Zhou Xun Movies
- 2008
A single day in the life of an unhappy young woman throws her into a vortex of strange coincidence in this black comedy from China. Li Mi (Zhou Xun) is a street smart but nervous cab driver whose boyfriend Fang-Wen (Deng Chao) vanished four years ago; since then, she often finds herself asking her fares if they know anything about his whereabouts, usually to their puzzlement. One day, Li Mi gives two of her passengers -- fidgety Qiu Huogui (Wang Yanhui) and lovelorn Qiu Shuitian (Wang Baoqiang) -- the third degree about Fang Wen; they pay with a large bill and she has to go to a shop to get change. After a while, the passengers think she's run off with their money, and they retaliate by taking Li Mi's scrapbook of photos of Fang-Wen. Not long after a man who looks just like Fang-Wen dies in a bizarre accident, Li Mi crosses paths with Huogui and Shuitian again, who demand a ransom for the safe return of her collection of photos. Unfortunately, she doesn't have the money to buy back the pictures, though the pieces of her strange day begin to fall into place when she's called upon to help a police detective (Zhang Hanyu) with an investigation. Li Mi De Caixiang (aka The Equation of Love and Death) earned Cao Baoping the "Best New Director" award at the 2008 San Sebastian International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2008
This action-fantasy opus from Hong Kong director Gordon Chan - a co-production of Hong Kong, China and Singapore with a predominantly Chinese cast - represents at least the third screen incarnation of a famous macabre Asian short story from the Qing Dynasty. (Prior versions emerged in 1966 and 1993). The setting is the Yuan Dynasty of the 13th and 14th centuries. As the tale opens, soldiers rescue a resplendent orphan girl, Xiao Wei (Zhou Xun) from desert bandits. She is taken in by General Wang (Chen Kun) and his wife Peirong (Vicki Zhao), who lavish attention on her, but three months into the unofficial adoption, a bizarre series of events befalls the city: a gruesome serial killer begins striking all over the map, killing his victims by ripping out human hearts. Deeply distrustful of the young girl and suspicious that she may actually be a bloodthirsty demon disguised as a human, Peirong summons the help of General Pan Yong (Donnie Yen), a washed-up, burnt-out alcoholic who has formally retired from military service. Lo and behold, as it turns out, Pan has befriended a Chinese ghostbuster, Xia Bing (Sun Li), who, as it turns out, has been chasing Xiao for years in revenge for her ghastly murder of one of his relatives. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 2006
A World Without Thieves director Feng Xiaogang shifts his focus from modern-day con artists to tenth century intrigue with this tale of internal turmoil in the age of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms starring Zhang Ziyi, Daniel Wu, and Ge You. Her empire on the verge of a massive revolution as storms begin to brew both within the royal court as well as in the outlying kingdoms, the entrancing Empress Wan (Zhang) gazes upon her stepson, Prince Wu Luan (Wu), with the eyes of a forbidden lover rather than a caring mother. When the emperor dies an unexpected death and his younger brother Li (Ge) ascends to the throne, Empress Wan marries the newly appointed sovereign as a means of both protecting her beloved Wu Luan and cementing her position within the royal court. When assassins dispatched by Emperor Li fail in their attempt to silence Wu Luan and his majesty subsequently announces a lavish banquet, Empress Wan and Wu Luan realize that the time has finally come for them to take action against the murderous despot. The film demonstrates tremendous influence by Shakespearean plays, specifically Hamlet and Macbeth. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zhang Ziyi, Ge You, (more)
- 2006
A 21st Century martial arts princess who steals from the rich in the name of love incurs the wrath of a powerful underworld boss in a romantic thriller starring Zhou Xun and Daniel Wu. Irresistible rogue D (Wu) has announced that he will run away with the first woman who can $5 million, and now the race is on to see which companionship-craving female with cough up the cash first. Ming Ming (Xun) is determined that she and D were meant to be together, and soon sets about robbing mob boss Cat (Jeff Chang) as a means of making that happen. Though she only stole Cat's curious looking box on a criminal whim while robbing him blind, Ming Ming never realized how much such a seemingly-simple looking trinket could mean so much to a man. Later, while fleeing Cat's henchmen, Ming Ming crosses paths with Nana (also Xun), whom she quickly sets up as the scapegoat for her crime. Little does Ming Ming realize, however, that Nana is one of D's girlfriends. Now, as D disappears from Shanghai and Ming Ming's secret admirer Tu mistakes Nana for the object of his affections, the race is on to locate the elusive D as he attempts to solve the mystery of his mother's strange and untimely death. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2005
