The young poet Xin Baihe flees Shanghai with his friend, Liang. Liang soon joins the resistance against the Japanese invaders, but Xin chooses to pursue a relationship with a glamorous and westernized widow in Qingdao. After hearing that Liang has been killed, Xin has a change of heart and rushes to join the war effort.
The Yu family earn the ire of the Green Dragon clan when the daughter kills the clan chief's son. The Green Dragon chief wounds family head Yu Yuan with his flying daggers, and kills many others who try to protect the noble family. Wandering swordsman Ying Qing saves the family in a fight, using his own flying dagger skills, but his allegiances and motives are unclear.
Shaolin warrior Tung Chien-chen is injured in battle against the hated Wu Tang clan, and nursed back to health by a knife-throwing master. As he recovers, Tung learns this deadly art, and also falls in love with his teacher's daughter. But when a Wu Tang attack disrupts the young lovers' wedding, Tung must put his new skill to use as he seeks revenge.
In old Shanghai, two sisters, a prostitute and a singer, try to escape from the local scoundrels with the help of a trumpet player and a newspaper seller.
1930's China. The village of a poor family is taken over by the occupying Japanese army. One son, Zhongliang, leaves his wife and young son to join a medic group for the Chinese Army. The other son, Zhangmin goes into hiding to protect his family. The focus shifts back and forth from the brothers' parents and Zhongliang's wife and son to Zhongliang's newfound life of luxury in a town not too far away. The plight of Zhongliang's mother, his wife, Sufan and her son, Kongeson is contrasted with Zhongliang's rise in a flourishing company.
Adapted from a novel of the same title, this film depicts a young woman’s transformation from housewife to loyal Communist. This process is presented as “natural” – possessed of inherent logic rather than merely “incidental”. Hence, the film is really about Communist revolution that won over the hearts and minds of Chinese youth.
The film tells the tragic story of two recent college graduates, Tao Jianping ("Tao" is a homophone for peach), and Li Lilian ("Li" is a homophone for plum). Married, the two hope to change society for the better, but are continuously challenged by the corruption and injustice of Chinese society.
The New Year's Gift is the story of some lucky money gifted to a girl. It then leaves her and passes from hand to hand.
Overnight, the sexy Wei Ming will become a successful novelist. But, desperate to get the money that she needs to cure her little daughter (and harassed by a rich, unscrupulous rake), she will end up eventually engage in luxury prostitution.
The story is about a fisherman's family living near to Shanghai. In the beginning, twin babies are born, a boy and a girl. Their growing-up is briefly sketched, and their friendship with "young master", a boy from rich family about their age.
A melodrama about the couple Zhu Dongxin and Ma Nina.
Live action adaptation of Snow White fairy tale.
In this Chinese version of "The Phantom of the Opera," the mysterious Song Danping terrorizes the newly rebuilt opera house and its young star.
Probably the most sheerly entertaining of all the films made in 1930s Shanghai by 'underground' leftists, this riff on The Prisoner of Zenda is funny and engaging from first to last. The irresistible Yuan Muzhi (director of Street Angel the following year) plays both Li Tao, a revolutionary on the run, and Liu Yuanjie, an American-Chinese teacher visiting China with his fiancée. Liu is mistaken for Li and thrown into jail; Li teams up with the fiancée (Chen Bo'er, Yuan's real life wife) to get him out of prison and into the spirit of revolution. Ying Yunwei (who started out playing female roles in Chinese opera) uses chiaroscuro lighting, highly mobile camerawork and zippy pacing to give it maximum impact, but it's Yuan who really keeps you watching.
A novelist uses all his money to buy gifts for the woman he loves who in turn is also seeing a business man, using him for expensive presents. As a consequence the writer is unable to pay the rent, whilst the womans family goes hungry as her fathers business suffers. A joyful comedy that expresses the dangers of consumerism for the careless spender.
This is a silent film from China made in 1931. It is about two leads in a film, Yan (Raymond King) and Ying (Violet Wong). They meet after hearing Ying sing while another movie is being shot. You, of course, don't get to hear the song, but it catches people's attention. Once they meet and work together, they fall in love. Is it forever?
