Li Wei Movies

Opposites attract, but with unexpected results in this romantic drama set in China in 1978. Li Siping (Li Jie) is a rebellious 18-year-old who lives with his family in Xigandao, a town in Northern China. While the influence of the Cultural Revolution is fading in much of China, that isn't the case in Xigandao, which goes against the grain of Siping's anti-authoritarian nature. Siping doesn't take his job very seriously and would prefer to listen to music than think about his future, an attitude which doesn't sit well with his mother (Zhao Haiyan) and father, who have their hands full with his lackadaisical younger brother (Zhang Dengfeng). Siping is suddenly shaken out of his apathy when he meets Yu Xueyan (Shen Jiani), a pretty music student his age whose family has moved into the neighborhood from Beijing. Siping is attracted by Xueyan's beauty and impressed with her intelligence and spunk, and he wastes no time pursuing her. A romance grows between the two, but when Siping is drafted into the Army, their relationship is put on hold, and when he returns, he discovers circumstances have changed in unusual ways. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Directed by He Ping, the multi-layered Warriors of Heaven and Earth combines traditional Chinese cinema with the hallmarks of spaghetti Westerns. Set in the eastern portion of the Silk Road, a popular eighth century Asian trade route, the film chronicles the stories of two heroes: Tang Dynasty imperial emissary Lai Xi (Kiichi Nakai) and soldier-turned-mercenary "Butcher" Li (Jiang Wen). After having served the Chinese emperor for some 20 years, Lai is eager to return home, though he must complete a final task before doing so; specifically, tracking down Li, as he once led a mutiny against the emperor's orders. Li, meanwhile, is busy recruiting a caravan to help him escort a Buddhist monk to the capital of China. While Lai is successful in finding Li, they agree to postpone their duel-to-the-death until the monk has been safely transported. Of course, after dealing with marauding Turks, the heat of the desert, and local bandits, it becomes unclear whether either man will survive to kill the other. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

A grieving peasant still mourning the death of her husband and young son opens a school in the remote and barren landscape of northwest China in director Yang Yazhou's stark but affecting drama. When Zhang Meili lost her family, she also lost her purpose in life. Now determined not to fall victim to her sorrow, Zhang decides to leave her bad memories behind and start life anew by giving back to the community. Xia Yu is an unhappy housewife from Beijing who longs to make a difference, too. After abandoning her husband to assist Zhang Meili in her noble efforts, the pair soon form a close-knit bond and Xia Yu learns just how rewarding the life of a teacher can be. The situation grows complicated, however, when Xia Yu's husband arrives imploring his wife to return home, and Zhang Meili becomes involved in a clandestine relationship with a local projectionist. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This Chinese musical drama is set at a remote village in northwestern China where young Lingfeng (Zhang Lu) loves Liugeng (Chang Rong). However, she follows her father's dying wish and marries doctor Li Yongyi (Li Wei). The newlyweds go into the wine business, but Li dies in an accident. Lingfeng keeps the winery in operation, and although she takes Liugeng on as a partner in the business, she tells him she intends to remain faithful to her deceased husband. Shown at Montreal's 1997 World Film Festival, the film's English title is A Virtuous Widow. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

A friendship between a New-York based Chinese artist and a Mainlander set during China's Cultural Revolution provides the motivation for this drama. This film is the first in a series of projected films using independent Chinese filmmakers in China by C&A Products, a New York production company. Half of this film was shot in China, and the other in New York. It focuses upon Hong Yuan, a blind man who lives with the American widow of his uncle. After he receives a letter from Ai Cheng, his old friend he begins to remember his days in China during the Revolution fifteen years ago. He and Cheng had been propagandist artists in the late 1960's. They had been assigned to paint wall pictures in Stone Village. There Hong fell in love with a village girl. Artistic differences caused Hong and Cheng to dissolve their partnership. The film jumps from past to Hong's present life in New York where he talks with his aunt. He is also involved with a woman who is afraid to tell the blind Hong that she is black. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A dark, sensual, and visually sumptuous drama, Ju Dou centers on the title character, the third wife of a wealthy silk dyer in 1920s China. Forced into marriage by poverty, Ju Dou is repeatedly mistreated and cruelly disciplined by her husband, Jin-shan, for failing to bear him an heir. Her suffering attracts the sympathy of Jin-shan's younger, kinder nephew, Tian-qing, and the two begin a secret affair that could have tragic consequences. Spanning the course of many years, the film's narrative takes several surprising turns, defying expectations and complicating audience sympathies. None of the film's characters is wholly heroic or evil, allowing all three central performers -- Li Bao-tian as Tian-qing, Li Wei as Jin-shan, and the luminous Gong Li as Ju Dou -- to fashion memorable, complex portrayals. Director Zhang Yimou, a former cinematographer, uses gorgeously saturated images that emphasize his story's elemental nature, which often recalls classical tragedy. Met with controversy in China due to supposed political overtones that worried government officials, Ju Dou received fairer treatment overseas, winning an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and numerous festival prizes. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Zhao (Liu Zifeng) is a business translator who is demoted when a chess piece referred to as the "black cannon" in his letter is mistaken to be a weapon. He is pulled off an assignment that would send him to Germany, and an incompetent replacement kills the company's multi-million dollar deal. Although he proves the incident was a mistake due to another translator, Zhao becomes the victim of an unflinching bureaucracy and political ideology that hampers his once-promising career. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Melodramatic and culturally hermetic, this complex story is about three men who raft up and down a river, picking up business through trade and transport and fishing, wherever they can. Life is that much more difficult because the Cultural Revolution is in full swing and so is instability. Pan Laowu (Li Wei) is the oldest and wisest of the three and tries to help his friend Shi Gu (Hu Ronghua) who is upset about his hard life and prolonged absences from the woman he loves. Pan's background and relationship to Shi Gu unfolds in a series of flashbacks. Zhao Liang (Tang Minqin) is saving money for his daughter's wedding and completes the trio. The three suffer one misfortune after another, and at one stop, they discover that a good-hearted district director has been persecuted by the Red Guards and is now in jail. The three friends rescue him from captivity, load him on their raft, and get him to safety downriver. Even Zhao sacrifices his savings to buy medicine for the ailing director. The three continue on with their work until floods inundate the region and Pan Laowu takes a great risk to help two stranded lovers -- with tragic consequences. Athough this melodrama is more sophisticated than the worst of China's propaganda films, it is still too foreign for most non-Chinese viewers who would have an uphill battle in suspending disbelief. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi