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 Chinese Cinema/Chinese Filmmakers
- Mainland China
- Hong Kong
- Taiwan
- Japanese Cinema
- Korean Cinema
- South/Southeast Asia cinema videography
- China, Korea, Japan documentary videography
- South/Southeast Asia documentary videography
- Asian Cinema Pages (via ejournal Senses of Cinema)
- Bibliography of books and articles about East Asian cinema
- Bibliography of books and articles about South/Southeast Asian cinema
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- 2046 (China/Hong Kong, 2004)
- Directed by Wong Kar Wai. Cast: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung, Faye Wong, Takuya Kimura, Chang Chen, Dong Jie, Carina Lau. A young man, who has tried to forget his lost love by meeting different young women, starts to write a novel about a young man falling in love with a machine-made woman on the 2046 train. The number 2046 is the room number where he met his lost love. 128 min. DVD 1287
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- Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: A Tailor Made Romance (Xiao cai feng) (France / China, 2002)
- Directed by Sijie Dai. Cast: Xun Zhou, Kun Chen, Ye Liu, Shuangbao Wang, Zhijun Cong.
At the height of Mao's Cultural Revolution, two teenage boys are among thousands exiled to the countryside for "re-education." The narrator and his best friend find themselves in a remote village where their only distractions are a violin and the beautiful daughter of the local tailor. But it is when they discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation that their re-education takes its most surprising turn. 111 min. DVD 8098
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- Beijing Bicycle (Shi qi sui de dan che) (China/Taiwan, 2001)
- Directed by Xiaoshuai Wang. Just as Guai, a bicycle messenger, makes his final payment for the silver mountain bike loaned by his company, he finds it stolen. After endless searching, Guai discovers his bicycle is now in the hands of Jian who bought the bicycle with stolen money. Though Guai and Jian finally work out a deal, they find themselves on an unexpected journey of self-discovery. 113 min. DVD 1287
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- Buscombe, E. "Beijing bicycle." Sight & Sound v. ns12 no. 7 (July 2002) p. 38-9
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- Xu, Jian. "Representing rural migrants in the city: experimentalism in Wang Xiaoshuai's "So Close to Paradise" and "Beijing Bicycle." Screen v. 46 no. 4 (Winter 2005) p. 433-49
- The Blue Kite (Lan Feng Cheng) (China, Hong Kong, 1993)
- Directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang. Banned in China, this film is the most acclaimed and controversial to come out of the new Chinese cinema. Told from the perspective of a young boy, Tieh-tou, it traces the fate of a Beijing family and their neighbors through the political and social upheavals in 1950's and 60's China. 138 min. DVD 1791; vhs 999:1832
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- Chinese Animation. Volume 1. (1960-1981)
- Contents: Where is Mama (Te Wei, Qian Jiajun, 1960, 10 min.): Pioneering brush-painting animation of a school of tadpoles in search of "mama." Clever Duckling (Yu Zhenguang, 1960, 5 min.): Animation adapted from the folk art of folded paper. One Night in an Art Gallery (A Da, Lin Wenxiao, 1978, 15 min.): This controversial cel animation ostensibly made for children features a sub-text about the reign and fall of the "Gang of Four," the leaders responsible for the devastation of the cultural revolution. Three Monks (A Da, 1980, 20 min.): Offers a unique version of an ancient proverb about learning to live and work together for survival. Monkeys Fish the Moon (Zhou Keqin, 1981, 10 min.): Charming cut-paper animation about some very mischievous monkeys. Buffalo Boy and the Flute (Te Wei, Qian Jiajun, 1963, 20 min.): Brush-painted animation expressing the delicate relationship between man and nature. 90 min. total; all credits and titles in Chinese. 999:2829
- Chinese Animation. Volume 2. (1983-1998)
- Contents: Snipe-clam Grapple (Hu Jinqing, 1983, 7 min.): Delicate cut-paper animation drawn from a Chinese proberb. Wanderings of San Mao (A Da, 1984, 10 min.): Features the life of a small orphan boy trying to survive in a war torn world. 36 Characters (A Da, 1984, 12 min.): Authentic Chinese pictograms are used for the humans and animals in this ancient Chinese story. Selecting Beauty (Wang Shuchen, 1987, 8 min.): A cel animation feature showing the way in which royalty choose their wives. Mantis Stalks Cicada (Hu Jinqing, 1988, 4 min.): Created from observations of nature, a film impeccably animated with cut-paper and landscape painting. Fishdish (Fang Runnan, 1988, 4 min.): A painted fish appears to swim off its dish. Feeling from Mountain and Water (Te Wei, Yan Sanchun, Ma Kexuan, 1988, 20 min.): A brush-painting animation of the tender story of the bond between a master musician and his protege. Deer and Bull (Zou Qin, 1992, 10 min.): Using only strips of bamboo bent into the shapes of animals this puppet animation is a powerful metaphor for war. Cat and Rat (Hu Jinqing, 1992, 3 min.): Another exquisite cut-paper animation. Snow Fox (Hu Jinqing, 1998, 2 min.): This cut-paper animation is an appeal for the protection of wildlife. 999:2830
- Crows and Sparrows (Wu ya yu que) (China, 1949)
- Directed by Zheng Junli. One of China's social commentary films of the 1940s, this film is considered to be a landmark work in pre-revolutionary Chinese cinema and an example of Chinese Neo-realism. The plot portrays a dramatic struggle between tenants and landlords on the eve of the Communist revolution. 111 min. 999:3166
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- Devils on the Doorstep (Gui zi lai le) (2000)
- Director: Jiang Wen. Cast: Jiang Wen, Jiang Hongbo, Kagawa Teruyuki, Yuan Ding, Cong Zhijun. Banned in China, Jiang Wen's ravishingly photographed anti-war epic is set in 1945 in Japanese-occupied rural China where a peasant is forced to shelter two prisoners: one Japanese who wants to die, and his Chinese interpreter who wants to live. 139 min. DVD 3748
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- Drifters (Er di) (2003)
- Directed by Wang Xiaoshuai. Cast: Duan Long, Shu Yan, Wang Zhilang, Zhao Yiwei, Tang Yang. A Chinese man feels pulled between his responsibilities in America where he has fathered a son, and China where he has fallen in love with an opera singer. 120 min. DVD 6319
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- East Palace, West Palace (Dong gong xi gong) (China, 1997)
- This film focuses on a young gay Chinese writer, A-Lan who, being attracted to a young policeman, manages to have himself interrogated for a whole night. His life-story which he tells during the interrogation reflects the general repression of the Chinese society. The policeman's attitude shifts from the initial revulsion to fascination and finally, to attraction. 90 min. DVD 8948; vhs 999:2202
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- Electric Shadows (Meng ying tong nian) (2004)
- Directed by Jiang Xiao. Cast: Xia Yu, Jiang Yihong, Jiang Shan, Niu Zhenhua. When a delivery man crashes into a girl, she asks him to feed the pets in her apartment, while she is in the hospital. There he finds her diary that exposes the story of a young girl's passion for the movies, which re-ignites his own longing for the days when the cinema enchanted China's masses. 95 min. DVD 5857
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- The Emperor and the Assassin (Jing Ke ci Qin Wang) (France, Japan, China, 1999)
- Directed by Chen Kaige. In this visually stunning epic Ying Zheng, the King of Qin, has one driving ambition: to unify China's seven kingdoms into one magnificent empire. Impressed by her lover's convictions, Lady Zhao helps Ying Zheng create an assassination plot that would justify the conquest of Qin's most powerful enemy, but when the mission explodes into a brutal holocaust, she is forced to question her loyalty. 161 min. DVD 857
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- The Emperor's Shadow (Chin sung) (China, Hong Kong, 1996)
- Directed by Zhou Xiaowen. A drama about the rise of Chin Shih-huang, China's first emperor, and the love story between his court musician Kao Chien-li and Princess Li-yang. 123 min. DVD 429; VHS 999:2822
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- Farewell My Concubine (Ba Wang Bie Ji) (China, Hong Kong, 1993)
- Directed by Kaige Chen. Story that spans more than 50 years in the lives of two gay male actors at the Peking Opera and of the woman who comes between them. Also an absorbing drama of the period in Chinese history from the warlord era through the Cultural Revolution. Based on the novel by Li Pi-hua. 157 min. DVD 191
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- Frozen (Jidu hanleng) (China, 1996)
- Directed by Wu Ming (Xiaoshuai Wang). Based on a true story according to the filmmaker, this film provides a rare look at the avant-garde art world of Beijing. A young performance artist decides to make his own suicide his last work of art. On the longest day of the year, he plans to melt a huge block of ice with his own body heat and die of hypothermia. His "Ice Burial" is a chilling expression of post Tiananmen Square ennui in China. 95 min. DVD 430; VHS 999:2810
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- Goodbye Dragon Inn (Bu san) (Taiwan, 1989)
- Director, Ming-liang Tsai. Cast: Kang-sheng Lee, Shiang-chyi Chen, Kiyonobu Mitamura, Shih Chun, Tien Mao, Chao-jung Chen, Kuei-Mei Yang.