A woman's tainted family history proves to be both a blessing and a curse in this drama from Chinese-American filmmaker Ann Hu. Fei (Zhou Xun) is a young woman who was born as a result of an extra-marital dalliance by her father, the wealthy Master Li. When Master Li dies while Fei is away at school, she returns home to pay her respects. At the reading of his will, Fei learns that Li's final wishes have specified she must continue her education at the same school as Ying (Vivian Wu), her half-sister, and that the two girls must share a home. Fei is not happy with this new arrangement; Ying makes no secret of her dislike of Fei, while many of Fei's new classmates regard her as a nuevo riche who has rejected her proletarian roots. Fei meets Huang (Wang Zhiwen), Ying's rich but rebellious boyfriend, and finds herself becoming deeply infatuated with him; Ying, aware of her half-sister's feelings, insists that Huang set a date and marry her as soon as possible to bring their budding romance to an end. Mei Ren Yi Jiu (aka Beauty Remains) received its North American premiere at the 2005 Los Angeles Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Acclaimed director Peter Chan takes the helm for this lavish, award winning musical concerning the love triangle between a handsome actor, his beautiful co-star, and a talented film director. Lin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and his ex-lover Sun (Zhou Xun) are shooting a movie for celebrated director Nie Wen (Jacky Cheung) when the flames of their former passion are gradually rekindled. A charismatic director who has poured his entire heart and soul into making a movie about a passionate love triangle, Nie finds his entire production about to collapse as Lin does everything in his power to win back the ravishing Sun. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacky Cheung, Zhou Xun, (more)
A young woman finds herself torn between the promise of autonomous adulthood and the demands of subservience to a lover in Stolen Life, a contemporary feminist parable by acclaimed 6th Generation Chinese Filmmaker Li Shaohong (Blush). For Yanni (Zhou Xun), life has never been easy; bereft by her mother at six years old and shuttled off to live with her grandmother and aunt, she felt neither loved nor accepted. Yanni's future prospects unexpectedly open up six years later, when her biological mother and father turn up and promise to send the 14-year-old through university. Just when the horizon looks brightest, however, Yanni's path haphazardly crisscrosses with that of a handsome truck driver, Mu-yu (($Wu Jun) who plies her with flattery and gifts - to such a degree that he inadvertently sways her away from her studies and convinces her to move into his dank and sordid sub-floor apartment. In complete disregard for her own future, she begins to spend every waking moment with Mu-yu, makes him the focal point of her universe, and may even sacrifice collegiate enrollment simply to be with him. ~ Nathan Southern, 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
- 2002
- NR
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Dai Sijie directs Balzac et La Petite Tailleuse Chinoise (The Little Chinese Seamstress), a film adaptation of his own best-selling autobiographical novel. Set in China during the Cultural Revolution of the 1970s, the story follows Luo (Chen Kun) and Ma (Liu Ye), two young men from the city who are sent to a mountain village for a re-education in Maoist principles. They work with the peasants under the supervision of the village head man (Wang Shuangbao), who considers their violin to be a symbol of the bourgeoisie. Luo and Ma both fall in love with the little Chinese seamstress (Ziiou Xun), the daughter of the tailor (Chung Zhijun), and they read her forbidden works of Western literature including French writers Balzac and Dumas. The conclusion finds the two men reminincing about their experiences 30 years later. Balzac et La Petite Tailleuse Chinoise premiered at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- 2001
Sex, violence, and pork are the hallmarks of this ultra-black comedy from maverick Hong Kong filmmaker Fruit Chan. Boss Chu (Glen Chin) is the rotund proprietor of a fast-food stall specializing in pork located in a decaying Hong Kong shanty town. Boss Chu runs the business with his equally porcine sons Tiny (Leung Sze-ping) and Ming (Ho Sai-man). Living near the pork stall is a teenaged would-be gangster, Wong Chi-keung (Wong You-nam), who though e-mail makes the acquaintance of a young woman calling herself "Shanghai Angel Hung-Hung" (Zhou Xun), a prostitute recently arrived in Hong Kong from China. After doing frequent business with Wong, Hung-Hung begins frequenting the pork stall, where she becomes close friends with young Tiny. However, Ming soon develops a more carnal interest in Tiny's new playmate, and Hung-Hung takes advantage of Ming's infatuation by seducing him. Boss Chu is also attracted with the young prostitute, and she begins working her charms on the father of the family. Once Wong, Ming, and Boss have all fallen under Hung-Hung's spell, the three men each begin receiving threatening letters from a lawyer, who claims that Hung-Hung is underage and that statutory rape charges will be filed against them unless they're willing to pay, leading to some unpleasant visits from the blackmailer's enforcers. Heunggong Yau Gok Holeiwut is the second film in a planned trilogy about Chinese prostitutes in Hong Kong, following Fruit Chan's 2000 release Liulian Piao Piao. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
