Films in the Mandarin language
Certification15
Our Rating
The theme for these three shorts is desire – a comfortable mode for Wong Kar-Wai whose ‘The Hand' offers a miniature version of his swooningly gorgeous, chronologically choppy impressionism; an apprentice tailor is bowled over by Gong Li's imperious 60s courtesan to whom, despite a reversal of fortune, he remains a devoted supplicant for decades. Set in 1955 Soderbergh's chamber piece ‘Equilibrium' is the lightest and wittiest of the three; Robert Downey Jr is a neurotic ad exec with recurring d
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Certification15
Our Rating
British journalist George sneaks into Nanjing during the Japanese atrocities of 1938. Unfortunately, the Japanese catch him and just as they are about to send him to meet his maker fate intervenes in the form of local commie chief Chen, who rescues George and packs him off to an orphanage to assist red US nurse Radha. Fleeing from the nationalists' attempts to conscript orphaned boys into their army, they make a hair-raising three-month journey - the first 900km on foot - across the snow-bound L
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Certification15
Our Rating
On February 5th 2004 23 Chinese cockle-pickers drowned in Morecambe Bay, this is the story of the people behind the tragedy and the families in China still paying off their debts. When a young girl, Ai Qin, pays $25,000 to be smuggled into the UK, in order to support her family back in China, she becomes another one of 3 million migrant workers that have become the bedrock of our economy. Nick Broomfield's thoughtful, angry film provides a striking insight into the secret society upon which we r
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Certification15
Our Rating
Indigenous Detective Jay Swan arrives in the frontier mining town of Goldstone on a missing persons enquiry. What seems like a simple light duties investigation soon opens into a web of crime and corruption implicating the local Mayor, mining boss and Aboriginal Land Council. Writer/Director Ivan Sen follows up the critically acclaimed MYSTERY ROAD with this masterful outback thriller, featuring outstanding performances from a stellar cast, including Aaron Pedersen, find out more...
Certification15
Our Rating
Indigenous Detective Jay Swan arrives in the frontier town of Goldstone on a missing persons inquiry. What seems like a simple light duty investigation opens a web of crime and corruption. Jay must pull his life together and bury his differences with young local cop Josh, so together they can bring justice to Goldstone.
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CertificationPG
Our Rating
Zhao is a middle aged man who has yet to find himself a wife. Having reached an unbearable level of desperation Zhao resorts to deception in order to secure himself a partner and it is from here that this funny, sad drama stems as our 'hero' weaves an increasingly implausible web of wealth. Happy Times is a sweet and enjoyable film, slighter than you might have expected, but touching and amusing nonetheless.
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Certification12
Our Rating
A nameless warrior presents himself before the emperor with news that he has vanquished all who stood against him. Wary but curious the Emperor listens with increasing disbelief to the soldier's story, but as the epic battles are recounted in flashback it becomes increasingly clear that this was not merely a simple act of service by a servant to his lord. Hero is a stunning piece of moviemaking before you even take the electrifying fight scenes into account, a sumptuous feast for the eyes that o
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Certification15
Our Rating
Set in an ancient China of constantly warring dynasties and conflicting factions, two prefects of the district conspire to use a beautiful dancer believed to be a member of the fearsome House Of Flying Daggers, and trick her into revealing the location of her leader. An epic journey, beautifully choreographed, and stunningly shot, gradually blossoms into love, but just as deceit brought the couple together so it will be their undoing. A mesmerizing film from start to finish, The House Of Flying
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Certification15
Our Rating
After being attacked and robbed one night in Kuala Lumpur, Hsiao Kang, a homeless Chinese man, is rescued and taken in by some itinerant workers. One of them, Rawang, lets him share his old mattress that he found on the street. Later, when Chyi, a waitress at a coffee shop meets Hsiao Kang, she is filled with lustful desire. As Hsiao Kang slowly recovers, he finds himself caught between Rawang, Chyi and her female boss; but as a heavy haze descends on the city these men and women and the old mat
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Certification15
Our Rating
In 1930s Japanese occupied Foshan, independently minded Wing Chun fighter Yip soon finds himself helping train cotton mill workers to protect themselves from thieves and facing off with Japanese karate experts. Loosely based around the life of Bruce Lee's teacher, celebrated martial arts maestro, Yip Man, himself a pupil of the ageing Wing Chun maestro Chan Wah-Shun, this is both critically acclaimed and a box-office hit, with the real star being Sammo Hung's extraordinarily choreographed fight
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Certification12
Our Rating
Every year the world's greatest human migration takes place, the annual return of city workers to their home villages for the Chinese New Year. For several years director Lixin Fan has followed one family and in 16 years they've seen their daughter just a few days each year and now she has grown into a bitter rebellious teenager.
