, I was very angry about that one and when we were watching I kept telling my boyfriend: What is happening? Why are they here now? This doesn’t make any sense! I didn’t watch the prequel so maybe it is partly my fault, but the movie didn’t have good reviews anyway.
Mmm I think my favourites were Go Away mr Tumor, A Simple Life and Jian Bing Man (this last one only if you like stupid comedies xD).
OMG, I did not like that movie either. I went with my Chinese friend and I couldn’t understand a thing! I asked him if he understood…he said he also couldn’t understand much.
Yeah I think it just didn’t make any sense…
Actually, the Chinese movies I have a love-hate relationship with are their romantic comedy ones. They are so bad but so funny because they’re that bad.
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