#837 – House of Flying Daggers, (十面埋伏), 2004, Zhang Yimou
In 9th century China, a corrupt government wages war against a rebel army called the Flying Daggers. A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful rebel out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#842 – An Elephant Standing Still, (大象席地而坐), 2018, Hu Bo
In the northern Chinese city of Manzhouli, they say there is an elephant that simply sits and ignores the world. Manzhouli becomes an obsession for the protagonists of this film, a longed-for escape from the downward spiral in which they find themselves.
#852 – To Live, (活着), 1994, Zhang Yimou
Fugui and Jiazhen endure tumultuous events in China as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry.
#867 – Still Life, (三峡好人), 2006, Jia Zhangke
A town in Fengjie county is gradually being demolished and flooded to make way for the Three Gorges Dam. A man and woman visit the town to locate their estranged spouses, and become witness to the societal changes.
#873 – Devils on the Doorstep, (鬼子来了), 2000, Jiang Wen
During the Japanese occupation of China, two prisoners are dumped in a peasant’s home in a small town. The owner is bullied into keeping the prisoners until the next New Year, at which time they will be collected. The village leaders convene to interrogate the prisoners. The townspeople then struggle to accommodate the prisoners. One is a bellicose Japanese nationalist, the other a nervous translator. Will the townspeople manage to keep the prisoners until the New Year?
#883 – In the Heat of the Sun, (阳光灿烂的日子), 1994, Jiang Wen
The film is set in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution. It is told from the perspective of Ma Xiaojun nicknamed Monkey, a teenage boy. Monkey and his friends are free to roam the streets of Beijing day and night because the Cultural Revolution has caused their parents and most adults to be either busy or away. The story revolves around Monkey’s dalliances with his roguish male friends and his subsequent angst-filled crush with Mi Lan.
#900 – Platform, (站台), 2000, Jia Zhangke
The movie is set in the remote chinese province of Fenyang, and spans the turbulent 1980s by following four performers in the state-run Peasant Culture Group. We see the group evolve from workers that are restricted to approved revolutionary classics that praise Chairman Mao, through performance of western classics, after china adopts an ‘open door’ policy, and the effects on their lives.
#940 – Lust, Caution, (色‧戒), 2007, Ang Lee
During World War II a secret agent must seduce, then assassinate an official who works for the Japanese puppet government in Shanghai. Her mission becomes clouded when she finds herself falling in love with the man she is assigned to kill.
#995 – Kung Fu Hustle, (功夫), 2004, Stephen Chow
Set in Canton, China in the 1940s, the story revolves in a town ruled by the Axe Gang, Sing who desperately wants to become a member. He stumbles into a slum ruled by eccentric landlords who turns out to be the greatest kung-fu masters in disguise. Sing’s actions eventually cause the Axe Gang and the slumlords to engage in an explosive kung-fu battle. Only one side will win and only one hero will emerge as the greatest kung-fu master of all.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
Jumbo Cactuar Film Index 