What was the last Chinese film you watched?

[skylee]

Re #338 and #340. Why is Kill Bill regarded as a Chinese film (which is what this thread is about)?

[Kobo-Daishi]

Skylee wrote:

Re #338 and #340. Why is Kill Bill regarded as a Chinese film (which is what this thread is about)?

According to the end credits, a great deal of the production was filmed in Beijing.

So many of the crew were Chinese. A whole long list of names it seemed to go on forever.

Some of the actors are Chinese. Lucy Liu, Gordon Liu.

Some of the subject matter, the Chinese martial arts that the Uma Thurman character practiced Tiger/Crane and Eagle Claw(?).

Okay, I fudged a bit. So sue me.

Kobo.

[abcdefg]

Saw "Painted Skin -- The Resurrection" yesterday on DVD. Had seen the original "Painted Skin" a couple weeks back. If you watch them, you will wind up knowing at least one word for demon. 妖

The first movie includes some "Ghost Buster" jokes. It also has some pretty good martial arts scenes with Donnie Yen 甄子丹。The second film (released this year) tries to do too much. I think it hoped to become a huge sequel to "Avatar" and winds up being pretty silly.

From what I've read, both movies made a lot of money at the box office here on the mainland. That should not be taken as high praise.

For what it's worth, both of these films (on DVD) had English subtitles selectable at the start as well as Mandarin ones. If you were a beginner seeking a low-tech way to learn a few phrases, you could first watch the English version to get the gist of the plot, then re-watch it with the Mandarin version of the subtitles. They speak 普通话 in both.

[Kobo-Daishi]

I saw 人再囧途之泰囧 (Lost in Thailand).

All I can say is that I'm amazed that this is going to become the biggest hit the Chinese market has ever seen. Bigger than Titanic, Avatar, The Founding of the Republic or any movie ever.

It staggers the mind.

It's like when Dumb and Dumber was the biggest American movie. And then it's sequel...er...prequel was also a mega-hit.

I can't believe they're actually planning on a "real" sequel to Dumber.

Lost...is ten times worse than Dumb and Dumber if that's possible.

Compared to Lost, Dumb and Dumber is Olivier doing Hamlet.

At least I learned the Chinese Internet slang, "2B".

It was a scene where a pretty girl enters the elevator and the two guys speaking in Chinese question whether she's a "ladyboy" (do an Internet search, but, be sure your image search is set on safe).

Not knowing the girl speaks Chinese, the one guy says that all pretty girls in Thailand are ladyboys and dares the other to ask her.

Only when the girl steps off the elevator and tells her friend in Chinese do the guys realize the faux pas they've made.

[character]

All I can say is that I'm amazed that this is going to become the biggest hit the Chinese market has ever seen. Bigger than Titanic, Avatar, The Founding of the Republic or any movie ever.

It staggers the mind.

Right before it, Painted Skin 2 broke records for a Mainland film.

Starting a year or so ago in India, film after film broke records or did surprisingly well. I suspect the same thing happening there is happening in China: some disposable income threshold has been crossed by enough people that they can now afford to see more films in theaters.

[skylee]

Can this be a means for money laundering? (Is it necessay to launder money in Mainland China?)

[ouyangjun]

All I can say is that I'm amazed that this is going to become the biggest hit the Chinese market has ever seen. Bigger than Titanic, Avatar, The Founding of the Republic or any movie ever.

Did you actually see "The Founding of the Republic"? That movie was terrible. One of those propaganda movies that famous actors are forced to act in whether they like it or not. It was the 60 year anniversary film of the Communist party... enough said. Therefore I'm not surprised 《人再囧途之泰囧》is passing that film. But I do agree with you, I saw the previews for this and my wife wanted to go see it in the theaters, but I made the executive decision to go see 《一代宗师》 instead.

[Guest realmayo]

Is it necessay to launder money in Mainland China?

I thought that's what Singapore is for!

