Chang Chen
- 2009
John Woo turns his sights on romantic epic territory with this Lion Rock/Fortissimo Films production starring Chang Chen and Song Hye-kyo. Lust, Caution's Wang Hui-ling provides the screenplay for the picture, set at the tail end of China's Civil War. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chang Chen, Song Hye-kyo, (more)
- 2008
John Woo's historical drama The Battle of Red Cliff re-creates the legendary Chinese battle from 208 A.D. that led directly to the end of the Han Dynasty. The film charts how different factions joined forces to create this turning point in history. Chow Yun-Fat stars in the film that is adapted from part of the beloved Chinese book Romance of the Three Kingdoms. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, (more)
- 2008
Elements of the typical detective story blend with comedy and melodrama in this tale of a Taipei man who longs to patch up his relationship with his estranged wife, yet finds his noble efforts sabotaged when he steps out of his car to purchase a cake, and another driver parks him in. It's Mother's Day in Taipei, and Chen Mo is eager to patch things up with his beloved wife. In order to start things off on the right foot, Chen Mo stops by the local bakery to pick up a cake. Unfortunately, that's just about the time another driver chooses to double-park in the space next to him, effectively blocking him in. The driver of the other car is nowhere to be found, and Chen Mo searches every floor of the adjacent parking building to no avail. In the course of his quest, Chen mo encounters a series of quirky characters including a one-armed barbershop owner with a fondness for fish head soup, and a mainland prostitute on the run from her pimp. In time Chen Mo finds the driver of the offending car, and invites his newfound friends along as he prepares to drive off into new horizons. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chang Chen, Leon Dai, (more)
- 2007
A convicted prisoner gradually begins to develop feelings for the woman who decorates his cell in director Kim Ki-duk's minimal dialogue love story. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chang Chen, Zia, (more)
- 2007
The new kid in town finds his new friends might know something his father doesn't in this playful comedy from Japanese filmmaker Isao Yukisada. Ryunosuke Kusunoki (Ryunosuke Kamiki) is a boy from Tokyo who moves with his family to a farming community in Hokkaido province, where he soon finds he doesn't fit in. Ryunosuke's difficulties with his new school mates isn't helped by the fact his father (Tomokazu Miura) is a government functionary who has come to persuade a handful of farmers to sell their land so that a new airport can be built. Ryunosuke's father isn't the first man to try to get the local farmers to sell their land, and the landowners don't regard him with any greater friendliness than they did his predecessors. Ryunosuke is frequently taunted by Kohei Tsuchida (Yuma Sasano), whose father is a scientist and the leader of the local opposition to the new airport, but while their parents are increasingly at odds, Ryunosuke and Kohei strike up a friendship through their shared love of pranks. As Ryunosuke slowly begins to enjoy his new environment and the joyously eccentric community around him, he finds he can no longer support his father's desire to tear up the countryside in the name of air transportation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryunosuke Kamiki, Suzuka Ohgo, (more)
Three best friends who are barely getting by as fishermen in the small village of Zhujiajiao depart to seek their fate in Shanghai in director Alexi Tan's reworking of the John Woo action classic Bullet in the Head. Feeling trapped by circumstance in the only place they have ever known, Kang, his brother Hu, and their best friend Fung decide to take their fate into their own hands by moving to Shanghai. Upon arriving in the bustling city, the naïve trio gradually finds their innocence corrupted as they fall into the deepest depths of the criminal underworld. The starting point for their harrowing descent is the infamous Paradise Club: the most popular - and dangerous - nightclub in all of Shanghai. In the Paradise Club, Lulu is the songbird that every man wants to capture, yet she remains locked securely in the cage of owner and underworld crime kingpin Boss Hong - or so he thinks. Because when the stage lights go down and the big guy isn't around, his right hand man Mark starts making the moves on Lulu. Of course Lulu is no innocent either, and as this pair conduct their dangerous affair both enemies and allies alike begin