Liu Qing Movies
- 2008
A true story of courage against the odds is brought to the screen in this drama from China. Hu Xiaojun (Ma Yue) is a Chinese soldier whose battalion is sent to Vietnam when the two nations go to war in 1983. Hu and his comrades find themselves in a fierce battle when a grenade explosion knocks him unconscious. When Hu awakes, he discovers that his right arm has been amputated. Initially, Hu has tremendous difficulty dealing with new condition, but before long he becomes determined to do something most men in his position never achieve -- find a way to keep serving his country as a soldier despite having just one arm. Hu also believes that losing his arm makes him no less of a man, and he sets out to win the heart of Fan Chunxiao (Xu Jun), the lovely nurse he fell for while she helped care for him in the hospital. Produced in association with the People's Liberation Army, Wode You Shou (aka My Left Hand) was based on the true story of Ding Xiaobing, who after losing an arm in battle continued to serve in the military and eventually rose to the rank of colonel in the People's Armed Police. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2004
A woman who lives apart from the world around her invites a troubled man to join her in this visually striking fantasy. Liu Zhi (Huang Jue) is a man stuck in a loveless marriage who has come to despair of his life in a confining modern apartment building. When he's alone, Liu records virtual diary entries on his camcorder, talking about his need to be loved and how out-of-place he feels in modern society. Liu's messages somehow find their way to Baober (Zhou Xun), a woman who lives in a strange but beautifully stylized world of her own. Baober meets Liu and encourages him to leave behind his old life to join her. Initially wary, Liu decides to leave his wife and join Baober in her apartment where he begins to merge with the eccentric patterns of her life and learns to appreciate a beauty that exists apart from the increasingly Westernized culture of China. The first theatrical feature in five years from filmmaker Li Shaohong, Lian'aizhongde Baobei (aka Baober in Love) was screened as part of the 2004 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1998
Wang Guangli made his directorial debut with this short (66 minutes) Chinese drama focusing on Beijing bars where filmmakers and artists convene. After impoverished painter Jinian (Ye You) is injured in a bar brawl, the film then moves into a Betrayal (1983) mode, working its way backward in time to eventually become totally self-referential, depicting Jinian as a film director making this very same 66-minute Maiden Work, casting actors and scouting locations with a zero budget. Paintings by Ye You are seen throughout. Shown at the 1998 Vancouver Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- 1998
Li Shaohong directed this Chinese drama about a working-class Beijing family. On a sidestreet by a railway line, Qi Hongguang (Song Dandan) awakens at 3am to go to her job at a meat-processing plant. She's married to factory foreman Liu Shijie (Wang Xueqi). His aged mother (Lu Wenzheng) lives with them, as does their tomboyish 16-year-old daughter, Mingming (Gao Jun). When Mingming's school requires her to take an army drill course, she develops a strong attraction to a young soldier (Liu Xingsheng), while her mom finds a few romantic sparks ignited by her former art teacher (Wang Bing). An immense shopping mall spells doom for Shijie's factory, but he keeps the news from his family. In sequences recalling The Full Monty, Shijie and his buddies secretly search for work, play cards, and hang out together in mutual support -- until one day Hongguang stumbles onto the secret. Shown at the 1998 East West Film Festival (London). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Song Dandan, Wang Xueqin, (more)
- 1986
The title character, played by Na Renhua, is the reluctant 12-year-old bride in an arranged marriage with a two-year-old boy. Expected to tow the line so far as social proprieties are concerned, Renhua rebels against the edicts of her elders. Her headstrong attitude becomes most pronounced when, at 16, she falls in love with another man. Though set in turn-of-the-century China, the cultural clashes prevalent in The Girl From Hunan deliberately parallel the state of affairs in the China of the late 1980s. Filmed in the Cantonese language, The Girl From Hunan vividly recreates an era long gone, yet somehow still very close. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
