Zhang Jingchu Movies
Renowned for the degree of passion and emotional intensity that she pours into her performances, Chinese actress Zhang Jingchu trained at the famed Central Academy of Drama in Beijing. The actress then transitioned to international roles more or less instantly, in 2005 -- both with Tsui Hark's martial arts saga Seven Swords and with the swashbuckling opus Peacock. In 2007, Zhang played the heartbroken daughter of an assassinated Chinese ambassador in the Jackie Chan/ Chris Tucker action comedy Rush Hour 3. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 2008
Oscar-winning director Florian Gallenberger explores the crucial role that foreigners played in helping countless Chinese escape a fate worse than death in this period docudrama concerning the 1937 invasion of Nanking by the ruthless Japanese Imperial Army. Casually known by historians as the "Rape of Nanking," the relentless assault on the then-Chinese capitol found countless men, women, and children slaughtered with a ferocity that shocked the entire world. Yet, despite the violence that surrounded them, some people refused to sit by silently as the innocents perished. One of those people was German engineer and Nazi party member John Rabe, who earned the nickname "The Schindler of China" for constructing a vast safety zone in which nearly a quarter of a million civilians sought sanctuary. Ulrich Tukur, Daniel Brühl, Dagmar Manzel, and Steve Buscemi star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ulrich Tukur, Daniel Bruehl, (more)
In this third installment of the popular action comedy franchise, LAPD Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) and Chief Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) book a flight for Europe and prepare to clean up the streets of Paris after discovering that Chinese triads have extended their criminal influence to the City of Lights. Chinese Ambassador Han (Tzi Ma) is in Los Angeles and about to reveal the details of a clandestine triad conspiracy to the World Criminal Court when an assassin takes aim and pulls the trigger. Though Carter has been demoted to directing traffic at the time of the shooting, Lee is acting as a bodyguard to Han when the bullets begin to fly. Lee quickly gives chase, but hesitates when he realizes that the gunman is Kenji (Hiroyuki Sanada), his old friend from the orphanage. When triads steal an envelope containing vital information regarding the conspiracy from Soo Yung's (Zhang Jingchu) Chinatown kung fu studio, Carter and Chief Inspector Lee race to reach Genevieve (Noémie Lenoir), an underground entertainer who could prove the key to bagging the bad guys. During the course of their investigation, however, triads clash with the French police, threatening to turn the romance capitol of Europe into an explosive hotbed of crime and violence. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, (more)
One Night in Mongkok director Derek Yee takes a trip into the underworld with this crime drama starring Andy Lau, Lewis Koo, Daniel Wu, and Anita Yuen. An undercover cop infiltrates a major heroin ring, skillfully ascending the ranks from low-level dealer to middle management. After falling for a beautiful addict, the policeman is hand picked by the ailing crime boss to take over the entire syndicate once he's gone. His priorities blurred by an infernal combination of money, power, and seven years undercover, the cop chosen to clean up the streets finds his true identity gradually slipping away as a malevolent new persona begins to take hold. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2007
- PG13
Writer/director Antti-Jussi Annila's picture Jade Warrior (Jade Soturi) takes as its starting-off point an arresting and little-known fact -- the similarity of Chinese and Finnish mythologies -- and uses it to combine two seemingly unrelated genres: the quirky Finnish comedy drama (typified by the works of Kaurismaki) and the Chinese martial arts film. Inspired by a well-known Finnish epic called The Kalevala, the story opens with a down-on-his luck hardware merchant who gets dumped by his girlfriend. She tries to dispose of his collection of Asian artifacts at an antique dealer, but this sets off a mythical series of events that turns the merchant into a warrior prince, fated to battle a demon in icy northern Finland, responsible for enslaving all of humankind. The prince is abetted -- and then ultimately betrayed -- by a two-faced female warrior who has captured his heart and thus carries his greatest weakness in her hands. The battle involves enchanted boxes, spectacular swordfights, and supernatural events that come together -- simultaneously -- in an isolated cabin on the outskirts of Helsinki and in the rural Chinese mountains. Tommi Eronen, Markku Peltola, Zhang Jing-chu, and Krista Kosonen co-star; Annila co-authored the script with Petri Jokiranta. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommi Eronen, Markku Peltola, (more)
- 2006
Over the course of five decades, a naïve ticket girl living in rural Communist China finds her life gradually shaped by the decrees of her government and the route of the Xiangyang bus in director Zhang Jiarui's emotionally sweeping tale of loyalty and maturity. Li Chunfen (Zhang Jingchu) is unwaveringly loyal to her government, and always assumes that they have her best interests in mind. A cheerful teen who works aboard a bus that travels the route between Longze and Xiangyang, Li admires crusty driver Old Cui (Fan Wei), and develops a warm puppy love for handsome young doctor Liu Fendou (Nie Yuan). When Liu is sent to labor in a stone quarry during the early years of the Cultural Revolution and Li sets out to pay a clandestine visit to her longtime love, a chaste kiss as she prepares to depart finds Li being forced to sign a report that claims she was raped. Years later, when the Communist party decrees that Cui must take a wife, he and Li are married. After the Cultural Revolution, Cui and Li's marriage begins to dissolve as Cui begins to experience impotency problems and Liu, who now lives in Shanghai, attempts to enter into a long-distance correspondence with the lovelorn Li. Despite the couple's valiant effort to make their unconventional marriage work, Li's life is forever changed as the result of a devastating tragedy. Later, as the '90s give way to the new millennium, lonely, middle-aged widow Li finally discovers the truth about her deceased husband. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zhang Jingchu, Fan Wei, (more)
Tsui Hark (The Blade) adapted his massive martial arts epic Seven Swords (AKA Qi Jian) from Liang yu-Sheng's ravenously popular novel Seven Swordsmen from Mount Tian. The story opens in the 1660s, following the implementation of China's (Manchu) Qing dynasty. To quell possible nationalist uprisings, the emperor issues a decree forbidding the use of martial arts, and guarantees decapitation for anyone who violates that order. A class of bounty hunters quickly formed to enforce the law and collect 600 pieces of silver for each violator; the most massive and domineering of the warriors is the bald, muscular Fire-Wind (Sun Honglei), a bellicose and volatile creature who lives in an elephantine tentlike dwelling on a hill. This walking terror selects Martial Village, a hamlet in northwestern China, as his next assignment. Meanwhile, in Martial, two young adults, Wu Yuanyin (Charlie Young) and her ex-beau, Han Zhibang) rescue an old executioner, Fu Qingzhu (Lau Kar-leung) who foresees the coming wrath and acknowledges the necessity of pulling in the mythical 'Warriors of Mt. Tian' to fight Fire-Wind and his cronies. The four warriors summoned by Fu include Chu Zhaonan (Donnie Yen), and Yang Yunchong (Leon Lai), who dramatically increase the tension and bloodshed when the former develops a crush on one of Fire-wind's hostages, Green Pearl (Kim So-yeon) and decides to kidnap her - sending Fire-wind through the roof. The critically-worshipped Hark reportedly cut two versions of this film (including a 2 1/2 hour cut and a 3-hour cut) and demonstrated incredible confidence in Qi Jian by planning it as the initial installment in a massive series of multimedia sequels, including a 74-part television series, an online video game, comics, and five additional films. The picture itself testifies to this, with the setup for a sophomore installment in its conclusion. Qi Jian, however, did lackluster box office when it opened in the Far East in July 2005, making the follow-ups less than certain. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, (more)