[Lu]

Did you actually see "The Founding of the Republic"? That movie was terrible. One of those propaganda movies that famous actors are forced to act in whether they like it or not. It was the 60 year anniversary film of the Communist party... enough said. Therefore I'm not surprised 《人再囧途之泰囧》is passing that film. But I do agree with you, I saw the previews for this and my wife wanted to go see it in the theaters, but I made the executive decision to go see 《一代宗师》 instead.

Regardless of the quality of The Founding of the Republic, those in power did everething in their power to make sure it had a good box office, so passing that is still a milestone. I also wonder whether perhaps it's not a matter of the quality of the movie as of some external factor. Someone laundring money, more disposable income, more cinemas opened, I don't know. I briefly considered buying it from my friendly neighbourhood dvd guy, but the cover seemed to scream that this was a movie I was not at all interested in, so I decided not to watch it after all.

[abcdefg]

Looks like I'm going to have to go see 人再囧途之泰囧 (Lost in Thailand) even though it will almost surely be a miserable way to spend two hours. All my Chinese friends have seen it and continue to talk about it. I'll just consider it necessary evil, a dose of bitter medicine, part of my acculturation experience, like using the gag-a-maggot filthy loo at a tourbus stop.

[Meng Lelan]

I'll just consider it necessary evil, a dose of bitter medicine,

Physician, heal thyself.

[skylee]

I saw 一代宗師 last night. I think it is not particularly beautiful, or intersting, or moving, or exciting. The acting is good, though. But I don't particularly like it or dislike it. I won't see it again.

PS - Watching it I kept thinking, why, it looks like something by Zhang Yimou, and I had flashback of various scenes in 英雄, which also featured 梁朝偉 and 章子怡.

[gato]

You are right. 一代宗师 is pretty boring. Some nice cinematography, but that's about it. Boring story. Boring characters.

Wasn't 英雄 a Jet Li movie?

[skylee]

Jet Li was in 英雄 too. But there were also 梁朝偉、張曼玉、章子怡、甄子丹、陳道明. The director was 張藝謀.

[Lu]

I'd say 英雄 was a Zhang Yimou movie. I still want to see Grandmasters, with those actors it has to be worth watching.

Watched To Be Number One the other day and realised I had seen some scenes from it before. Awesome movie. The rise and fall of a mainland refugee who arrives in Hong Kong and builds a huge mafia empire, with all the infighting, bloody and otherwise, that's necessary for that.

[character]

危險關係 (Dangerous Liaisons) - big budget, good lead actresses, but crappy script. I wish film makers would stop including Korean actors in Chinese films; I suspect the language barrier makes it hard for chemistry to develop between the leads.

[amandagmu]

I just saw La Rizière at the Berlinale. Absolutely gorgeous scenery and a beautiful, slow-moving story about a family that lives mostly off their rice paddies -- their lives all revolve around the seasons. Highly recommend!

[abcdefg]

#355 --

I still want to see Grandmasters, with those actors it has to be worth watching.

I saw it. Acting was good, but the story was disjointed. Should admit up front that I'm never sure how much of that is due to my own inadequate grasp of the language. But some of my Chinese friends who saw it also thought the film had continuity problems.

[amandagmu]

I saw 一代宗师 (Grandmasters) at the Berlinale last week. The plot seems to be messed up a bit... there was a missing/incomplete storyline somewhere along the way. I read in a review that it likely ended up on the editing floor but was never patched up properly in the final cut. Anyways, difficult to explain without a spoiler...

I liked the martial arts and fight scenes, though, and I thought Tony Leung was magnificent.

[skylee]

The 'missing' part is part of the plan, according to the views of the director's fans and followers. It prompts you to think about the story, and provides possibilities for your imagination. I don't particularly like Wong's films, but I agree that sometimes not everything has to be shown in a film. That 'sometimes' is right when the audience accepts/likes it. It is not right when the audience thinks the film is crap.