A Japanese tourist takes refuge from a rainstorm inside a run-down movie theater that is screening a martial arts classic, King Hu's 1966 "Dragon Inn." Even with the rain bucketing down outside, it doesn't pull much of an audience -- and some of those who have turned up are less interested in the movie than in the possibility of meeting a stranger in the dark. 83 min. DVD 7348
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- The Horse Thief (Tao ma zei) (China, 1989)
- Director, Tian Zhuangzhuang. The story of Norbu, a horse thief, who is thrown out of his tribe in an effort to purge it of evil. Norbu repents after the birth of his son, but he is forced to steal again after the birth of a second son. The story takes place in 1923 in Tibet. 88 min. 999:3202
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- Ju Dou (China, Japan, 1991)
- Directed by Zhang Yi-Mou and Yang Feng-liang. The abused wife of a sadistic Chinese mill owner and his overworked nephew fall in love. Only murder could free the lovers from the mill owner's tyranny- or could it? 98 min. DVD 190; VHS 999:841
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- Lan Yu (China, Hong Kong, 2001)
- Directed by Stanley Kwan. Chronicles the turbulent gay relationship between a closeted middle-aged businessman and a young college student amid the violent uprising of Tiananmen Square. 86 min. DVD 4316; or PAL format DVD 2791
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- The Last Emperor (China / UK / France / Italy, 1987)
- Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. Cast: Cast: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ying Ruocheng.
The epic adventure and true story of Pu Yi (1906 ? 1967), the last Emperor of China, from his ascension to the throne as Emperor Xuan Tong, the 10th Emperor of the Qing Dynasty in 1908, to his rehabilitation and employment by the communists as a guide around his former palace in 1959. 86 min. DVD 213; vhs 999:259
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- Life on a String (Bian zou bian chang) (China, 1991)
- Director, Chen Kaige. Cast: Liu Zhongyuan, Huang Lei, Xu Qing. Story of a saintly blind man who as a boy was promised the restoration of his sight if he devoted his life to music. He and a young blind disciple travel the countryside seeking enlightenment and inspiring people with their singing and banjo playing. 107 min. DVD 4946
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- A Mongolian Tale (Ai zai cao yuan de tian kong) (1995)
- Directed by Fei Xie. When Beiyinpalica returns to Inner Mongolia he makes a discovery which leaves him feeling betrayed by his fiance. He leaves Mongolia and his dreams of happiness with the woman he loves and becomes a famous troubadour, recounting in song his true love for the woman he abandoned while his search to find her again ensues. 103 min. 999:3647
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- Not One Less (Yi ge dou bu neng shao) (China, 1999)
- Directed by Zhang Yimou. A young woman is ordered to a remote Chinese village to be a substitute teacher. Barely older than her students, the shy girl is charged with keeping the class intact for one month or she won't be paid. When one of her students disappears into the city to find work, the stubborn teacher is determined to follow the boy and bring him back to school. Once in the city, her simple peasant pleas fall on deaf ears, and only when the local television sympathizes does her search bear fruit. 106 min. DVD 696
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- Raise the Red Lantern (Da Hong Deng Long Gao Gao Gua) (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, 1991)
- Directed by Zhang Yi-Mou. Set in 1920's China, 19-year-old Songlian has become Fourth Wife to the wealthy Chen. Yet she must share her husband with three existing wives. Each must wait until dusk for the arrival of a red lantern, which signifies with whom the master will sleep tonight. When Songlian discovers that the other wives cheat to win the red lantern, she decides to join the fight for Chen's attention. 125 min. DVD 1300; vhs 999:707
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- Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker (Pao Da Shuang Deng) (China, Hong Kong, 1994)
- Directed by He Ping. Set against the close of the Ching Dynasty at the turn of the century, this tale of forbidden love and loyalty ignites the screen with passion. With no male heirs to run their fireworks factory, the Chai family's beautiful daughter has been groomed for the role of master. Renounced of her femininity, she is clothed like a man and forbidden to marry, a role which she dutifully accepts until a rebellious young artist becomes employed at the factory. He unleashes in her an unbridled passion that challenges her loyalty to her ancestral heritage and threatens the tradition that has bound her. 117 min. 999:2460
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- Holden, Stephen. "Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker." (movie reviews) New York Times v144 (Fri, March 17, 1995):B6(N)pC19(L), col 6, 13 col in.
- Rayns, Tony. "Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker." (movie reviews) (Paoda Shuang Deng). (movie reviews) Sight and Sound v5, n9 (Sept, 1995):59 (1 page).
- Rickshaw Boy (Luo tuo Xiangzi) (1982)
- Directed by Ling Zifeng. In the 1920s, a young hardworking peasant arrives in Beijing to become a rickshaw boy at a time when the city is torn by dueling warlords. The owner of the rickshaw company's daughter falls in love with the boy despite a ten year age difference and decides to marry him. Not long after their marriage she dies in labor and his world becomes empty and meaningless. He is a wreck of emotional suffering induced by an archaic society, at the mercy of his environment. 120 min. DVD 6566
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- The Road Home (Wo de fu qin mu qin) (China, 1999)
- Directed by Zhang Yimou. Cast: Zhang Ziyi, Sun Hongiei, Zheng Hao, Zhao Yulian. As a son helps his mother arrange for the burial of his father in the traditional Chinese custom of his mother's village, the beautiful and touching story of his parent's courtship unfolds. His father was from the city and came to his mother's village to become the schoolmaster. In the days of arranged marriages, the son discovers that his parent's marriage was the first marriage based on love. 89 min. DVD 4885
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- Shen Nu Goddess (Goddess of Shanghai) (Silent, 1934)
- Director, Yonggang Wu. Cast: Ruan Lingyu, Zhang Zhizhi, Li Keng, Tian Jian. A young woman can only support and educate her son by working as a prostitute in 1930s Shanghai. One of the rare films of famed Chinese star Ruan Lingyu. 74 min. DVD 5995
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- Shower (Xi zao) (China, 1999)
- Directed by Zhang Yang. Mistakenly believing his father has passed away, a bathhouse master's son returns home and soon discovers the magic of the family business and its importance to the community. 94 min. DVD 2798; or DVD 2788 (Multi-zone DVD)
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- Song of China (China, 1936)
- Directed by Lo Ming-yu. A rare film produced in China in 1936 dealing with a cavalcade of families through three generations set during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The film deals with the universal problem of the generation gap and filial piety with great sensitivity. Features a native Chinese cast and authentic Chinese music. 65 min. 999:2034
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- Stolen Life (Sheng si jie) (China, 2005)
- Directed by Shaohong Li. Cast: Zhou Xun, Wu Jun, Cai Ming. When the withdrawn and reclusive Yan'ni starts college she believes she is embarking on a new life away from her family, and she is, but not the new beginning she anticipates. Once at school, she immediately meets and falls in love with a man named Muyu, at truck driver, and her life takes a different path of misguided love. 94 min.DVD 8348
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- The Story of Qui Ju (Qiu Ju da guan si) (China, Hong Kong, 1992)
- Directed by Yi-mou Zhang. A stoic peasant woman demands an apology when her husband is brutalized and humiliated by the village chief. But the chief is a proud man who refuses to apologize, sending her on a futile trek through the complicated Chinese court system. Based on the novel: "The Wan Family's Lawsuit / Chen Yuanbin. 100 min. DVD 5789; vhs 999:963
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- Temptress Moon (Feng yue) (1996)
- Directed by Chen Kaige. Cast: Leslie Cheung, Gong Li, Kevin Lin, He Saifei, David Wu. This is a captivating story of a beautiful young woman, her seductive lover and their struggle for power, passion and revenge. Highly provocative and filled with sensual imagery, it was banned in the director's own country. 127 min. DVD 2044
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- To Live (Huo zhe) (China, Hong Kong, 1994)
- Directed by Zhang Yimou, Bin Wang, Xleochun Zhang. In a smoky gambling den in 1940's China, a drunken young man runs through his family's fortune, losing their ancestral home and all their possessions. This staggering loss proves to be their salvation, and the first step in an odyssey of survival that will take them through war and revolution love and loss, tragedy ... and triumph. 132 min. DVD 1680; vhs 999:2747
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- Together (He ni zai yi qi) (China, South Korea, 2002)
- Directed by Chen Kaige. Cast: Liu Peiqi, Chen Hong, Wang Zhiwen, Chen Kaige, Tang Yun. When a shy small-town boy heads to Beijing for violin lessons, he discovers a new world filled with first loves, lasting friendships ... and a secret that will change his life forever. 119 min. DVD 4868
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- Two Stage Sisters (Wu tai chieh mei) (China, 1965)
- Directed by Wie Jin. Chronicles the fortunes of two actresses in pre-revolutionary China who become friends, however one woman falls into the lowlife, gangster world, while the other looks up to the heavens and revolutionary awareness dawns. The two end up in court as the corrupted Western-style "sister" has attacked the other. The expected justice prevails and the next scenes are of revolutionary China in 1950. This film was released just at the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution and was banned for its "bourgeois" content, but the ending of the film is such unadulterated propaganda that it is shocking that most of the people involved with the film were punished. 112 min. 999:2091
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- Marchetti, Gina. "Two Stage Sisters: The Blossoming of a Revolutionary Aesthetic." In: Celluloid China : cinematic encounters with culture and society / Harry H. Kuoshu. pp: 32-51. Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, c2002. (Main Stack PN1995.K86 2002)
- Windhorse (1998)
- Directed by Paul Wagner. Based on true events, focuses on the lives of two siblings and their cousin who as young children witnessed their Tibetan grandfather brutally murdered over his resistance of Chinese aggression. Eighteen years later, the memory of losing their grandfather has affected each of them differently. On the verge of pop-stardom, Dolkar has assimilated herself into Chinese culture while her disgusted brother Dorjee's hatred of the Chinese has turned him into an embittered vagrant. Their cousin Pema has become a Buddhist nun and now she too risks her life by defying Chinese rule. 97 min. 999:3646
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- Woman, Demon, Human (Jem gui qing) (China, 1987)
- Directed by Shuqin Huang. Qui Yun is a famous "Kunqu" Chinese opera actress who specializes in male roles, and attains her greatest success as Zhong Kui in "Zhong Kui Marries Off His Sister." Her career successes do not bring her happiness in her personal life. More and more she comes to rely on the character of Zhong Kui to keep her going. 115 min. DVD 2797
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- Women From the Lake of Scented Souls (Xian hun nu) (China, 1993)
- Directed by Xie Fei. Xiang Ersao is the driving force behind her family's successful sesame oil mill. But despite her prosperity, Xiang is profoundly unhappy. As society dictates, she must endure the drunken and abusive behavior of her husband, to whom she was sold at the age of seven and married at thirteen. When her mentally ill son asks for a wife, Xiang perpetuates her own destiny by "buying" a poor, reluctant peasant girl, Huanhuan, for him. Will Xiang recognize the parallel between her own life and Huanhuan's before it is too late? 100 min. 999:1746
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- Maslin, Janet. "Women From the Lake of Scented Souls." (movie reviews) New York Times v143 (Wed, Feb 16, 1994):B3(N), C20(L), col 1, 15 col in.
