Cui Lin Movies
A romance takes place against some of the most turbulent events in recent Chinese history in this epic-scale story from filmmaker Lou Ye. Yu Hong (Hao Lei) is a beautiful 17-year-old girl who is soon to leave the small border town where she was born and raised to attend college at Beijing University. Shortly before Yu Hong leaves for school, she gives her virginity to her longtime boyfriend, Xiao, and pledges to remain faithful to him. At Beijing University, Yu Hong makes friends with Li Ti (Hu Ling), another girl dealing with a long-distance relationship, and meets Zhou Wei (Guo Xiaodong), a handsome student who soon steals her heart. Yu Hong leaves her relationship with Xiao behind to commit herself to Zhou Wei, and she's swept up by her feelings for him as they embrace the new social and economic freedoms which are being felt on campus. The empowerment felt by the students in Beijing comes to a head during a series of demonstrations in Tiananmen Square; the protests have tragic consequences, and the excitement of new possibilities gives way to a feeling of defeat. Yu Hong and Zhou Wei are separated and the heavy hand of the state is brought to bear on the rebellious students. The first Chinese film to feature full-frontal male and female nudity, Yiheyuan (aka Summer Palace) received its world premiere as an official selection at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hao Lei, Guo Xiaodong, (more)
- 2006
In May 1946, a panel of judges and prosecutors from eleven different nations gathered in Tokyo, Japan to preside over the International Military Tribunal of the Far East, a series of trials held to determine the guilt or innocence of Japanese leaders and military personnel accused of war crimes during World War II. China was represented at the Tribunal, and sixty years later the Chinese film industry offers their perspective on this event in this historical drama. Xiao Nan (Chu Hsiao-tien) is a Chinese journalist who has been sent to Tokyo to cover the tribunal for leftist news outlet Da Gong. Xiao places special emphasis in his coverage on Dr. Mei Ru'ao (Damian Lau), the well-respected Chinese judge who has been sent to represent his nation at the tribunal. It soon becomes clear to many observers that American judge William Webb (Daniel Ziskie) will dominate the proceedings, which is seen as an insult by Mei, especially since China joined the United States in preparing and signing the official documents of surrender. As Mei, Webb and their colleagues weigh the evidence against the men who led the Japanese forces and the troops who slaughtered their enemies in the fields and served as guards in their military prisons, Xiao learns about a possible scandal in the making -- a plot to assassinate Mei and bring the tribunal to a halt. Dongjing Shenpan (aka International Military Tribunal Far East was the first feature film from director Gao Qunshu. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Damian Lau, Chu Hsiao-tien, (more)
- 2003
Director Yu Zhong's slice of Chinese life Wode Meili Xiangchou (Far From Home) combines the story of a young woman trying to make it in a new city with the tale of a single mother who loses her job in that same city. Liu Xuan plays Xi, who, after a period of unemployment upon her arrivinal in Guangzhou, takes a job as a waitress. She makes new friends with her employers and her regular customers, but life a new place is still difficult on her. Xu Jinglei must decide to either leave town, or begin a new business venture. The women's friends and mothers provide support and guidance. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liu Xuan, Xu Jinglei, (more)
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
