Chinese Film

大家好！ I believe that watching film is an integral part of learning a language and that it can help to become accustomed to the sounds of the language. Therefore, to start another discussion, I want everybody to introduce themselves and which Chinese films the enjoy, recommend or would like to see. 我觉得为了学会外语，看电影是非常重要的。这样也可以让你很快地熟悉那个语言的声音。那么，为了开始新的讨论，我劝大家介绍一下你们自己，然后说一下你喜欢，建议还有想看的中国电影。 I look forward to reading your comments. 再见！ - Lin Ping

Hi Lin Ping! First time posting. I been studying with Rocket audio CD's. Unfortunately I'm not too far along with my studies - never seems to be enough time during the day. Improving my Chinese is one of my resolutions for the New Year! I agree that watching films is a big help to learning language. I have been a big fan of Chinese films for years and my friends who speak Chinese tell me my pronunciation is very good because I have become accustomed to the sound of the language from watching films. I recommend this to everyone learning the language. Some films from the last few years I have enjoyed and would recommend : Red Cliff 1 and 2; Crossing Hennessy; Reign of Assassins; Let The Bullets Fly Older Films include: A World Without Thieves; Lost in Time; Infernal Affairs; Juliet in Love; My Left Eyes Sees Ghosts; Exiled; Needing You; Throwdown; The Killer; Lost in Time: these are all the western titles, which may differ from the original Chinese titles. Just remember to switch to the putonghua audio soundtrack when watching the DVD :-) Two movies I would like to see: Shanghai Story and A Simple Life. Thank you for the great question, Lin Ping. Happy New Year to All! 新年快乐,所有 -Robert

你好 Robert! 非常感谢你来写上你的建议和意见。Thank you very much for posting your ideas and suggestions! I also enjoyed the Red Cliff films and Reign of Assassins. I hope watching movies has helped you learn Mandarin and aided your ear in becoming accustomed to the sound of the language. 祝你元宵节快乐 - Happy Lantern Festival! - Lin Ping

One I have enjoyed is.... "Forever Enthralled" from Emporer Motion Pictures starring...... Leon LAI, Ziyi ZHANG and Chen HONG. But the list is endless...... BarryH

《精武家庭》真不错呦. Apologies as I do not know the English name offhand. It's a 功夫 movie with some pretty good action.

大家好！ Thank you Barryh and Oggie and I think I may have heard 精武家庭 called House of Fury but I'm not sure if that is true. Keep those suggestions coming in and if you find any new movies then keep us updated! - Lin Ping

Earlier in this thread, Robert B8 suggested many movie titles, one of which was "Needing You". I just recently saw this movie on the Star Chinese Movies 2 channel, and I loved it so much. Sammi Cheng & Andy Lau are so captivating in this movie! In fact I suggest *any* movies with the two of them. I personally also like "Love on a Diet" and "Magic Kitchen" (which also stars my favorite actor of all, Jerry Yan). I recently added Chinese channels to my satellite subscription at home. It was very affordable and I believe it will help me to quickly become more fluent in the language.

Hi everyone! I just started my Chinese about a week ago as a summer goal, and I was hoping this thread would help with some of the culture, language, and motivation. I don't really know any movies other than Reign of Assassins, which is awesome. What I wanted to know is this: What movies are culturally significant or a movie that most chinese people have seen? Also any cool action movies is good too. Thanks!

Hi Susan C3. I agree, Reign of Assassins was terrific. It was great to see Michelle Yeoh "back in action" and Jung Woo-Sung was great as her suitor/husband. Not sure exactly what you mean by culturally significant - are you looking for films portraying the culture and people, or films that focus on historical events? For me, just watching films made for the Chinese audience can teach you so much about the culture because the stories portray people living their lives within the culture - hope that makes sense. The following links may help out with your search. The first is for "TimeoutHongKong". To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Hong Kong films, the Timeout film critic published a list of the 100 Greatest Hong Kong Films of all Time: http://www.timeout.com.hk/film/features/47714/the-100-greatest-hong-kong-films.html The next link is for LoveHKFilm.com. This site has reviews of current and past Chinese films as well as news about current and upcoming film releases and film industry news. http://www.lovehkfilm.com/index.htm As for some suggestions for action films: "Once Upon a Time in China I, II, and III" These films star Jet Li and have tremendous martial arts action. "Policy Story I, II, and III" with Jackie Chan. Amazing stunts and action "Hard-Boiled" with Chow Yun Fat and directed by John Woo (who produced Reign of Assassins). You can't go wrong with any films directed by John Woo and starring Chow Yun Fat, but if you have to choose one, this is it for most people. "The Killer" is my favorite, but the action sequences in "Hard Boiled" are beyond compare. The above websites will also give you lots of great suggestions. Enjoy!

This is perfect! This is just the kind of stuff I've been looking for, many thanks!

You're welcome, glad to help. Make sure to share some of your favorites films after you've seen them!

Great thread, here are a couple I've seen: The Flowers of War - Incredible moving movie, very graphic though. Story about the Rape of Nanjing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Curse of The Golden Flower