- Women's Story (Nu jen ti ku shih) (China, 1988)
- Directed by Peng Xiaolian. A poignant tale of three peasant Chinese women who flee their village to taste freedom in the big city and escape the sexist oppression of rural China. There they experience failure and success, finally starting new lives. When they eventually return to their village they find that while life there has not changed, they have. 96 min. 999:2828
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- The World (Shijie) (China, 2004)
- Directed by Jia Zhangke. Cast: Zhao Tao, Cheng Taisheng, Wang Hongwei, Huang Yiqun, Jiang Zhongwei, Ji Shuai. On the outskirts of Beijing is an amusement park called The World. The staff may be happy around the guests, but it's a different story behind the scenes. The park is seen through the eyes of the staff, along with romances, dreams, and loneliness. 139 min. DVD 5156
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- Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (China, Hong Kong, USA, 1998)
- Directed by Joan Chen. Between 1967 and 1976, nearly 8 million Chinese youths were "sent down" for specialized training to the remotest corners of the country. The young and beautiful Xiu Xiu dreamt of becoming a horse trainer in Tibet, far away from her busy city home. Her training begins in the isolated plains of Tibet but slowly Xiu Xiu discovers that she is unlikely to ever see her home again without a wealthy sponsor. Her world becomes a horrifying cage, where "patrons" promise her escape in exchange for her sexual compromise. 100 min. DVD 104; VHS 999:2417
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- Yellow Earth (Huang tu ti) (China, 1984)
- Directed by Chen Kaige. In this story set in 1939 the life of a young peasant girl in Northern Shaanxi province is changed forever by a Communist soldier sent out to collect folk songs for the use of revolutionary armies. Based on Ke Lan's Echo in the Deep Valley. 999:1082
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- As Tears Go By (Wangjiao kamen) (Hong Kong, 1988)
- Directed by Wong Kar-Wai. Cast: Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Jacky Cheung. Stretched to breaking in a loyalty tug of war between Triad bosses and a loose cannon partner, a rising film star in the Hong Kong underworld finds himself saddled with his beautiful cousin. The fascination is his last chance to escape a violent past. 102 min. DVD 4858
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- Autumn Moon (Hong Kong, 1992)
- Directed by Clara Law. Set in contemporary Hong Kong, a young Japanese tourist is bargain-shopping and looking for food, sex, or preferably both. He meets a fifteen-year-old waif and the friendship that develops allows the young man's passion for food to be assuaged by the girl's grandmother, the wielder of a magic wok. But sex is a different matter than friendship - which is what this film is really about. 102 min. 999:3207
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- A Better Tomorrow (Ying huang boon sik) (Hong Kong, 1986)
- Directed by John Woo. The first in a trilogy of Chinese "Godfather" films, it portrays countless difficulties and setbacks experienced by a couple of counterfeit money smugglers who have decided to wash their hands of their past and choose a better life. In the first part, Sung Tzu-hao, one of the main protagonists is on his last "business" trip. 90 min. DVD 3377; vhs 999:1325
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- The Big Boss (Tang shan da xiong) (2004)
- Directed by Directed by Wei Lo. Cast: Bruce Lee, Maria Yi, James Tien, Nora Miao.
Having made a vow never to fight again, a factory worker named Cheng (Lee) does his best to put up with an abusive boss. But when Cheng's beautiful cousin is kidnapped by company thugs, he is forced to take matters into his own hands--and fists--to save her. The first starring role of legendary martial arts star Bruce Lee. Dubbed into English; soundtracks also in Cantonese and Mandarin with traditional and simplied Chinese and English subtitles; Closed captioned. 100 min. DVD 6853
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- Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre (Hei tai yang: Nan Jing da tu sha) (1995)
- Directed by Tun Fei Mou.An uncompromising portrayal of the war crimes perpetrated by the Japanese Imperial Army upon the Chinese military and civilian population of Nanking during the occupation of the city. Black Sun is unflinching in its depiction of the barbaric cruelty with which the occupying army raped, pillaged and terrorized the defeated populace. Portrays the ordeals of a poor Chinese family as they try to survive the Japanese occupation of their city. Two young children, Jean and John, excape with their uncle after witnessing the gruesome murder of their mother and father by Japanese soldiers. While fleeing from the Japanese, they are separated and the children have to fend for themselves in the war torn city. The film embraces myriad genres -- drama, horror, documentary, exploitation, war and even propaganda. Special features: "Why we fight: the battle of China" 1944 propaganda film ; production and historical photos; T.F. Mou interviews; history of the Nanking Massacre; interactive map; trailers. 95 min. DVD 8751
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- The Boy From Hell (Jigoku kozô) (2004)
- Directed by Mari Asato. Cast: Mirai Yamamoto, Mitsuru Akaboshi, Kanji Tsuda.
A mysterious old woman appears before Setsu, who has recently lost her only child in a tragic accident. She says she can bring Setsu's son, Daio back to life. After agreeing to this sinister proposal, Daio returns to his mother, but to Setsu's horror, he is half decomposed and inhuman. To make him human again, he needs fresh human organs. Setsu does everything she can to reincarnate her son, but Daio just turns into a different kind of monster. No one can stop him as he continues to feed his hunger, claiming victim after victim. Based on the horror comic strips of Hideshi Hino. 50 min. DVD 6796
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- The Bride with White Hair (Bai fa mo nu zhuan) (Hong Kong, 1993)
- Directed by Ronny Yu. Cast: Leslie Cheung, Brigitte Lin, Ching Hsia. The story of doomed lovers caught in the cross-fire of warring clans, each being a champion warrior on opposite sides of the strife. The film sets itself apart in its ability to combine over-the-top action sequences and rapturous love scenes. 92 min. DVD 843
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- A Bullet in the Head (Diexie jietou) (Hong Kong, 1990)
- Director, John Woo. Cast: Tony Leung, Jacky Cheung, Waise Lee, Simon Yam, Fennie Yeun, Yolinda Yan. This sprawling story centers around three childhood friends who, in their journey through wartorn Vietnam, encounter grueling emotional territory. Traveling through many levels of living hell, the three men must find their way through betrayal and greed in the midst of the war. 126 min. DVD 1456
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- Centre Stage (Ruan Lingyu) (Hong Kong, 1992)
- Directed by Stanley Kwan. Cast: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Liang Jiahui, Liu Jialing. Dramatized biography based on the life of the Chinese silent movie actress Ruan Ling-yu, of the 1930s. Tells the sad story of a young woman who is rescued from poverty to show business and is subsequently destroyed by it. 121 min. DVD 1776
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- Chinese Box (1997)
- Director, Wayne Wang. Cast: Jeremy Irons, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung, Michael Hui, Ruben Blades. Drama about a British journalist and a Hong Kong bartender with a jaded past, set against the backdrop of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule. 99 min. DVD 4945
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- The Chinese Connection (Fist of Fury) (Jing wu men ) (Hong Kong, 1972)
- Directed by Lo Wei, featuring Bruce Lee. In this action-packed Bruce Lee classic Kung fu student Chen, upon learning of the murder of his revered kung fu instructor, travels to Shanghai searching for the gang responsible and ends up facing some of his most dangerous opponents. 107 min. DVD 1222; Uncut & restored version is DVD 1692 (102 min.)
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- The Chinese Feast (Jin yu man tang) (Hong Kong, 1995)
- Directd by Tsui Hark. Cast: Kenny Bee, Leslie Cheung, Anita Yuen. Kit is a gangster looking to start a new life as a chef in Canada, so he can be closer to his girlfriend. But in his struggle to learn the fine art of cuisine, he runs across a red-headed beauty who will change his plans, and soon finds himself off in search of the retired master who can teach him how to win in the ultimate cooking challenge. 110 min. DVD 1792
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- A Chinese Ghost Story (Sinnui Yauman) (Hong Kong, 1987)
- Directed by Siu-Tung Ching. Featuring Leslie Cheung, Joey Wang, Wu Ma. The story of Ning Tsai-chen, a Chinese scholar who befriends and falls in love with Nieh Hsiao-chien, a she-ghost captured and tyrannized by the Tree Ogre. 97 min. DVD 842; VHS 999:2418
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- A Chinese Ghost Story II (Qian nu you hun II; Tao tao tao; Sinnui yauwan II; Qian nu you hun II) (Hong Kong, 1990)
- Director, Siu-Tung Ching (Ching Siu-Tung); Hark Tsui. Cast: Zhang Guorong, Wang Zuxian, Zhang Xueyou, Li Jiaxin.