plotting a way to wrestle control of the city from the ruthless Boss Hong. As the tense situation between Boss Hong and his many conspirators begins to boil over, Kang, Hu, and Fung make a desperate grab for power that quickly pays off. But success in Shanghai doesn't come cheap. With their power nearly cemented in the land of plenty, Fung will be forced to choose between love and a life of crime while wrestling with his troublesome conscience, Hu will enter into a monumental struggle against his own inner weakness, and power-hungry Kang will allow nothing to prevent him from realizing his own ambitions. Now, as lives hang in the balance and blood begins to flow, the chance for redemption fades with each passing day. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
The ghost of a young boy haunts a Taipei apartment block in Better Than Sex director Su Chao-pin's urban spook story. Hashimoto (Yosuke Eguchi) is a paranormal investigator who uses an anti-gravitational device called the Menger Sponge to trap wayward spirits. Upon exploring a haunted Taipei apartment complex, Hashimoto and his crew capture the specter of a young boy who apparently perished under mysterious circumstances. When Hashimoto brings local policeman Yi Chi-tung in to help identify the boy, jealous ghost hunter Su Yuen (Barbie Hsu) makes a tragic attempt to steal the ghost that leaves Yi free to release and follow the spirit. As Yi's turbulent past slowly begins to come into focus, another, more malevolent supernatural force somehow related to the boy threatens to rain doom down on all involved in the investigation. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chang Chen, Yosuke Eguchi, (more)
- 2006
The material and spiritual sides of one man's life are reflected in a game that allowed him to become a hero in this historical drama from Chinese director Tian Zhuangzhuang. Wu Qingyuan (Chang Chen) was born to a wealthy family in China, and as a boy he revealed a remarkable talent for the centuries-old game known as Go. Wu's skill for the game was so great that in the 1920s he was given the opportunity to travel to Japan, where he would learn from the grand masters of Go and compete with champions from around the world. Wu spent most of the rest of his life in Japan, where his life was bordered on one side by Go and on the other by his study of Zen; however, Wu was also a Chinese man living in Japan during a time that the two nations were often in violent conflict, and he found himself viewing some of the most crucial and traumatic events of Japanese history through the eyes of an outsider. Wu Qingyuan received its American premiere at the 2006 New York Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chang Chen, Sylvia Chang, (more)
Millennium Mambo director Hou Hsiao-hsien explores the ever-changing cycle of love in this collection of three romantic stories set in 1911, 1966, and 2005 and utilizing the same actors in all three tales. In "A Time for Love," a fresh-faced soldier boy named Chen (Chang Chen) searches for a pool hall hostess named May (Shu Qi) who captured his heart before disappearing into the crowd. The second tale, set against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation of Taiwan and entitled "A Time for Freedom," finds an elegant courtesan tending to a young intellectual in a lavish brothel. The trilogy draws to a close with a segment entitled "A Time for Youth" in which a present-day Taipei singer who is also an epileptic neglects her female lover to seek the romantic attentions of a talented photographer. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shu Qi, Chang Chen, (more)
- 2004
The budding romance between a girl blinded in a childhood accident and a dating agency owner who has inexplicably lost his own eyesight is contrasted against the tender relationship between a heartbroken young woman and the man who was mysteriously guided to her by forces he cannot comprehend in this life-affirming romance starring Tony Leung. As a young girl, Cheung (Miriam Yeung) was left blind following a tragic accident. But although she has since led a contented life with her doting father, it's obvious that she still longs for true companionship. One day, when Cheung's father happens across an ad for a dating agency, the girl decides to take a chance and sign up. Though scheming agency owner Ho (Leung) remains doubtful that he will ever find Cheung a date, he accepts the challenge regardless and tries every means at his disposal to find the girl a suitable mate. Despite his repeated failures, however, Ho gradually feels himself growing closer to Cheung over time. Then, one morning, Ho awakens to realize that he has suddenly lost his sense of sight. Though no doctor he talks to can explain why Ho has suddenly gone blind, sympathetic Cheung does her best to help him adjust to his sightless new world - her optimism proving an indispensable source of support for the once swaggering matchmaker. Meanwhile, across town, a young man faces his own set of romantic hurdles as he makes his way to a woman with a broken heart. Perhaps, somehow, both couples will find the strength to overcome their fears and finally make love work. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Miriam Yeung, (more)