This brilliant docudrama reveals some of the hidden costs of Asia's economic miracle. find out more...
This brilliant docudrama reveals some of the hidden costs of Asia's economic miracle. find out more...
Certification12
Our Rating
Once long ago, during a bloody battle fought between the warring Liang and Wei states, two armies fought themselves to a bloody standstill. One of the only two survivors, a Liang, hopes to achieve his freedom by abducting the other, a young Wei general, and taking him on a long journey to present him to the Liang leadership.
This highly entertaining tale starts more like a comedy road trip, but becomes more reflective as the two combine to survive various interludes, bears, bandits, bad g find out more...
This highly entertaining tale starts more like a comedy road trip, but becomes more reflective as the two combine to survive various interludes, bears, bandits, bad g find out more...
Certification12
Our Rating
Certification18
Our Rating
China in the turmoil of Japanese occupation is the evocative setting for this unusual and visually stunning tale. Recruited before she is truly aware of her purpose, a young woman is groomed to become an irresistible siren, an icon of contemporary eroticism to ensnare a collaborator who has wreaked havoc amongst her people. Ang Lee's stunning follow up to "Broke Back Mountain" is in essence a thriller but as with all his films it is the richness and depth of the characters that really drive the
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Certification15
Our Rating
The Mountain Patrol are a pitifully ill-equipped and underfunded volunteer force fighting a relentless, and seemingly hopeless, battle against the poachers of Tibet's increasingly rare antelopes. Based on a true story and shot in a pseudo-documentary style, "Mountain Patrol" is a visually ravishing and grippingly brutal tale of men surviving on what seems like the edge of the world. Set in the beautiful harsh landscapes of Tibet, the locations are stunning, and the local colour vivid.
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Certification15
Our Rating
Lu Jie has no idea her husband is leading a double life until she sees him entering a hotel with a young woman. However, a few hours later her world will truly be turned upside down when the young woman dies beneath the wheels of a car and the police refuse to believe her death was an accident. The latest film from Lou Ye (Suzhou River, Summer P find out more...
CertificationU
Our Rating
A thirteen-year-old girl is drafted in as a substitute teacher in a small, isolated mountain village in rural China. When one of her poverty stricken pupils elopes to the city to try and earn some much needed readies she is determined to follow him and bring him back. Shot in verite style using real people, not actors, this heart-warming audience pleaser won the prestigious 1999 Golden Lion at the Venice film festival.
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Certification12
Our Rating
Set between 1979 and 1989 in a remote western province of China, we follow the changing fortunes and attitudes of a group of friends, all of whom are performers in a state sponsored theatre company. This is the period when China made the commitment to world trade and the free market, a move that caused one of the nation's largest social and economic upheavals since becoming communist nearly 50 years earlier. Beautifully filmed and often wittily observed, Platform is a revelation in its study of
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Certification15
Our Rating
The period between the end of the Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Three Kingdom Periods is deeply engrained into Chinese myth, think of our own Arthurian legends, though Woo adapted this film from the historically accurate 'Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms' rather than the romantic 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' (one of the 'Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature').
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Certification15
Our Rating
In 1930s North China, a young girl is given to a 50-year-old leper in exchange for a mule, but as she's carried to him through the wilderness she is saved from bandits by a handsome young peasant. Later the leper mysteriously dies and the peasant returns and the pair settle down to make the traditional red sorghum wine. The film shifts from fable to realism when Japanese troops invade the area, destroying the fields with forced labour from the vineyard until the workers revolt against them.
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