Lin meets a young and witty Taoist, Chi Chau, and they become good friends. They run into some people who pretend to be ghosts. These people are actually trying to save the innocent Fu from imprisonment. Fu has two daughters Ching Fung and Yet Chi who both fall in love with Lin. Fu tries to ask the emperor's right-hand man, Liu Suen, for help but Liu turns out to be a goblin. Lin, Chi Chau and the two sisters all team up to fight against the evil force in order to help Fu. 103 min. DVD 8757
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- A Chinese Ghost Story III (Qian nu you hun III; Tao tao tao; Sinnui yauwan III; Qian nu you hun III) (Hong Kong, 1991)
- Director, Siu-Tung Ching (Ching Siu-Tung); Hark Tsui. Cast: Tony Leung, Joey Wang, Jacky Cheung, Nina Li.In the heart of a weird wood stands Orchid Temple, a haunted place that is the doom of men. Beautiful spirits lure travelers to their doom. When the lowly monk Fong ventures to the temple, intent on driving the ghosts away, he instead falls in love with the beautiful Lotus. This forbidden passion places the couple in danger from both the local ghostbusters, and the forest's hideous supernational beings. 106 min. DVD 4884
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- Chop Socky: Cinema Hong Kong
- Offers an in-depth look at Hong Kong's wu xia film legacy and its influence on global cinema, from its roots in Beijing Opera to Quentin Tarantino's tribute to Hong Kong martial arts action in Kill Bill, Vol. 2. All of the bases are covered, from Hong Kong cinema's first martial-arts hero, Wong Fei Hung, to the balletic choreography of Chang Che, including the "one-punch" impact of Bruce Lee and the evolution of kung-fu comedy as epitomized by Jackie Chan. The Hong Kong technique of editing-in-camera is demonstrated in a multi-screen sequence. Film clips provide samples of the genre's classic films. Interviews with: Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Jet Li, Ng Ho, John Woo, Lau Ka Fai, Cheng Pei Pei, Chor Yeuen, Sir Run Run Shaw, Tong Kay-Ming, David Chiang, Lau Ka Leung, Tsu Sung Hok, Sek Kin, Siu Sung, Wai Ying Hung. Written & directed by Ian Taylor. 2003. 55 min. DVD 3776
- Chungking Express (Chung-ching sen lin) (Hong Kong, 1994)
- Directed by Wong Kar-Wai. Two interwined romantic tales take place inside the Chung-ching high-rise shopping center in downtown Hong Kong: A policeman falls in love with a snack bar waitress while a house detective gets involved with a female drug dealer. 104 min. DVD 4167; vhs 999:1971
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- City on Fire (Long hu feng yun) (Hong Kong, 1987)
- Director, Ringo Lam. Cast: Chow Yun Fat, Sun Yeuh, Lee Sau Yin Danny. An undercover cop sent to infiltrate a notorious crime ring, Ko Chow must replace a fellow officer who was killed in a violent confrontation. But, as he earns the trust of the syndicate, he develops a tight friendship with one of the thieves. Then, when a planned heist turns into a bloody shoot-out with police, suspicions arise about who could be the informant. 100 min. DVD 840
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- Come Drink With Me (Da zui xia) (1965)
- Director, King Hu. Swordplay adventure in ancient China. Chang, a woman warrior, and Fan Ta-pei, a martial arts master, fight to release Chang's brother, who is being held hostage by bandits. 95 min. 999:3273
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- Comrades, Almost a Love Story (Tian mi mi) (Hong Kong, 1996)
- Directed by Peter Chan. A young woman and a charming young man, who is engaged to a girl in his hometown, each come to Hong Kong to pursue success. At first perfect strangers, they grow emotionally close as they share trials and joys in their lonesome struggle in an unfamiliar world. Their individual dreams and ambitions, however, force them to eventually take separate paths in their lives. PAL format DVD. 116 min. DVD 2792
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- Curse of the Golden Flower (Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia) (Hong Kong / China, 2006)
- Directed by Yimou Zhang. Cast: Jin Chen, Jay Chou, Yun-Fat Chow, Li Gong, Qin Junjie, Man Li, Ye Liu, Dahong Ni.
Set in China in the later Tang Dynasty, 10th Century, this is a tale of a royal family divided against itself which builds to a climax as lines are crossed, trust is betrayed, and family blood is spilled in the quest for redemption and revenge. 114 min. DVD 8246
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- The Day the Sun Turned Cold (Tien kuo ni tzu) (Hong Kong, 1994)
- Directed by Yen Hao. A drama based on a true crime which occurred in China. A young welder comes to a police station and accuses his mother of killing his father ten years ago. The police finally reopen the case and slowly the truth about ugly family secrets is revealed. 99 min. 999:2584
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- Days of Being Wild (A fei cheng chuan) (Hong Kong, 1990)
- Directed by Wong Kar-Wai. A story about six young people living in Hong Kong in the 1960's interweaving love-hate relationships and passion. 90 min. DVD 3199; vhs 999:1975
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- Dragon Inn (Xin Long men ke zhan) (Hong Kong, 1992)
- Director, Raymond Lee. Dragon Inn becomes the chaotic center of battle between the government's villainous eunuchs and a band of righteous heroes. Set in the great Northwestern deserts of China during the Ming dynasty, Dragon Inn gracefully blends precision swordplay with breathtaking cinematography. 103 min. DVD 1332
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- Devil Killer (2005?)
- Directed by Robert Tai. Cast: Alexander Lo, Jackie Chiang. Set in China, tells the story of the battles between two rival gangs who have expertise in the most unique fighting skills, including Mo Chia boxing and iron kicking techniques. English language version. 88 min. DVD 6252
- Durian, Durian (Liu lian piao piao) (Hong Kong, 2000)
- Directed by Chen Guo. Cast: Qin Hailu, Mai Huifen. The film is divided into two parts, with the first half taking place in Hong Kong and the latter half another world away, in Mudanjiang near the North Korean border. The consistent thread is a young Mainland lady, Yan. The movie records her stay in Hong Kong where, on a three-month visa, she services as many as three dozen clients a day, and her post-Hong Kong existence back home where she uses her hard-earned cash to become a successful and respected entrepreneuse. PAL format DVD. 116 min. DVD 2867
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- The East is Red (Tung-fang Pu-pai feng yun tsai chi) (Hong Kong, 1992)
- Directed by Siu-Tung Ching (Cheng Hsiao-tung) and Raymond Lee. In this third segment of the Swordsman series Tung-fang Pu-pai returns and unleashes a destructive omnipotent force to battle those who have used His/Her name for power and evil. Vowing to destroy the impostors, Tung-fang seeks to gain back the love of Snow or destroy her as well. 108 min. 999:1972
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- Ermo (Hong Kong, China, 1995)
- Director, Chou Hsiao-wen (Xiaowen Zhou). Comedy about Ermo, a humble noodle-maker in a remote Chinese province who finds that money can't buy happiness - but it can get you very close. 95 min. 999:3454
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- David Leiwei. "'What Will Become of Us If We Don't Stop?': Ermo's China and the End of Globalization." Comparative Literature. 53(4):442-61. 2001 Fall
- The Eye (Jian Gui) (2002)
- Directed by Oxide and Danny Pang. In this Chinese horror film, a blind girl gets a cornea transplant after 18 years of blindness but the face she sees in the mirror is not her own and she begins to realize she is seeing ghosts. So she sets out of find the origins of her cornea and the history of the previous dead owner. 95 min. DVD 1777
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- Fallen Angels (To lo tien shih) (Hong Kong, 1995)
- Directed by Wang Chia-wei (Wong Kar-Wai). Set in the underworld of present day Hong Kong, this film intertwines two tales of love and isolation. First there's the unconsummated love affair between a contract killer and the ravishing female agent who books his assignments. When the killer decides that he must move on, he leaves her with only a coin for the jukebox and instructions to play a song, "Wang ji ta" ("Forget him"). In the second drama ex-convict Ho makes a living by re-opening shops that have closed for the night and intimidating customers into buying goods and services from him. After an awkward romance with a girl named Cherry, Ho finds himself all the more alone. 96 min. DVD 241; VHS 999:2526
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- The Fate of Lee Khan (Ying chun ge zhi feng bo) (Hong Kong, Taiwan, 1973)
- Director, King Hu. At the end of the Yuan dynasty, a group of Chinese gather at a bar for the task of overthrowing the dynasty. The story tells about the planning and execution of the uprising against their Mongolian oppressors and their eventual success. 105 min. 999:3274
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- Fist of Fury (Jing wu men) (Hong Kong, 1972)
- Directed by Lo Wei, featuring Bruce Lee. In this action-packed Bruce Lee classic Kung fu student Chen, upon learning of the murder of his revered kung fu instructor, travels to Shanghai searching for the gang responsible and ends up facing some of his most dangerous opponents. 107 min. DVD 1222; Uncut & restored version is DVD 1692 (102 min.)
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- Fist of Fury (Jing wu men) (Hong Kong, 1995)
- Directed by Shiu-Kee Lung, and inspired by Bruce Lee's "Fist of Fury" (DVD 1222 & DVD 1692). Featuring Donnie Yen. In Japanese-occupied Shanghai, Chen Jun joins the legendary Ching Wu Martial Arts Academy to refine his skills and to assist in the academy's underground resistance against the enemy. But when Chen's master is poisoned by the Japanese, Chen vows revenge on the murderer and seeks justice for his master's death. 120 min. DVD 1154
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- Full Contact (Xia dao Gao Fei) (Hong Kong, 1991)
- Director, Lin Lingdong. Cast: Chow Yun-fat, Simon Yam, Ann Bridgewater, Anthony Wong, Bonnie Fu. Betrayed by both his partner and his girl, and persecuted by a rival smuggling ring, a daredevil adventurer turns into a lonely gunman seeking bloody revenge from the suburbs of Bangkok to the streets of Hong Kong. 98 min. DVD 841
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- Game of Death (Hong Kon / USA, 1978)
- Directed by Robert Clouse. Cast: Bruce Lee, Gig Young, Dean Jagger, Colleen Camp, Hugh O'Brian, Chuck Norris.