This is one of the rare gems in early Chinese musical films that still exists today. Nancy Chan plays a naïve young woman who can sing and dance. Under the arrangement of her stepfather, she becomes a star and indulges in the glitz and glamour of the entertainment world before getting married to a wealthy heir in Nanyang. Yet her husband is cruel and unfaithful, leading her to divorce and return to her parents in Shanghai. She is set for a comeback to the stage. Her young daughter suffers from a serious illness. A remake of the Bu Wanchang’s silent film The Light of Maternal Instinct (1933), this film takes cues from Hollywood musicals, resulting in an elegant and lively fusion of camera movement and musical numbers. The film also reflects the harsh reality of China in the 1930s and the pathos of popular literature by combining morals, entertainment and social commentary to show that changes in the idea of femininity is a symbol of progress.
Years after her boyfriend left her for the big city and promised to bring her there after he’s settled down, a Chinese woman sets out on a journey to be reunited with him.
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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.
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A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
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The film tells the tragic story of two recent college graduates, Tao Jianping ("Tao" is a homophone for peach), and Li Lilian ("Li" is a homophone for plum). Married, the two hope to change society for the better, but are continuously challenged by the corruption and injustice of Chinese society.
Shares 2 cast members
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
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In the Chinese town of Fuyang, four brothers go about their day-to-day lives, their destinies shaped by love and challenges.
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Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.
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A novelist uses all his money to buy gifts for the woman he loves who in turn is also seeing a business man, using him for expensive presents. As a consequence the writer is unable to pay the rent, whilst the womans family goes hungry as her fathers business suffers. A joyful comedy that expresses the dangers of consumerism for the careless spender.
Shares 4 cast members
The story is about a fisherman's family living near to Shanghai. In the beginning, twin babies are born, a boy and a girl. Their growing-up is briefly sketched, and their friendship with "young master", a boy from rich family about their age.
Shares 2 cast members
A movie fan escapes from a labour camp during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and strikes up a relationship with a homeless female vagabond.
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Word of a monster ape ten stories tall living in the Himalayas reaches fortune hunters in Hong Kong. They travel to India to capture it, but wild animals and quicksand dissuade all but Johnny, an adventurer with a broken heart. He finds the monster and discovers it's been raising a scantily-clad woman, Samantha, since she survived a plane crash years before that killed her parents. In the idyllic jungle, Johnny and Samantha fall in love. Then Johnny asks her to convince "Utam" to go to Hong Kong. Lu Tien, an unscrupulous promoter, takes over: Utam is in chains for freak show exhibitions. When Lu Tien assaults Samantha, Utam's protective instincts take over: havoc in Hong Kong.
A magician makes money by charging people to cast love spells on the objects of their affection. Complications arise when he decides that he wants a customer's bride for himself.
A psychotic craftsman pits two rival Kung-Fu masters against each other while designing special lanterns from a disturbing source.
When a series of martial misunderstandings spirals into an international incident, a Chinese martial arts student struggling to relate to his new Japanese wife is forced to take on seven of Japan's most powerful martial arts masters, each an expert in a different discipline, ranging from karate to samurai to ninjitsu.
Incriminating evidence against a gang is left in a cab when a gang member dies in it. The gang chases the innocent cab driver, who receives help from the dead gangster's sister - a tough police woman.
A pacifist village is beset by bandits in this martial arts thriller. "Savage Five" hands-down rivals the ornateness of "Kid With The Golden Arm" and the twist-heavy "Five Deadly Venoms". The always great David Chiang plays a lesser version of his Rover character from "Duel Of The Iron Fist", and Ti Lung, looking incredible here, is at his physical best. Accolades to Chen Kuan Tai and Wang Chung in great sympathetic roles, too. A kung fu classic where the actual martial arts display takes a back seat to the mesmerizing story.