Three of the world's most gifted filmmakers offer their own unique perspectives on love and lust in this omnibus film. The initial episode, "The Hand," was directed by Wong Kar-Wai, and tells the story of Zhang (Chang Chen), a young, virginal dressmaker's assistant who finds it difficult to control his desire when he is sent to the home of Hua (Gong Li), a beautiful and refined prostitute, for a fitting. Steven Soderbergh directed the film's second story, "Equilibrium," in which Nick Penrose (Robert Downey Jr.) spends a session with his analyst (Alan Arkin) discussing a recurring dream of a beautiful naked woman in his apartment, but he keeps wandering off on tangents about alarm clocks and hair loss. Finally, Italian virtuoso Michelangelo Antonioni brings his short story The Dangerous Thread of Things to the screen, a story of a jaded couple, Christopher (Christopher Buchholz) and Chloë (Regina Nemni), whose relationship comes to a crossroads when both husband and wife become infatuated with the same woman, Linda (Luisa Ranieri). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gong Li, Chang Chen, (more)
- 2002
Chinese Odyssey 2002, produced by Wong Kar-Wai, is writer-director Jeff Lau's energetic parody of Chinese kung fu epics, with a bit of Shakespeare thrown in. Chang Chen (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) plays the Emperor, who, desperate for the free-spirited life of a wanderer, tries to escape from the royal palace with his sister, the Princess (Faye Wong, little seen since starring in Wong's Chungking Express). He's caught and returned to his angry mother by the royal guards, but the Princess, disguised as a man, manages to escape. Meanwhile, King Bully (Tony Leung, who also starred in Chungking Express) has returned to his hometown, where he is widely despised for his bullying ways, to run a restaurant with his tomboy sister, Phoenix (Vicki Zhao of Shaolin Soccer). They have a very close relationship. In fact, King Bully mistakenly believes that he can read his sister's mind. When the Princess arrives in town, King Bully finds himself drawn to her, but, believing she's a man, decides that his attraction is some kind of empathy with Phoenix. King Bully and the Princess spend a night eating and drinking together. In the morning, the Princess leaves. King Bully, determined that the Princess will marry Phoenix, vows to bring the charismatic young "man" back. She does return, but soon realizes that the royal guards are following her. Meanwhile, the Emperor convinces his mother to let him leave the palace to go look for the Princess. By the time he gets to town, the Princess has been carted off by the royal guards, with King Bully in hot pursuit. He's immediately attracted to Phoenix. More confusion ensues. Chinese Odyssey 2002 had its U.S. premiere at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival. The film was awarded Best Film, and Faye Wong Best Actress, by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Faye Wong, (more)
- 2001
Two rebellious youngsters deal with the harsh realities of life on the streets of Taipei in this tough but compassionate drama. Fei-Fei (Sinje) is a young woman chafing under the restrictive yoke of her mother's authority, and when she discovers her mother has been reading her diaries, she decides it's time to strike out on her own. Fei-Fei moves in with her best friend Yili (Kelly Kuo), whose boyfriend Tiger (Leon Dai) is the top man in a local street gang. Fei-Fei joins Yili in selling betelnuts on the street -- a pepper which in sufficient quantities produces a mild high not unlike marijuana. While hawking her wares, Fei-fei meets Feng (Chang Chen), who has just finished a hitch in the army and is looking for something to do with his life. Fei-Fei and Feng fall in love and move in together, but their lives quickly take divergent paths -- Feng makes friends with one of Tiger's underlings, Guang (Kao Ming-chun), and soon becomes a member of Taipei's criminal underground. Fei-Fei, on the other hand, is looking for something better than selling low-level drugs on the street, and tries to strike out in a new career in show business. Ai Ni Ai Wo (which literally translates as "Love You, Love Me," though the film's official English-language title is Betelnut Beauty) won an award for Lin Cheng-sheng as Best Director at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chang Chen, Tsai Chen-Nan, (more)
Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee took a break from making Western period dramas to fashion this wild and woolly martial arts spectacular featuring special effects and action sequences courtesy of the choreographer of The Matrix (1999), Yuen Woo Ping. In the early 19th century, martial arts master Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat) is about to retire and enter a life of meditation, though he quietly longs to avenge the death of his master, who was killed by Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-pei). He gives his sword, a fabled 400-year-old weapon known as Green Destiny, to his friend, fellow martial arts wizard and secret love Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh), so that she may deliver it to Sir Te (Sihung Lung). Upon arrival in Peking, Yu happens upon Jen (Zhang Ziyi), a vivacious, willful politician's daughter. That night, a mysterious masked thief swipes Green Destiny, with Yu in hot pursuit -- resulting in the first of several martial arts action set pieces during the film. Li arrives in Beijing and eventually discovers that Jen is not only the masked thief but is also in cahoots with the evil Jade. In spite of this, Li sees great talent in Jen as a fighter and offers to school her in the finer points of martial arts and selflessness, an offer that Jen promptly rebukes. This film was first screened to much acclaim at the 2000 Cannes, Toronto, and New York film festivals and became a favorite when Academy Awards nominations were announced in 2001: Tiger snagged ten nods and later secured four wins for Best Cinematography, Score, Art Direction, and Foreign Language Film. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, (more)
Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai directs the strange, intimate drama Cheun Gwong Tsa Sit (Happy Together). Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle employed multiple film speeds and different color film stock during the shooting. Ho (Leslie Cheung) and Lai (Tony Leung) are lovers from Hong Kong who have run away to live in Buenas Aires, Argentina. However, Ho is immature and unwilling to settle down, which makes Lai depressed. When they break up, Lai works as a doorman in a tango bar in order to save money and go home. The restless Ho becomes a prostitute. After Ho is beaten and injured in an attack, Lai takes him to his apartment to recover. Ho tries to rekindle the romance, but Lai isn't interested. He leaves the tango bar and works in a kitchen, where he meets the young Chang (Chang Chen) from Taiwan. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, (more)
- 1996
The European Upper Crust meets the Taiwan Underworld in this convoluted comic action thriller. Winston Cheng (Chang Kuo-shu) is a prominent businessman who has somehow managed to fall deep into debt to organized crime leaders in Taipai, to the tune of $100 million. When it becomes clear that the gangsters are tired of waiting for their money, Cheng goes underground, just as two mob enforcers (Wu Nein-jen and Wang Po-sen) are sent out to find him. Cheng's son (Tang Tsung-sheng) -- who calls himself Red Fish -- is the leader of a street gang; the gunmen start following Red Fish and his partners in crime -- Hong Kong (Chang Cheng), Lun Lun (Ko Yu-lun), and Little Buddha (Wang Chi-tsan) -- in hopes that the son will lead them to the father. Meanwhile, Marthe (Virginie Ledoyen) has come from France to Taipai in search of Markus (Nick Erickson), her former lover who has relocated from London. Marthe discovers that Markus has a new girlfriend, Alison (Ivy Chen); feeling hurt and rejected, Marthe runs into Lun Lun and the rest of Red Fish's gang at the Hard Rock Cafe, and she spends the night with them. Marthe and Lun Lun soon become romantically involved, which drives a wedge between him and the other members of the gang; meanwhile, Ginger (Diana Dupuis), the operator of an escort service, wants to recruit Marthe to work for her. Red Fish encounters Angela (Carrie Ng), who double-crossed Winston years ago; he sets out to avenge the wrong done to his father, but soon he soon learns that Winston is in more immediate danger than he imagined. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