Billy Lo (Bruce Lee), is a young kung fu movie star with a flourishing career and a promising future. As the leader of a syndicate known for its exploitation of entertainers, Dr. Land jumps at the chance to capitalize on Billy's celebrated status and that of his singer-girlfriend. Refusing to sign with Land, Billy's martial arts mastery is put to the test when he is brutally harassed by Land's men in an attempt to change his mind. In a stunning showdown, Billy goes one-on-one with a villainous stream of deadly kung fu fighters in a final bid for his freedom. (Bruce Lee's last film work, he died during production of the film) 100 min. DVD 6855
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- Game of Death II (Hong Kon / USA, 1981)
- Directed by Robert Clouse. Cast:Bruce Lee, Tong Lung, Roy Chiao, Wong Ching Lei.
In this dark tale of revenge, Bruce Lee "returns" as Billy Lo, whose best friend Chin Ku dies of a sudden illness. But suspicion of foul play arises when a gang tries to steal Ku's coffin at the funeral using a helicopter. When Lo's younger brother Bobby Lo hears about the incident, he leaves his Buddhist master to investigate the truth. His trail soon leads him to the Castle of Death, the last place Chin Ku was seen alive. There, he meets and befriends an unlikely ally--a cruel and merciless martial arts expert who is also the tower's master. But when the master dies under mysterious circumstance, Lo ends up dueling with someone far more terrifying. Created post-humously using Bruce Lee fight scenes originally filmed for Game of Death (1978) 96 min. DVD 6856
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- General Stone (1976)
- Directed by Yuen Siu Ling. Cast: Tan Tao Liang, Polly Shan Kwan. Tan is the son of the famous General Stone, who was killed in battle under mysterious circumstances. Tan is trained in hand and sword techniques, but his schooling is lifted to another level when his father and the spirits of fallen heroes inhabit the stone forms of warriors who teach him skills long thought extinct. Now Tan has a new found power to find the truth behind his father's death. English language version. 79 min. DVD 6254
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- Happy Together (Cheun gwong tsa sit) (Hong Kong, Argentina, 1997)
- Directed by Wong Kar-Wai. A film about a pair of Chinese gay lovers living out the waning days of their relationship as expatriates in Buenos Aires. Lusty tango bars, the salsa music of the La Boca sidewalks, and a hypnotic visit to the nearby Iguazu Falls gives further dimension to the tensions growing between the two men. 97 min. DVD 909; VHS 999:2159
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- Hard Boiled (Lashou shentan) (Hong Kong, 1992)
- Directed by John Woo. Featuring Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung, Teresa Mo, Philip Chan, Philip Kwok. In a ruthless world of gun-smugglers and mobsters Tequila, a die-hard cop, stops at nothing to see that justice is done. To avenge his partner's murder, Tequila joins forces with a rebel cop, and then the body count mounts to a hair raising climax. 126 min. DVD 1702; vhs 999:2048
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- Hero (Ying xiong) (Hong Kong, 2002)
- Directed by Zhang Yimou. The Kingdom of Qin obsessed with conquering all of China had long been the target of assassins throughout the other six states. No matter how hard the King tried, it seemed impossible for him to defeat the three legendary assassins, Broken Sword, Flying Snow, and Sky. Suddenly, an enigmatic hero, Nameless, comes to the palace bearing the legendary weapons of the slain assassins to the King and tells his extraordinary tale sitting only ten paces from the King. 93 min. DVD 1848
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- House of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu) (Hong Kong, 2004)
- Directed by Zhang Yimou. Cast: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Zhang Ziyi, Song Dandan. During the reign of the Tang dynasty in China, a secret organization called "The House of the Flying Daggers" rises and opposes the government. Leo is a police officer who sends officer Jin to investigate a young dancer named Mei, claiming that she has ties to the "Flying Daggers" organization. Leo ends up arresting Mei, only to have Jin break her free in a plot to gain her trust and lead the police to the new leader of the secret organization. But things are far more complicated than they seem. 115 min. DVD 3718
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- In the Mood for Love (Hua yang nian hua) (France, Hong Kong, 2000)
- Directed by Wong Kar-Wai. Cast: Maggie Cheung Man-yuk, Leung Tony Chiu Wai. A man and a woman move into neighboring Hong Kong apartments and form a bond when they both their spouses of extra-marital activities in this masterful evocation of romantic longing and fleeting moments in time. 98 min. DVD 1156
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- Infernal Affairs (Mou gaan dou) (Hong Kong, 2002)
- Directed by Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak. Cast: Tony Leung, Andy Lau, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang.
A story of a mole in the Hong Kong police department and an undercover cop. Their objectives are the same - to find out who is the mole, and who is the cop. 101 min. DVD 7613
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- Infernal Affairs II (Mou gaan dou II) (Hong Kong, 2002)
- Directed by Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak. Cast: Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Carina Lau, Francis Ng, Edison Chen, Shawn Yue, Hu Jun.
In this prequel to Internal affairs (2002), Chan Wing Yan has just become an undercover cop in the triads while Lau Kin Ming joins the police force. Both the triads and the police find an enemy in a rival crime boss. 119 min. DVD 7614
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- Infernal Affairs III (Mou gaan dou III, Chung gik miu gaan) (Hong Kong, 2003)
- Directed by Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak. Cast: Tony Leung, Chiu-Wai, Andy Lau, Leoni Lai, Chen Daoming, Kelly Chen, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang.
In the third edition to the Internal Affairs series, the unit has their hands full again. The conclusion to the groundbreaking trilogy that inspired 'The Departed'. 118 min. DVD 7615
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- [Jackie Chan's] Project A (Hong Kong, 1983)
- Directed by Jackie Chan. Dragon Ma, a determined coast guard officer on patrol in late 19th century Hong Kong, battles with a ruthless syndicate in a seemingly never-ending struggle for control of the dangerous waters. 105 min. 999:3480
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- The Killer (Die xue shuang xiong) (Hong Kong, 1989)
- Directed by John Woo. Jeffrey is The Killer, hired by the mob for one last job. Lee is the relentless cop trying to stop the killer at any cost. The two enemies form a strange and powerful bond that blur the lines between good and evil. 110 min. DVD 1868; vhs 999:848
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- Legend of Zu (Shu shan zheng zhuan) (Hong Kong, 2001)
- Directed by Tsui Hark. Cast: Zheng Yijian, Zhang Bozhi, Gu Tianle, Hung Jinbao (Samo Hung), Zhang Ziyi. In this fantasy film immortals train for hundreds of years to perfect their martial arts. However, an evil force is threatening their existence on the mountains of Zu, and they must band together to fight back. 105 min. DVD 4893
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- Love in a Fallen City (Qing cheng zhi lian) (Hong Kong, 1984)
- Directed by Ann Hui. A love story set in Shanghai and Hong Kong in the wake of the Japanese invasion. PAL format DVD. 93 min. DVD 2790
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- North & South Shaolin (1986)
- Directed by Wong HIng. Cast: Casanova Wong. Warrior Two is one of the North Shaolin's top monks in the fighting chambers, but all of his training is not enough when he goes against the dreaded Vulture Master who picks him apart, and nearly kills him in their first encounter. Casanova then goes to South Shaolin where he learns the arts of close combat ... his next face off with the Vulture won't be the same. English language version. 90 min. DVD 6253
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- Once Upon a Time in China: Wong Fei-hung (Hong Kong, 1991)
- Director/producer, Tsui Hark. Featuring Jet Li, Yuan Biao, Rosamond Kwan, Kent Cheng, Jacky Cheung, Simon Yam. Set in 19th century China this is the story of young Huang Fei-Hung, the legendary Cantonese martial arts master and folk hero, who leading his misfit militia, is determined to stop the immoral slave trade that serves the California gold fields. When his aunt is kidnapped to be sold as a prostitute, Wong must battle his countrymen and the superior firepower of the slave traders, all for the very soul of traditional China. 134 min. DVD 831
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- Once Upon a Time in China II: Wong Fei-hung II (Hong Kong, 1993)
- Director, Tsui Hark. Featuring Jet Li, David Chiang, Rosamond Kwan, Yan Yee Kwan. Huang Fei-hung, the legendary Cantonese martial arts master and folk hero, joins forces with the brave revolutionary Sun Yat Sen when a terrorist group -- The White Lotus Clan -- initiates a campaign of violence against all foreigners in an attempt to preserve Chinese culture. 113 min. DVD 832
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- Once Upon a Time in China III: Wong Fei-hung III (Kong Kong, 1993)
- Director, Tsui Hark. Featuring Jet Li, Rosamund Kwan, Max Mok. The Empress has announced a Lion Dance martial arts contest. Wong Fei-Hung and his sidekick Chung arrive just in time. Along with his secret fiancee, Wong has to deal with a Russian diplomat and the brutal Club Foot, who has beaten up Wong's father. 111 min. DVD 833
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- The Opium War (Ya pian zhan zheng) (Hong Kong, 1997)
- Directed by Jin Xie. Cast: Bao Guo'an, Lin Liankun, Lang Xiong. A dramatization of the Chinese people's heroic resistance to British imperialism in the Opium War of 1840. VCD. 153 min. DVD 3672
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- Painted Skin (Hua pi zhi yinyang fawang) (Hong Kong, China, 1992)
- Director, King Hu. An evil warlord torments the wandering ghost of a beautiful woman so mercilessly that her only recourse is to disguise herself with the face paint of a concubine. Her plight attracts the attention of an honorable ghost-fighter determined to set her soul free. 95 min. DVD 1153
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- Peking Opera Blues (Tao ma tan) (Hong Kong, 1986)
- Director, Tsui Hark. Set against the elegant backdrop of Chinese opera in China's warlord period in 1913, the film focuses on three young women who become entangled with revolutionary guerillas. 102 min. DVD 868
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- Red Sorghum (Hong gao liang) (China, 1987)
- Directed by Zhang Yimou. Film begins as a lusty romantic comedy about a nervous young bride's arrival and ensuing seduction at a remote winery, and ends as a heroic drama of partisan resistance during the Japanese occupation. Based on the novel by Yen Mo (PL2886.O1684 H8613 1993 Main Stack, Moffitt) 91 min. 999:1310
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- The Reincarnation of Golden Lotus (Pan Jinlian zhi qian shi jin sheng) (Hong Kong, 1989)
- Director, Clara Law. Parallel stories of ancient and modern China. In ancient China Golden Lotus is raped, married to a man she does not love, and when she finds love is beheadedfor it. In modern China Lotus is raped by the prefect of her school in Shanghai and sent to a work camp. Sheescapes to decadent Hong Kong by marrying a rich man. She finds herself drawn both to her husband's chauffeur and to a sadomasochistic relationship with adebauched designer. She dies in a fiery car wreck atthe end. A contemporary reworking of a 12th century Chinese novel. Multi-zone DVD. 92 min. DVD 2787
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- Revenge of the Drunken Master (1984)
- Directed by Godfrey Ho. Cast: Johnny Chan, Eagle Han, Bruce Cheung, Wang Sao. Fei Hong is a happy go lucky kung fu master who becomes a target of the Black Mask Ninja Gang. They set out to make sure Fei Hong and Sam the Seed never meddle in their schemes again. Big mistake! English language version. 81 min. DVD 6256
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- Rouge (Yan zhi kou) (Hong Kong, 1987)
- Directed by Stanley Kwan. Having committed suicide some fifty years ago, the ghost of a famous courtesan returns to the world to seek her septuagenarian lover. Multi-zone DVD. 93 min. DVD 2789
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- Rumble in the Bronx (Hong Kong, Canada, 1996)
- Directed by Stanley Tong. Cast: Jackie Chan, Anita Mui, Francoise Yip, Garvin Cross, Yueh Hua, Bill Tung. Keung, a Hong Kong cop, comes to New York to see his uncle get married. The uncle has recently sold his store to Elaine, who wants to sell it after she refuses to pay protection money to a biker gang. When Keung finds out about her situation, he does all he can to protect her. Meanwhile, a crippled Chinese boy is surprised to discover that someone has stashed stolen diamonds in his wheelchair. He and Keung become friends and work on solving this case. 91 min. DVD 368
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- Seven Swords (Qi jian; Chat gim) (South Korea / Hong Kong / China, 2005)
- Directed by Hark Tsui. Cast: Li Ming, Zhen Zidan, Yang Caini, Sun Honglei, Lu Yi, Jin Suyan.
In northwest China, seven men with magic swords help the local martial artist group Tian Ti Hui prevent the slaughter of innocent villagers by an evil Manchurian warlord. 153 min. DVD 7487
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- Shanghai Triad (Yao a yao, yao tao wai po chiao) (China, France, 1995)
- Director, Zhang Yimou. Featuring Gong Li, Li Baotian, Li Xuejian, Sun Chun, Wang Xiaoxiao. The charms of an alluring prostitute are used as bait between feuding ganglords against a dramatic backdrop of 1930s Shanghai in this exotic and captivating thriller. Freely adapted from the novel "Gang Law" by Li Xiao. 109 min. DVD 546
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- Shaolin Iron Claws (Hawk's Fist) (1978)
- Directed by Wong Fong. Cast: Lee I. Min, Wong Tao, Chang Yi. Lee I Min and Wong Tao are on a collision course with the White Haired Fox played by Chang Yi. Lee and Wong must team up and combine their skills to defeat the treacherous master of the talon styles. There is no mercy given or taken in this classic martial arts film. English language version. 85 min. DVD 6255
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- Song of the Exile (Ketu qiuhen) (Hong Kong, Taiwan, 1990)
- Directed by Ann Hui. Graduating from a university in Britain, returns home to attend her sister's wedding but quickly finds herself at social and emotional odds with her seemingly imperious mother. The turbulent homecoming revives Heuyin's memories of the charged atmosphere of her childhood in Macao. Hueyin reluctantly agrees to accompany her mother on a visit to her once rich and prominent family in Japan. There, she begins to understand that she and her mother are very much alike, both having suffered similar feelings of loss and alienation throughout their adult live. 100 min. 999:1067
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- Erens, Patricia Brett. "Crossing borders: time, memory, and the construction of identity in Song of exile." Cinema Journal v 39 no4 Summer 2000. p. 43-59
- Chua, Siew-Keng. "The politics of "home": Song of the exile." Jump Cut no42 1998. p. 90-3
- Sons of Good Earth (Da di er nu) (Hong Kong, 1964)
- Director King Hu. During the Sino-Japanese conflict, a married couple are individually arrested and lose contact with one another. Meanwhile villagers employ guerrilla tactics against their Japanese oppressors. In the film's bloody climax, the peasants stage a massive revolt and slaugher the invaders. After the war is over the couple are reunited. 70 min. 999:3275
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- The Soong Sisters (Song jia huang chao) (Hong Kong, 1996)
- Directed by Mabel Cheung. Cast: Zhang Manyu, Jiang Wen, Yang Ziqiong, Wu Junmei. At the end of Qing dynasty, the Soong sisters--Ai-ling, Ching-ling and May-ling became legends in their own time. One loved money, one loved power, and one loved her country. Their lives were interwoven into the turbulent history of modern China. Ching-ling married Dr. Sun who led the 1911 revolution and embarked on a long journey of vagrant life. 145 min. DVD 4869
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- Swordsman (Hsiao ao chiang hu) (Hong Kong, Taiwan, 1990)
- Directed by Siu-Tung Ching, King Hu, Ann Hui, Hark Tsui. Towards the end of the Ming dynasty, three major "tongs" come into conflict with a group of evil eunuchs, in a desperate search for a lost manuscript which may unveil the ultimate secrets of Kung fu. 90 min. DVD 4894; vhs 999:1974
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- Time and Tide (Seunlau ngaklau) (Hong Kong, Taiwan, 2000)
- Directed by Hark Tsui. Cast: Nicholas Tse, Wu Bai, Joventino Cuoto Remotigue, Anthony Wong, Candy Lo, Cathy Chui. A restless, streetwise 21-year-old has had trouble gaining the trust of others all his life. Now he is forced to deal with the reality of impending fatherhood. Needing quick cash, he joins a bodyguard company. He makes friends with a once disillusioned mercenary determined to begin life in a new way, since he is also about to become a father. However, their companionship is brief and they both are uncontrollably forced toward opposite sides of a deadly showdown. 114 min. 999:1974
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- Way of the Dragon (Meng long guojiang) (1971)
- Directed by Directed by Wei Lo. Cast: Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Nora Miao.
In this high-kicking martial arts thriller, a young man (Bruce Lee) is called to Rome to help a family friend whose restaurant is being targeted by local gangsters. Used to getting their own way, these ruthless men make the mistake of underestimating the young man's ingenuity. When they are unable to get rid of him, they call in an international martial arts champion (Chuck Norris), creating the ultimate clash of kung fu masters in the ancient city's majestic coliseum. Dubbed into English; soundtracks also in Cantonese and Mandarin with traditional and simplied Chinese and English subtitles; Closed captioned. 99 min. DVD 6854
- Credits and Other information from the Internet Movie Database
- We're Going to Eat You (Di yu wu men) (Hong Kong, 1980)
- Directed by Hark Tsui. Cast: Han Guocai, Norman Chu, Eddy Ko, Melvin Wong, Feng Feng, Tony Liu, Siu- Ming To, Hon Gwok Choi, Din Long Lee, Cory Yuen.
Agent 999 is on a mission in pursuit of a bandit called Rolex. On the route he goes to a remote island where local people are all merciless cannibals. 90 min. DVD 7506
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Zu, Warriors from the Magic Mountain (Shu Shan) (Hong Kong, 1983)
- Director, Tsui Hark. In ancient China, the forces of evil are about to take over the Earth. A young warrior must endure hardship to locate the mythical twin swords which are the only weapons powerful enough to defeat the monstrous demons and save the mortal world. 97 min. DVD 869
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- The Boys from Fengkuei (Fenggui lai de ren) (Taiwan, 1983)
- Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. Ah-Ching and his friends have just finished school in their island fishing village, and now spend most of their time drinking and fighting. Three of them decide to go to the port city of Kaohsiung to look for work. They find an apartment through relatives, and Ah-Ching is attracted to the girlfriend of a neighbor. There they face the harsh realities of the big city. 110 min. DVD 1598
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- Butterfly and Sword (Hsin liu hsing hu tieh chien) (Taiwan, Hong Kong, 1993)
- Directed by Mai Tang-chieh. In this spectacular swordfighting tale the loyalist famous foursome parry and trust their way through a deliriously paced yarn as they attempt to keep the King's empire from being overthrown by a revolutionary group. 86 min. 999:2022
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- Dust in the Wind (Lien lien feng chen) (Taiwan, 1986)
- Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. A story about a young couple from a village in the southern part of Taiwan. Filled with details of urban Taipei, and depicting the transition from rural to industrial life in contemporary Taiwan, this is also a poignant story of young love lost. A teenaged couple moves to the city to find work, but are separated when the boy is drafted and the girl marries another. 109 min. DVD 1598; also VHS 999:2806
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- Eat Drink Man Woman (Yinshi nan nu) (Taiwan, USA, 1994)
- Directed by Ang Lee. A retired master chef and widower is worried about the future of his three unmarried daughters who are skeptical about marriage. Yet he himself surprises them with his secret love affair with a young woman many years his junior. 124 min. DVD 1321; vhs 999:1494
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- Flowers of Shanghai (Hai shang hua) (Taiwan, 1998)
- Director, Hou Hsiao-hsien. Cast: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Michiko Hada, Lee Yu-ming, Carina Lau Ka-ling. Based on the 1894 novel by Han Ziyun this film is set in the elegant brothels of late nineteenth century Shanghai, a hermetic world with its own highly ritualized codes of behavior, where "flower girls," must win, and then hold, the affection of their wealthy callers. 113 min. DVD 1229; vhs 999:2537
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Good Men, Good Women (Hao nan hao nu) (Taiwan, Japan, 1995)
- Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. This film consists of three intermingling stories: a film within a film as well as the past and present as linked by an actress in present-day Taipei. The film in which she plays is about a couple who return to mainland China to participate in the anti-Japanese movement in the 1940s and are arrested as Communists when they return to Taiwan. Images of the film-in-progress contrast with images from the actress' own past, when she was a party girl involved with a gangster. 108 min. 9099:2535
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- Ma, Jean Y. "Doubled lives, dissimulated history: Hou Hsiao-Hsien's Good Men, Good Women." (Critical Essay)." Post Script 22.3 (Summer 2003): 21(14).
