Siqin Gaowa Movies
- 2006
An elderly woman discovers her trusting nature is a severe disadvantage in the 21st century in this comedy drama from Chinese filmmaker Ann Hui. Ye Rutang (Siqin Gaowa) was born and raised in Manchuria, but came to Shanghai to seek her fortune years ago. Now in her early sixties and once again single, Ye is uncomfortably aware that the China she knew as a young woman is changing radically, and she senses she's fallen behind the times when she loses a position as a tutor because her English doesn't sound "American" enough. As Ye looks for work, she begins to fall victim to a series of con artists, including a Chinese opera singer (Chow Yun-Fat) who uses his charm to pull her into a scheme selling futures on funeral plots; a neighbor fallen on hard times (Shi Ke) who isn't as bad off as she claims; and even her own 12-year-old nephew (Guan Wenshuo), who fakes a broken leg to get after her savings. Ye's misadventures leave her penniless, and she is somehow implicated in the grim fate of a local busybody (Lisa Lu), forcing Ye's daughter (Vicky Zhao Wei) to come to a reluctant rescue. Yi Ma De Hou Xian Dai Sheng Huo (aka The Postmodern Life of My Aunt) received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Siqin Gaowa, Chow Yun-Fat, (more)
- 2002
First-time director -- and actor -- Huang Hong presents the tale of a goodly farmer who suddenly has his hands full with more than two dozen orphans in his household in the domestic comedy 25 Kids & One Dad. Zhao Guang (director Huang) has literally gone from rags to riches, having been an orphan raised by the townspeople of his small village to building one of the most successful chicken farms in the region. In a spontaneous moment of largesse while attending a local civil ceremony, Zhao donates a large sum of money to the regional welfare organization and proclaims his wish to adopt every orphan in the region. Soon, the farmer begins finding scores of children on his doorstep and begins the process of picking out the true orphans from the fake ones. As the final count comes down to 25, Zhao takes them in and begins to feed, clothe, and educate them -- which takes a toll on his savings and draws the ire of his fiancée, Guiqing (Li Lin). ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Huang Hong, Li Lin, (more)
- 2002
Immersed in a series of promotional events designed to move copies of her brand new book, female writer Ho is overwhelmed with guilt after stopping for a brief visit with her eighty year old mother and realizing that the ailing woman's eyesight has deteriorated to the point where she can no longer recognize her own daughter. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Siqin Gaowa, Huang Suying, (more)
- 1994
This Chinese film which chronicles the rites-of-passage of a group of adolescent men is based on Wang Shuo's 1991 novella and includes additional autobiographical anecdotes from writer/director Jiang Wen. The film is set in summertime Peking during the early '70s. The boys live in a military school compound. When not skipping their classes, they are getting into fights with rival groups and girl watching. Much of the story focuses upon group leader Liu Yiku and Monkey Ma (who is based on Jiang Wen). Liu Yiku is having a sexual relationship with the free-wheeling Yu Beipei who is interested in Monkey Ma. Monkey Ma is too interested in the older gal, Mi Lan to notice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
- NR
Young man Guan Jian comes to a city police station and says that his mother murdered his father in their native village ten years ago. When a police captain asks why it took so long to report the crime, Guan says that he simply didn't have enough evidence then, but now he can prove that his father died of poisoning. Finally, Guan's persistence makes the skeptical captain launch the investigation that may reveal the truth. This slow-moving but ultimately engrossing Chinese drama is not as much concerned with the question of whether the woman committed the crime as with the finely observed mother/son relationship that veers between love and hate. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Siqin Gaowa, Ma Jingwu, (more)
- 1993
- NR
- Add The Women from the Lake of Scented Souls to QueueAdd The Women from the Lake of Scented Souls to top of Queue
In a rural area of China, a woman makes the best sesame oil in the neighborhood. A Japanese businesswoman wants to buy her oil and proposes to modernize the oil mill. The woman agrees to cooperate. Her son is in love with a local girl, but the girl's parents don't let her marry him because of the boy's epilepsy. However, using the poor financial state of the girl's family, the woman arranges this uneasy marriage. The film is slow-paced and many story lines remain unresolved, but some viewers might be attracted by the fact that it received the Grand Prize at the 1993 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Siqin Gaowa, Wu Yujian, (more)
- 1989
In this drama, three Chinese women with vastly different backgrounds get acquainted and become friends amid the social desolation of New York. Chao Hong (Sichingowa) is from mainland China, and has come to marry a Chinese man with American citizenship. Aside from the difficulties of being newly married to a virtual stranger, she suffers from separation from her family and her homeland. Wang Hsiung Ping (Sylvia Chang) was an actress in Taiwan, and has come to New York to be with her American boyfriend. Now she has broken up with him, and is not at all certain what she wants to do. Li Feng Jiao (Maggie Cheung) is financially secure, as she owns a restaurant in the U.S. and has property in the U.S. and in Hong Kong - but she is too busy to have a romantic life. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvia Chang, Maggie Cheung, (more)
Based on the novel by Lao She, Rickshaw Boy tells the story of a peasant who toils for three long years in order to reach the Chinese capital. Finally arriving at his destination and setting up his own business, the young man finds that his turmoil is still far from over, for the class distinctions of ancient China are still too strong to be broken, even for love. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zhang Fengyi, Siqin Gaowa, (more)
- 1981
In China, it has sometimes considered to be a calamity of the first order to have even one daughter. In this film, it seems that the widower, old farmer Xu Mao, must have been incredibly careless to have had nine. He has to work night and day to keep this huge family fed and clothed, and has become something of a hermit otherwise, even to his daughters. Fortunately, a benevolent government official observes this situation, and helps the old man and his daughters appreciate their exceptionally good fortune in having a loving family. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wang Fuli, Siqin Gaowa, (more)