A young man from rural China struggles to make good in Beijing in this drama, which suggests an updated and relocated variation on the neorealist classic Ladri di Biciclette. Guei (Cui Lin) is a teenager who arrives in the big city looking for work; he and a handful of other youngsters are hired as bicycle messengers, with their employer giving them new mountain bikes under the condition that they're paid ten yuan for each message they deliver, and the bicycles are theirs once they've made 58 trips. Guei discovers the job is not an easy one, as he deals with the complexity of the huge city, confusion over who gets what message, and the condescending attitude Beijing residents often display toward the new arrivals. Guei is determined to make good and is close to owning his bike when it's stolen; Guei's boss tells him the only way he can keep is job is if he can find the bicycle, which, in a city the size of Beijing, is no easy task. Against all odds, Guei finds the bicycle, but it's now in the hands of Jian (Li Bin), who claims he got it at a second-hand shop and isn't about to give it up. Guei steals the bike back from Jian, but now has to deal with the teenaged tough and his roughneck friends. Shiqisuide Danche was produced as part of a series of films from young Chinese directors called "Tales of Three Cities," co-produced by French and Taiwanese companies. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Recalling both Vertigo (1958) and Chungking Express (1994), Chinese director Lou Ye spins this riveting tale of obsession and love. The film opens with shots of the Suzhou River, which is clogged with the detritus and pollution of a rapidly expanding Shanghai. Narrated by an unseen freelance videographer, the film focuses on motorcycle courier Mardar (Jia Hongsheng), who specializes in black marketeering and is asked by a shady alcohol smuggler to shuttle his young attractive daughter Moudan (Zhou Xun) to her Auntie's every day while the thug entertains his latest sexual conquest. Though at first the youth resists his precocious passenger's advances, the two soon fall for one another. In spite of this, Mardar reluctantly agrees with a group of sleazy associates to a scheme to kidnap Moudan and extract a ransom from her father. When Moudan learns of Mardar's betrayal, she runs to throw herself into the Suzhou river -- apparently to her death -- cursing Mardar and saying that she will come back as a mermaid and haunt him. A few years later, Mardar is released after a stint in prison and returns to Shanghai, where he encounters Meimei (also played by Zhou), a nightclub dancer who performs in an aquarium as a mermaid and who is dating the videographer/narrator. Haunted by his past and unnerved by her resemblance to Moudan, Mardar soon becomes obsessed with Meimei. At first, Meimei brushes off Mardar's advances, until he tells her of his sordid past. Soon, she dumps the videographer in favor of her ardent pursuer, while Moudan and Meimei fuse in Mardar's fragile psychology. This film won the top prize at the Rotterdam Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zhou Xun, Jia Hongshen, (more)
A lavishly produced historical drama from China, Jing Ke Ci Qin Wang/The Emperor and the Assassin tells the complex, multi-facetted story of the man who became the first Emperor of a unified China, another man who has sworn to kill him, and a woman who is loved by both men. Late in the Third Century B.C., when China was comprised of seven rival kingdoms, Ying Zheng (Li Xuejian) was the leader of Qin. Ying Zheng had a dream in which he joined together the seven kingdoms into a single utopian state, and taking this as a mandate from God, he invaded the nearby state of Han as the first step toward this goal. However, not everyone in the neighboring states was happy with Ying Zheng's crusade, which seemed to indicate a lengthy war with many casualties. Lady Zhao (Gong Li), Ying's lover, devised a scheme to help Ying Zheng take over the nearby and uncooperative state of Yan; she fabricated a fake assassination plot against him, and framed the leader of Yan, once Ying Zheng's childhood friend, as the man behind the murderous plot. However, Lady Zhao did not choose the would-be assassin wisely; while Jing Ke (Zhang Fengyi) loved her and was willing to do her bidding, Jing Ke's previous assassination assignment caused the unintended death of an innocent blind girl, which left him full of regret and a bit unstable. When Jing Ke learned a closely guarded secret about Ying Zheng's past, he became blindly determined to kill the would-be emperor, whatever the cost. Produced on a lavish budget by Chinese standards ($15 million), Jing Ke Ci Qin Wang/The Emperor and the Assassin was directed by Chen Kaige, best known to Western audiences for the international success Farewell My Concubine. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gong Li, Zhang Fengyi, (more)