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- HHH: Portrait de Hou Hsiao-Hsien
- Taiwanese film director Hou Hsiao-Hsein examines questions of identity and "native land," as he returns to the places of his youth to talk to childhood friends and discuss his films. His work is inseparably linked with the recent history of Taiwan and the emergence of the Taiwanese "Nouvelle Vague," an intellectual movement that united Taiwanese writers, journalists and filmmakers at the end of the 1970s; a movement that only became possible with the end of censorship and the advent of free discussions, through film and literature, about Taiwan's society. 1998. 90 min. Video/C 9081
- Description from First Run/Icarus catalog
- The Hole (Dong) (Taiwan, 1998)
- Directed by Ming-liang Tsai. Seven days into the 21st century the rain will not let up in Taiwan and a strange disease reaches epic proportions. Tenants of a run-down apartment refuse to leave. The plumber comes to fix a leak and leaves a gaping hole through which the tenant spies on his neighbor. 95 min. DVD 2799
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- The Personals (Zheng hun qi shi) (Taiwan, 1998)
- Directed by Chen Kuo-fu. An attractive and successful ophthalmologist quits her job and places a personal ad in the newspaper. She has a specific purpose in her ad - she is looking for marriage. After a series of blind dates with men who are either lonely, desperate, strange, perverted, or all of the above, what she really wants is her mysterious ex-lover to came back to her. 105 min. DVD 2800
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- Puppetmaster (Hsi meng jen sheng) (Taiwan, 1993)
- Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. Based on the highly dramatic autobiography of real life Taiwanese puppetmaster Li Tian-lu. The story covers the period of Japanese colonization from 1910 to World War II. Li's puppetry, like all Chinese culture, was banned by the Japanese, but during World War II, the Japanese used the traditional Chinese puppet theater for their war propaganda. Only after the war did street theatres start playing again. 142 min. DVD 940; VHS 999:2662
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- Pushing Hands (Tui shou) (Taiwan, 1991)
- Directed by Ang Lee. A tai-chi master and widower moves from Beijing to a New York suburb to live with his only son. With a daughter-in-law who has no use for him and an ever-changing society, problems quickly arise. He is forced to call upon his tai-chi teachings and it's "pushing hands" to give him the balance needed to survive in this poignant and comic tale. 999:1339
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- Sheng-mei Ma. "Ang Lee's Domestic Tragicomedy: Immigrant Nostalgia, Exotic/Ethnic Tour, Global Market." Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 30 no. 1. 1996 Summer. pp: 191-201.
- A Summer at Grandpa's (Dong dong de jia qi) (Taiwan, 1984)
- Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien.After their mother becomes hospitalized, two city children find themselves spending the summer in the country with their grandfather. 93 min. DVD 1598
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- The Taiwan New Cinema
- A documentary focusing on the two stages of motion pictures produced in Taiwan: beginnings and foundation building of the 1980s and the pluralistic creativity of the 1990s. Includes interviews with directors and film critics, extensive clips from films and commentary on the relationship between Taiwanese cinema and social development of the society. Commentary: Hou Hsiao-hsien, Tsai Ming-liang, Stan Lai, Ang Lee, Wang Toon, Peggy Chiao, Edmond K. Y. Wong, Lee Tain-dow, Hsu Hsiao-ming, Ho Ping , Wu Nien-Jen, Chen Yun-hou, Edward Yang, Chang Yi, Ko T-cheng.1998. 71 min. Video/C 9597
- That Day on the Beach (Hai tan ti i tien) (Taiwan, 1983)
- Directed by Edward Yang. Brought up in a strict and well-protected environment, Chia-li fought against a pre-arranged marriage, left home and married Te-wei. As Te-wei's career advances, they gradually grow apart and problems arise which Chia-li refuses to confront. In Mandarin with Chinese and English subtitles. 166 min. 999:1873
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- Three Times (Zui hao de shi guang) (Taiwan/France, 2005)
- Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. A rapturous and beautiful love story set in three different eras - a pool hall in 1966, a 1911 brothel, and present-day Taipei. The director brings to life the culture of each period as the tales unfold. 135 min. DVD 6514
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- A Time to Live and a Time to Die (Tung nien Wang Shih) (Taiwan, 1985)
- Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. The film depicts a family transplanted from mainland China to Taiwan in the early 1950s. The Father dies of illness and the elder sister marries. A-ha, the protagonist, struggles to deal with adolescence. 137 min. DVD 1598; VHS 999:1581
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- Vive l'Amour (Ai qing wan sui) (Taiwan, 1994)
- Directed by Tsai Ming-Liang. Cast: Yang Kui-mei, Lee Kang-sheng, Chen Chao-jung. Drama without dialog takes place in Taipei, Taiwan where a strange love triangle develops between a chic, seductive real estate agent, a street merchant and a shy, gay man who spies on the couple's trysts. 118 min. DVD 4886
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- Wedding Banquet (Hsi yen) (Taiwan, USA, 1993)
- Director, Ang Lee; featuring Ah-Leh Gua, Sihung Lung, May Chin, Winston Chao, Mitchell Lichtenstein. A comedy about the relationship between a gay Asian american and his Taiwanese parents. In New York, the Taiwanese half of the gay couple hopes to end his parents' matchmaking by announcing that he's engaged. What he doesn't count on is that they'll fly in to meet the bride and plan the nuptials. 109 min. Video Disc 122; VHS 999:1495
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- What Time Is It? (Ni na bian ji dian) (Taiwan, 2001)
- Directed by Tsai Ming-Liang. Cast: Lee Kang-Sheng, Chen Shiang-Chyi, Lu Yi-Ching, Miao Tien, Cecilia Yip, Chen Chao-Jung, Tsai Guei, Jean-Pierre Leaud. Hxiao Kang sells watches on the streets of Taipei for a living. Shortly after his father's death, he meets a young woman who leaves for Paris the next day. He sells her his own watch which has two dials so she can keep time with both Paris and Taipei. His brief encounter with the young woman makes him run around setting all the watches in Taipei to Paris time. 116 min. DVD 1626
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- Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Taiwan, Japan, 1999)
- Directed by Edward Yang. This story follows the individual lives of the Jian family: NJ Jian, his wife Min-Min, and their two kids who share their Taipei apartment with Min-Min's elderly mother. Due to many circumstances, the entire family is forced to re-evaluate who they are and what their lives have become. 173 min. DVD 1170
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| Feature Films | Animated Classics of Japanese Literature |
| Anime (on separate page) |
- Afraid to Die (Karakkaze yaro) (1960)
- Director, Masumura Yasuzo. Cast: Yukio Mishima, Ayako Wakao, Eiji Funakoshi, Takashi Shimura, Shigeru Koyama, Yoshie Mizutani, Keizo Kawasaki, Michiko Ono, Jun Negami, Reiasaburo Reizaburo Yamamoto.
After finishing his prison sentence for killing a mob boss, Asahina reluctantly re-enters Japanese society where he tries to stay one step ahead of the mob. 97 min. DVD 6980
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- After Life (1998)
- Director, Kore-eda Hirokazu. In Kore-eda's thought-provoking vision, the newly deceased find themselves in a way station somewhere between Heaven and Earth. With the help of dedicated caseworkers, each soul is given three days to choose one cherished memory for their life that they will relive for eternity. As the film reveals, recognizing happiness and finding a life's worth of meaning in a single event is no simple task. 118 min. DVD 1341
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Akahige: Red Beard (1965)
- Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Yuzo Kayama, Tsutomu Yamazaki. A vain young doctor fresh from study of the latest in Western medicine in Nagasaki is assigned to an impoverished clinic. At first rebellious against the seemingly autocratic ways of the clinic's head, he is won over by the wisdom and compassion of the dedicated director. 185 min. DVD 1260
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- All Night Long Collection
- Written and directed by Katsuya Matsumura. DVD 6845
- All Night Long (Ooru naito rongu) (1994)
- Cast: Eisuke Tsunoda, Yoji Ietomi, Ryosuke Suzuki, Hiromasa Taguchi.
The first of three sequential psychological horror films from Japanese director Katsuya Matsumura. A dark and twisted film following three Japanese school mates. One day one of their girl friends is brutally tortured and raped by a gang. The three friends can't take it any more and embracing the shocking underworld of savagery, the three teenagers make a pact to find the perpetrators and exact revenge.
