Still Life

Still Life 2006

7.20

A town in Fengjie county is gradually being demolished and flooded to make way for the Three Gorges Dam. A man and woman visit the town to locate their estranged spouses, and become witness to the societal changes.

2006

The Red Violin

The Red Violin 1998

7.36

300 years of a remarkable musical instrument. Crafted by the Italian master Bussotti (Cecchi) in 1681, the red violin has traveled through Austria, England, China, and Canada, leaving both beauty and tragedy in its wake. In Montreal, Samuel L Jackson plays an appraiser going over its complex history.

1998

To Live

To Live 1994

8.00

Fugui and Jiazhen endure tumultuous events in China as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry. Addicted to gambling, Fugui loses everything. In the years that follow he is pressed into both the nationalist and communist armies, while Jiazhen is forced into menial work.

1994

A Man Called Hero

A Man Called Hero 1999

5.90

After Hero Hua marries Jade and leaves her in China, he goes to America to work as a servant and rebels against cruel labour conditions. Jade soon joins him in New York, where they build a family.

1999

Hibiscus Town

Hibiscus Town 1987

7.80

Based on a novel by the same name written by Gu Hua, a melodrama about the life and travails of a young woman who lives through the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution.

1987

Out Live

Out Live 2000

6.61

A sweeping, epic tale of a martial arts warrior who attempts to defy a kingdom to be with his love.

2000

My Memories of Old Beijing

My Memories of Old Beijing 1983

7.70

It is the late 1920s when six-year-old Yingzi and her family move to Beijing. As Yingzi explores the busy streets and alleys, she befriends a widow who, driven mad by grief, stands vigil at the entrance of her hutong, waiting for her missing daughter to return.

1983

Purple Butterfly

Purple Butterfly 2003

6.67

Ding Hui is a member of Purple Butterfly, a powerful resistance group in Japanese occupied Shanghai. An unexpected encounter reunites her with Itami, an ex-lover and officer with a secret police unit tasked with dismantling Purple Butterfly.

2003

A Soul Haunted by Painting

A Soul Haunted by Painting 1994

6.00

A Chinese prostitute weds, studies painting, and becomes a renowned artist and professor in Paris.

1994

Sanmao Joins the Army

Sanmao Joins the Army 1992

6.70

In 1937, after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the Second Sino-Japanese War breaks out. San Mao, a wandering orphan, joins the army to participate in the Battle of Shanghai.

1992

Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain

Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain 1984

8.40

Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain is a 1984 Chinese film about the life of the soldiers in a PLA army company before, during and after the Sino-Vietnamese War.

1984

The Anarchists

The Anarchists 2000

4.60

Set in 1920s Shanghai, the film recounts the activities of a group of young Koreans trying to destabilize Japanese control of their penninsula. Through an anti-occupation terrorist campaign, the five men hope to inspire a resurrection throughout their penninsular homeland.

2000

Hands in the Hair

Hands in the Hair 2005

4.00

For 10 years, Ani, a young wife and mother, has sported the same hair style. She has a humdrum life and a platonic relationship with young Mr. Ahua, her hairdresser. She leaves home after he loses his job. There is love and new beginnings.

2005

Ermo

Ermo 1995

6.25

A humble noodle-maker in a remote Chinese province, Ermo feels that she's being taken for granted by family and friends. She decides the best way to impress them is to bring home the biggest, most expensive television set she can find - no matter how many noodles she has to peddle.

1995

The Herdsman

The Herdsman 1982

6.80

In 1980, Xu Jingshan, a wealthy Chinese-American businessman returns to China to find his son, Xu Lingjun, whom he had abandoned over 30 years earlier. Labeled a rightist because of his capitalist father, Lingjun has been forced to live as a humble herdsman on the grasslands. His bitter life has been transformed by a happy marriage to the wise and beautiful Xiuzhi, and more recently by his rehabilitation by the Party. When he goes to Beijing for their reunion, he discovers his father wants him to work for his chemical company in San Francisco. Lingjun tells the story of his life to his father, as he ponders his future.

1982

The Alley

The Alley 1981

6.20

The film is a powerful condemnation of the political radicalism of the Cultural Revolution and shows how ordinary people were victimized during a decade of turmoil.

1981

Under the Bridge

Under the Bridge 1983

6.20

This simple romance story does not mean much to westerners, and in fact, does not even mean anything to Chinese today, but it was a big thing when it was made, not long after the end of Cultural Revolution in which even the personal romance was restricted. This movie is one of the pioneers of personal liberalization in advocating people seeking out their love following their own hearts, not from other people.

1983

Two Stage Sisters

Two Stage Sisters 1964

6.90

In pre-revolutionary China, two young girls, Chunhua and Yuehong Xing, rise through the ranks of Chinese opera, but with their artistic success comes a new series of personal and social challenges. After they're sold to a Shanghai opera and the revolution dawns, Yuehong radicalizes and devotes her career to politically progressive performances, while Chunhua flees to avoid turmoil. As the world changes around them, they fight to maintain their friendship.

1964

Romance on Lushan Mountain

Romance on Lushan Mountain 1980

6.00

The film tells the story about the daughter of a Nationalist general who revisits the famous summer resort Lushan Mountain in Jiangxi province in 1980 and falls in love with the son of a senior general of the Chinese Communist Party.

1980

Family

Family 1957

6.50

Based on the famous novel of the same name by well-known author Ba Jin, this movie traces the decline of a large, wealthy family in the early part of the twentieth century. The story focuses on three brothers and how they respond to the expectation that they will each marry women whom their grandfather has selected for them. The lure of family money on the one hand and modern individualism on the other plays out differently among the young men. Critics consider this movie an indictment against feudal ideas.

1957