Chinese Films

 

 

 

The Chinese-language cinema has three distinct historical threads: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan.

As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of political and economic freedom than mainland China and Taiwan, and developed into a filmmaking hub for the Chinese-speaking world and for East Asia in general. For decades, Hong Kong was the third largest motion picture industry in the world (after Indian Cinema and Hollywood) and the second largest exporter.

The cinema of mainland China after 1949 and until recent times operated under restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of China. Some films with political overtones are still censored or banned in China itself. However, most of these films are allowed to be shown abroad in commercially distributed theaters or in film festivals.

The vast majority of the Mainland-produced movies are Mandarin-based, unlike those from contemporary Hong Kong, which are almost exclusively made in Cantonese. Mainland films are often dubbed when exported to Hong Kong for theatrical runs, though Taiwan, like the PRC is predominantly Mandarin-speaking, and offers ready alternative commercial outlets for export.

In the West, Hong Kong's action cinema has long had a strong cult following, which has become large enough that it is now arguably a part of the cultural mainstream, widely available and imitated. This influence has been particularly heavy on recent Hollywood trends in the action genre.

Bruce Lee (Source: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000045/bio )

The greatest icon of martial arts cinema, and a key figure of modern popular culture, was born Lee Jun Fan, 1940 in San Francisco, California. Had it not been for the amazing Bruce Lee and his incredible movies in the early 1970s, it's arguable whether or not the martial arts film genre would have ever penetrated and influenced mainstream western cinema & audiences the way it has over the past three decades. His Hong Kong and Hollywood-produced films elevated, changed and influenced the traditional Hong Kong martial arts film to a new level of popularity and acclaim, and sparked the first major surge of interest in Chinese martial arts in Hong Kong and the rest of the world as well.

Bruce Lee portrayed Chinese national pride and Chinese nationalism in his movies. He was not only an amazing athlete and martial artist, but he possessed genuine superstar charisma and through a handful of films he left behind an indelible impression on the tapestry of modern cinema.

After he had died, fans worldwide were still hungry for more Bruce Lee films, and thus remaining footage (completed before his death) of Lee fighting several was crafted into another 2 films (titled Game of Death (1978), Game of Death II (1981) . The film used a look-alike actor and shadowy camera work to be substituted for the real Lee in numerous scenes.

Anna May Wong (Source: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0938923/bio )

The first Chinese-American movie star, was born Wong Liu Tsong, 1905, in Los Angeles, California. A third-generation American, she managed to have a substantial acting career during a deeply racist time when the taboo against miscegenation meant that Caucasian actresses were cast as "Oriental" women in lead parts opposite Caucasian leading men. Wong was rejected as she did not fit a Caucasian's imagined ideal look for an Asian woman. The discrimination she faced in the domestic industry caused her to go to Europe for work in English and German films.

Ann May Wong appeared in over 50 American, English and German films in her career, making her the first global Chinese-American movie star. She was forced to fight against racism and stereotyping all her professional life, while simultaneously being criticized by Chinese at home and abroad for perpetuating stereotypes in the media. Despite this tremendous burden, the beautiful woman assayed elegance and sophistication on-screen that made her the paradigm of Asian women for a generation of movie audiences.

Jacky Chan (Source: http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=jacky+chan/bio )

Hong Kong's cheeky, lovable and best known film star endured many years of long, hard work and multiple injuries to establish international success via his early beginnings in Hong Kong's manic martial arts cinema industry.

Jacky Chan was born Kong-sang Chan on Hong, 1954 in Hong Kong. He was rigorously trained in music, dance, and traditional martial arts. Following the death of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, the search was on for an actor who could inspire audiences to the same degree; every young martial artist was given a chance. Chan decided that rather than emulating Lee (and thus living forever in his shadow), he would develop his own style of filmmaking. His directorial debut (Shi di chu ma, 1980) was a milestone in martial arts films, being one of the first to effectively combine comedy with action. This set the tone for many of his future films, which combined slapstick humor with high-energy martial arts action. His later films include outtakes of his on-set injuries run under the closing credits. He is understandably number one on the insurance blacklist.

Gong Li (Source: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000084/bio )

The best-known Chinese actress in the West, was born in 1965, Shenyang, China. Li Gong was named as the Best Actress at the 49th Venice International Film Festival for her role in The Story of Qiu Ju, 1992. She made a series of successful films with the famous Chinese director Yimou Zhang.
Zhang Ziyi (Source: http://movies.msn.com/celebrities/celebrity-biography/zhang-ziyi/
Zhang Ziyi, was born in 1980, Beijing, China, is perhaps the most well known Chinese actress in America.  With a string of Chinese and international hits to her name, she has worked with renowned directors such as Zhang Yimou, Wong Kar-Wai, Chen Kaige, Seijun Suzuki etc.
Zhang Yimou (Source: http://www.fandango.com/zhangyimou/biographies/p117624 )

Zhang Yimou is one of the best-known directors, cinematographer of the Chinese Fifth Generation and one of the most influential and widely respected filmmakers working today. Along with Chen Kaige, took China's cinema to an esteemed international level. Zhang was born in Xi’an, China, in 1950.

Zhang's directing started with Hong gao liang (Red Sorghum, 1987), and by 2004 he had completed at least fifteen other movies, a number of which have been released abroad to critical acclaim. Hero (2002) and House of Flying Daggers (2004) were nominated for Academy Awards for best foreign-language film.

Zhang's films are distinguished by rich cinematography and an emphasis on imagery and metaphors to convey messages, and until recently, they have featured dark, mournful, folkloric stories of rural life. They often deal with the perseverance of Chinese commoners, whether it is the family in To Live (1994) trying to survive the unpredictable reality of the 1940s to 1980s; the wife in Qiu Ju Goes to Court (1992), who repeatedly goes back to court to seek justice for her abused husband; in Not One Less (1999), who doggedly fulfills her assignment to keep a class of students together; or the mother in The Road Home (1999), who stubbornly insists that her deceased husband be returned home against formidable odds to be given a traditional burial.

Color also plays a key role in Zhang's films: in Raise the Red Lantern (1991), the dominance of the wedding color red, which represents which wife is chosen for the conjugal bed; the bright colored cloth hanging in the dye house in Ju Dou (1990), which contrasts with the dull unhappiness of the young, unfaithful wife; and the colorful countryside in The Road Home, which hints at the happiness of the parents when they were young and in love.

Zhang changed his style on occasion, becoming a master of the happy-sad ending, as in Happy Time (2001) and The Road Home, and later, moving to the action-filled, martial-arts genre with peculiar twists that differed from the traditional Hong Kong kung fu films. Critics in China have panned his latest works, writing that they have illogical plots and weak characters and were designed specifically for North American audiences. Hero broke box-office records in China for domestic movies, and House of Flying Daggers was a financial success in both China and the United States.

Zhang Yimou was chosen to direct the Opening and Closing Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games along with the choreographer Zhang Jigang.

Wong Kar Wai (Source: http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Wong_Kar_Wai/1116675 )

Wong Kar Wai - was born in Shanghai, in 1958 - has been a rare commodity within the Hong Kong film industry – a maker of "art" films.

He is an award winning Hong Kong filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylized films.

He is the first Chinese to win the Best Director Award at Cannes film Festival (1997)