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- All Night Long, Atrocity (Ooru naito rongu 2: Sanj) (1995)
- Cast: Masashi Endo, Kanori Kadomatsu, Masahito Takahashi.
The second of three sequential psychological horror films from Japanese director Katsuya Matsumura. In downtown Japan, a lonely computer nerd tries to maintain a peaceful existance while being stalked by a gang of deviant homosexuals who want to use him for their brutal S&M activities. 76 min.
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- All Night Long, the Final Chapter (Ooru naito rongu 3: Saishuu-sh?) (1996)
- Cast: Yujin Kitagawa, Kanori Kadomatsu, Tomoro Taguchi.
The third of three sequential psychological horror films from Japanese director Katsuya Matsumura. A bellboy stalks a woman who frequents the hotel where he works. The boundaries he will cross are limitless, and the distance he will go to satiate his needs are beyond redemption. The conclusion to the series reiterates that human existence is meaningless and "human beings are garbage." 76 min.
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Angel Dust (Enjeru dasuto) (1994)
- Director: Sogo Ishii. Cast: Minami Kaho, Toyokawa Etsushi, Takizawa Ryoko.
A beautiful Japanese investigator is assigned to a series of brutal murders against young women in the Tokyo subway. Fate reunites her with a former lover, a controversial psychiatrist expelled from his post who is now suspected of the murders.
116 min. DVD 9317
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- Atomic Rulers of the World (Japan, 1964)
- Directors: Koreyoshi Akasaka, Teruo Ishii, and others. Cast: Nakayama, Kan Hayashi, Minoru Takada, Utako Mitsuya.
A hero from the deepest reaches of space arrives on planet Earth to save mankind from atomic destruction in this feature film comprised of episodes of the popular Japanese sci-fi series Super Giant. As the citizens of the distant planet Emerald watch over Earth, they are shocked to discover that the rouge nation of Mirapolia has distributed atomic weapons all over the planet. Though the Mirapolians have vowed to destroy Earth if they cannot rule over it, the arrival of space savior Starman provides the frightened citizens of the endangered planet a ray of hope in what may be their darkest hour. In English ; dubbed from the original Japanese.
76 min. DVD 7732
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- The Bad Sleep Well (Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru) (1960)
- Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Akira Kurosawa, the acclaimed Japanese director, adopts the American gangster-film style to weave a fascinating tale of corporate greed. The story focuses on a grieving son, (Toshiro Mifune), who seeks revenge for his father's murder as he infiltrates the corrupt construction company that was responsible for his father's death. 152 min. DVD 2834; vhs 999:2283
- Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database
- Maxfield, James. "The Moral Ambiguity of Kurosawa's Early Thrillers." Film Criticism v. 18 (Fall '93) p. 20-35.
- The Ballad of Narayama (Narayama Bushiko) (1982)
- Director: Shohei Imamura. A century ago, inhabitants from a remote mountian village lived in constant fear of starvation. Their lives were cruel, horrible, and at best, hopeless. To survive, a number of ruthless laws were passed. One of the most brutal-taking the elderly to the distant peak of Narayama to die. 129 min. 999:858
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- Barefoot Gen (Hadashi no Gen) (1983; animation with English voice-over; closed-captioned for the hearing impaired)
- Director: Mamoru Shinzaki. Six year old Gen has lived practically his entire life in the shadow of war yet he is not prepared for the horrors which follow the bombing of Hiroshima. In this animated film, drawn from Keiji Nakazawa's true life experiences in the aftermath of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, Barefoot Gen tells the story of one family's struggle to survive against overwhelming odds. 85 min. DVD 411; VHS 999:1211
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- The Battle of Okinawa (Gekido no showashi: Okinawa kessen)(1971)
- Directed by Kinji Fukasaku. Cast: Keiju Kobayashi, Tetsuro Tamba, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yuzo Kayama, Mayumi Ozora, Wakako Sakai.
This final stand against the Allied onslaught soon becomes the bloodiest battle of the Pacific Theater, taking the horrors of war to a level never before seen, as the desperate Japanese Army tries to demonstrate to the Americans what they should expect when they assault the Japanese mainland. 149 min.DVD 8765
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- Battle Royale (Batoru rowaiaru) (2000)
- Directed by Kinji Fukasaku. Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto, Masanobu Ando.
Sometime in the near future, near anarchy has broken out in Japan. The government responds by passing the Battle Royale Act, a piece of legislation mandating that a group of young people - and only young people - are forcibly marooned together on an island, and forced to kill each other until one survivor is left. If more than one is still alive after three days, every survivor will be killed. The film follows a class of 14-year-olds who believe they're on a school trip, when they are drugged. They wake up, in a derelict building on a deserted island; they're each given enough provisions for three days, a weapon, and the ultimatum. Based on a novel by Takami Koshun.
Special features: TV spots, The making of Battle Royale, Battle Royale press conference, instructional video: birthday version, audition and rehearsal footage, special effects comparison featurette, Tokyo International Film Festival 2000, Battle Royale documentary, basketball scene rehearsals, behind-the-scenes featurette, filming on-set, original theatrical Trailer, director's Statement, filmographies. 122 min.DVD 86; VHS 999:73
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- The Bird People in China (Chugoku no chojin) (1998)
- Directed by Takashi Miike. Cast: Masahiro Motoki, Renji Ishibashi, Makoto 'Mako' Iwamatsu, Li Li Wang. Tokyo salaryman Wada ventures into deepest, darkest China to investigate a massive deposit of high-quality jade. Tailing him is Ujiie, a snarling yakuza hell-bent on getting Wada's company to repay its debts. Led by their unflappable guide, the trio stumbles upon a hill tribe, whose children are adorned with wings made from bamboo and paper. Their teacher, a blue-eyed woman named Yan, tells them that she is teaching them to fly. Wada quickly becomes obsessed with this curious local. After she tells him that she has a book on human-powered flight and that her grandfather was a downed British airman, he almost believes that she can teach her students to soar. Soon Wada feels purged from the evils of city life while Ujiie decides to dedicate his life to protecting the village. 18 min. DVD 5197
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- Black Rain (Kiroi Ame) (1989)
- Director: Shohei Imamura. This is an unforgettable movie about humanity and survival after the 1945 atomic catastrophe that changed the world forever. Stunning photography vividly details the horror of ravaged Hiroshima, while its shocked survivors struggle with radiation sickness as they rebuild their shattered lives. 123 min. 999:112
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- Tachibana, Reiko: "Seeing between the lines: Imamura Shohei's Kuroi Ame (Black Rain)" Literature/Film Quarterly (26:4) 1998:4 , 304-312
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- Boiling Point (3-4x jugatsu) (1990)
- Director, 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano. Two members of a Japanese junior baseball team get mixed up with the local yakuza. After their coach is severely injured by the gangsters, the two boys set off to Okinawa to purchase a gun in order to get revenge. While in Okinawa they get befriended by a psychotic yakuza outcast who is planning a revenge of his own. 98 min. DVD 1093; vhs 999:3200
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- Brother (2000)
- Directed by Takeshi Kitano. After his crime boss is murdered in a Tokyo gang war, a yakuza gangster is exiled to Los Angeles. He has a big bag of money and a really bad attitude and hooks up with his half-brother who is the leader of a small-time drug ring. Together, with a local street hustler, the brothers declare war on the other local drug traffickers. This ignites into the bloodiest, dirtiest, nastiest power struggle L.A. has ever seen. 113 min. DVD 1084
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- Burmese Harp (Biruma no tategoto) (1956)
- Director: Kon Ichikawa. Following the actions of a young Japanese officer separated from his battalion at the close of the Pacific War in Burma, the film shows one man's journey from the comforts of companionship in adversity to a solitary confrontation with, and the eventual grasp of, mass death in the name of patriotism. 116 min. DVD 8429; 999:1054
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- Cafe Lumière (Kohi jiko) (2003)
- Director: Hou Hsiao-Hsien. In a residential Tokyo neighborhood, Yoko, a freelance writer, becomes pregnant and chooses, against tradition and her parents' wishes, to raise the baby alone. In her loneliness and confusion, Yoko befriends the owner of a second-hand bookstore, who silently falls in love with her as she contemplates the choice she has made. 104 min. DVD 4867
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- Cruel Story of Youth (Seishun zankoku monogatari) (1960)
- Director: Nagisa Oshima. In this daring statement about the disillusionment that took hold in Japan following World War II, a teenage girl and her criminal boyfriend perform sexual shakedowns on well-to-do middle-aged men. 96 min. 999:2024
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- The Cure (Kyua) (1997)
- Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Cast: Koji Yakusho, Masato Hagiwara, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Anna Nakagawa, Yoriko Douguchi, Yukijiro Hotaru. Set in and around a bleak, decaying Tokyo, a series of murders have been committed by ordinary people who claim to have had no control over their horrifying actions. Detective Kenichi Takabe puts his own sanity on the line as he tries to end the terror. 111 min. DVD 4257
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- Dark Water (Honokurai mizu no soko kara)(2001)
- Directed by Hideo Nakata. Cast: Kuroki Hitomi, Kanno Rio, Oguchi Mirei, Mizukawa Asami. Yoshimi Matsubara fights to gain legal custody of her five year-old daughter Ikuko while the two live together in a dark, sullen and musty apartment building. Already insecure and uncertain about her future with her daughter, Yoshimi is haunted by murky water dripping through the ceiling and walls, and by the almost taunting appearances of a small red bag that once belonged to a girl who had mysteriously disappeared two years prior. Though she desperately struggles to find the strength within herself for Ikuko's sake, her horror intensifies as she comes closer to discovering the connection between these events, and is completely unprepared for the truth that lies ahead. 100 min. DVD 6832
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