The Third Master is considered to be the greatest sword master of the day. His displays of skill and strength bring armies of challengers to his door, seeking the title for themselves. Not to be defeated, the Third Master fights evil, saves damsels in distress, and duels rival swordsmen to the death.
While possessed by an evil spirit, a man murders his daughter. A police detective investigating the case also becomes possessed. A good monk helps fight the evil spirit.
Lady Windermere's Fan, Oscar Wilde's play on moral values, is adapted for a setting in Shanghai. Young wife Meilin mistakenly believes her husband is having an affair with a social butterfly and decides to leave for a suitor. Her reputation, about to be ruined because of a misplaced fan, is saved by the social butterfly who turns out to be …Unlike typical Chinese scripts on parental love, the understated familial love in the original play is aligned with Li's preference for the undramatic. Motherly love is portrayed indirectly while emotions run strong yet subdued in the film. Poking fun at social culture of the times, this is Li's earliest extant feature film in a modern setting and a showcase of his modernistic and crisp directorial approach.
800 Chinese soldiers guard the important warehouse district against the invading Japanese Army. Re-imagination of a famous (bordering on legendary) episode from the battle of Shanghai: 800 soldiers of the 88th regiment against what feels like the whole of Japan’s Imperial Army - think Thermopylae, Chinese version. A splendid, visually amazing gem which, in its own way, is also a last stand: of silent cinema, Shanghai style. (iffr)
A wild country girl moves to Shanghai with her painter boyfriend and experiences exploitation and poverty.
In the early days of liberation, Kuomintang remnants fled to the Menghe Tibetan region. The government sent Chen Shaohua’s political work team to secure local chieftain Luobu Danzeng’s help against the enemy. Spy Xie Chunfu deceived Luobu Danzeng, causing conflict between the Menghe and Wari people to undermine the Communist Party and plan a counter-revolutionary uprising. Chen Shaohua implemented ethnic policies to win Luobu Danzeng’s support and investigated the spies’ activities. Xie attempted to poison steward Lang Jie, but Lang Jie discovered the plot. Nationalist spies threatened Luobu Danzeng to detain the work team. Chen Shaohua sent Xiao Li and Dali Jie to the military division. The People’s Government advanced into Menghe, prompting Xie to assassinate Lang Jie to eliminate witnesses. Before dying, Lang Jie exposed Xie’s plot to Luobu Danzeng, who apologised and cooperated with the People’s Liberation Army to eliminate the remnants.
A mad scientist dresses up as a gorilla to kidnap young girls, so he can use their brains to produce the elixir of life...
He Li, a famous dancer, falls in love with Wu Shi, a scientist. Li Beihai, who has been occupying He Li, wants to beat Wu Shi to death after discovering their relationship. He Li is injured and dies while trying to save Wu Shi. Doctor Zhao Gui and his assistant Guan Feng steal He Li's body. After experiments, they revive He Li and turn her into a mindless killing tool. Zhao Gui wants to steal the antitoxin developed by Wu Shi, so He Li calls Wu Shi and wants to kill Wu Shi after getting the formula. Due to a series of cases of stolen bodies, detective He Bin and his assistant Watson begin to investigate the case and discover a secret tunnel and many bodies. The sinister Zhao Gui uses a mechanism to lure them into his room, and a fierce fight breaks out...
Based on the play The Government Inspector by Nikolay Gogol.
After a flood, the Sea Charity Association sends Liu Hao Ming to a village to direct the burial of corpses. Hao Ming meets the singer Ruyun and her father there, and advises Ruyun not to sing a beautiful song, but to sing “The Beauty of Yu” instead, which Ruyun obeys to the full applause of the audience, but arouses the displeasure of a butcher, Sa-zuo, and others. When the flood comes again, the village people go to Shanghai to evacuate. Sa-zuo and the others ask Hao-ming for help, and Hao-ming leads them to an empty mansion to spend the night, where they run into Ruyun's father and learn that Ruyun has been separated. A female ghost haunts the house and they all escape from the house. Hao Ming does not see Ruyun's father and goes back to look for him, but he sees that the female ghost is Ruyun.
