Tao Hong Movies

Cheng Er directs Beijing Bicyce star Gao Yuanyuan in this quietly intense tale of a young girl who discovers that she is dying from a brain tumor, and vows to solve a lingering family mystery before she succumbs. Upon discovering that the brother-in-law she always trusted could be the man who murdered her parents, the desperate girl kidnaps and tortures him in hopes of eliciting a confession. Will she discover the truth before it's too late, or will the answer to her greatest question elude her even in death? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In this low-key drama from China, Lai Shuang Yang (Tao Hong) is a single woman in her mid-thirties who runs a small restaurant in Chongqing. Shuang Yang's cool and confident demeanor masks the fact that she's become an emotional wreck. After the death of her mother, Shuang Yang raised her younger brother Jiujiu, only to see him fall into drug addiction. Mei (Yang Yi), Shuang Yang's assistant at the restaurant, has fallen into a deep depression over Jiujiu's addiction, and has attempted suicide. Shuang Yang's sister-in-law, Xiaojin (Pan Yueming), has little interest in her son Duo'er and usually leaves him with Shuang Yang, who developed a close attachment with the boy when she wet-nursed him after he was born. And there's talk that a redevelopment project will close down the market district where Shuang Yang has her restaurant, forcing her to either move or close down. In the midst of all this, Zhuo Xiongzhou (Tao Zeru), a middle-aged businessman who has been quietly dining at Shuang Yang's restaurant for over a year, finally works up the nerve to talk to her, and after going out for a drink with him, she finds herself pondering the prospect of a romantic relationship for the first time in years. As she juggles work and her personal crises with her new love life, Shuang Yang also takes steps toward reclaiming a house that her family lost during the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution. Shenghuo Xiu received its North American premier at the 2002 Montreal Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Meili Xin Shijie is a low budget, independent production shot by a first time director, dealing with modern themes in an urban setting. It is quite revealing in its portrayal of contemporary China where society is changing rapidly, leaving some with fortunes and others with empty dreams. The changes occur too quickly for even those who experience it to understand. The effect these changes have on common men and traditional social values and morality is the main message of the film, which is ironically narrated in the manner of Suzhou Pingtan, a traditional style of southern Chinese storytelling which has been disappearing from common use. The story revolves around a country boy, Bao Gun, and his not-so-pleasant introduction to city life. Winner of a newspaper contest for a two-bedroom apartment in Shanghai, he arrives in the big city to claim his prize only to discover he must wait a year and a half for the apartment to be built. He meets an array of cosmopolitan characters whose way of life contrasts sharply with his values and dreams. His aunt, who is about the same age as him, owes money to everyone and thinks only of easy ways of making money. The subway musician he befriends has lost his dreams in the hustle of the city. Bao Gun has only his own common sense and moral values to guide him through this journey. The film ends with a Hollywood style happy-ending. Bao Gun is played with lots of energy by Jiang Wu, the younger brother of China's leading actor Jiang Wen, whereas Tao Hong, winner of China's Best Actress in 1998, plays the scheming aunt. The subway musician is played by Wu Bai, Taiwan's top-selling rock artist and Ren Xian Qi, China's best selling pop musician, appears as a boy who steals young girls' hearts with the expensive car he drives -- until they find out that he is only a chauffeur. The film features a soundtrack produced by Asia's top alternative label, Music Stone. Meili Xin Shijie was screened as part of the International Forum of Young Cinema at the 49th International Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide