Chinese Movie Database Blog

Chinatown Arts Space presents
Classic Film, Contemporary Score (UK/China)
In partnership with ROH2 at the Royal Opera House

This classic silent movie from China, Song of the Fishermen (Yuquang qu, Shanghai, 1934) has inspired four of the most exciting British Chinese composer/musicians in the UK: Chi2 (Liz and Sarah Liew), Jiang Li and Kimho Ip, to compose and perform together the world premiere of a new contemporary score accompanying a special screening of the film.

Song of the Fishermen enjoyed success as the first social-realist film in the history of Chinese cinema, and won the first international prize for a Chinese film at the 1935 Moscow Film Festival. The film is an emotional story of social injustice full of action and melodrama, offering an exciting challenge to the contemporary interpretative vibrancy of British Chinese musicians.

The four British Chinese composers have independently explored the fusion of contemporary music with traditional Chinese instruments. This dialogue between past and present, between East and West, provides a fascinating insight for London audiences.

Produced in Shanghai by the Lianhua Film Company, 1934

Tickets: £12, £5 standing (£8 students and ROH Access List)

This gallery will have posters of 1970’s Hong Kong movies.

A new yearly film production list is available. You can access the list from each film title page, by clicking the production year. Films are listed in 5 separate categories:

Feature/fiction film (feature-length fictional film), also including musical, Chinese opera film, stage performance recorded on film;

Short fictional film;

Documentary, including documentary, docudram, short documentary, newsreel, educational film etc.;

Animation, including feature-length animation, animation with live action, short animation film;

TV programme, including TV series, TV serial (mini-series), single TV drama, TV movie, and TV entertainment programme.

You can also access the yearly production list from the updated Yearly production statistics page, which lists the numbers of films made each year from 1905 to present.

Anna May Wong (黄柳霜), a thrid generation Chinese-Amercian, was the most admired Asian actor in western cinema, starring in a number of films both in Hollywood and Europe, from 1920s to 1960s. A new documentary about her, Frosted Yellow Willows - Anna May Wong, Her Life, Times and Legend, made by Elaine Mae Woo (胡美金), will be shown at National Portrait Gallery on Friday 8th Feb (020-7312 2463) and at BFI Southbank on Saturday 9th Feb (020-7928 3232).

Mattew Sweet writes about Anna Way Wong’s life on the Guardian: Snakes, salves and seduction:

In 1933, Doris Mackie of Film Weekly magazine visited Ealing studios to observe the shooting of a sweaty tropical melodrama called Tiger Bay, and found its star railing against cinema in general and Hollywood in particular. “Why is it that the screen Chinese is nearly always the villain?” asked Wong. “And so crude a villain. Murderous, treacherous, a snake in the grass. We are not like that. How should we be, with a civilisation that is so many times older than that of the west?”

From LinkChinese UK News

To submit reviews and plot summaries, please press the ‘Add/Correct information’ button under every film title.

Latest movie reviews and plot summaries.

A new page has been added to list the Chinese language film production year by year. This includes all spoken Chinese languages, from Mandarin/Putonghua to several dialects, as well as early silent films. This is a list of feature length fictional films. Not included are TV programmes, short films, documentaries, newsreels, and animated films.

Since this is a Chinese language film list, a small list of non-Chinese language films are not included.

Films in production are not included as well. There are more than 100 of thems at the moment.

The total number is 16038 on 12 Aug 2007.

Here is the numbers of film production in decades. Go to the “year by year” page to see the full list:

2000-present: 1247
1990’s: 2664
1980’s: 3353
1970’s: 1852
1960’s: 3287
1950’s: 2413
1940’s: 669
1930’s: 646
1920’s: 523
1910’s: 9
1900’s: 9

The up and down of the numbers per decade reflects the high and low period of Chinese film production, for example, the early boom in 1920-1930’s, Second World War, another booming period in 1950-1960’s, almost non-production 1970’s in China, production peak from 1980’s to early 1990’s, etc.

A new page, Movies in Festivals, is created to update the movies currently being shown in the festivals around the world. The Recent Movies page now will update movies on general release. Please write to info@dianying.com if you have additional information.

Arthur Dong’s Hollywood Chinese documents the involvement of Chinese actors, directors, and technical personnel in American cinema, from silent era to recent success like Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. It was premiered at this year’s Asian American Film Festival. It has also been selected by Toronto Film Festival (6-15 September 2007).

The official website at DeepFocus Production has some fascinating photos and posters.

The news that director Edward Yang died last week is a shock to me. He seems so young and has so much to offer.

I can’t declare myself a devoted fan of him. I have only watched one of his movies in cinema, Mahjong (1996). I watched his The Terrorizer (1986) on tape. His most famous work is, of course, A Brigher Summer Day (1991). However it seems very difficult to find this film, which I have only watched some scenes on video. I’m still waiting for the day that I can watch this film on big screen, where it deserves to be seen.

Edward Yang’s career path is legend to film buffs. He started to be interested in film making when he was studying computer science. The legend says he was so intrigued to Fellini’s 8 1/2 that he watched it four times trying to understanding it. The breakthourgh came when he and three other budding young Taiwanese directors directed In Our Time (1982). He is true auteur, choosing his project s carefully. In his 18 years career of a director, he has only made 7 and 1/4 movies - The 1/4 was In Our Time (1982). His last film, A One and a Two (2000), won him Best Director at Cannes. And some will say, he reached the pinnacle of his career with this film.

Edward Yang (right) is one of talented young Taiwainese directors in the 80’s.

Two of Johnnie To’s films, Exiled (2006) and PTU (2003), are both in the theatrical release in the UK. Exiled (2006) has received wider release, while PTU (2003)’s release is very limited.

The reviews in British newspapers about Exiled (2006) is generally good. The Telegraph thinks it’s “a much better showcase for his (Johnnie To’s) talents than the overrated Election”. The Guardian praises it as “a sharp, shrewd thriller with a bracing touch of political stire”. However Independent on Sunday says it’s “just a pretext for some iconic compositions of men posing with guns and cigars.”

Meanwhile, BBC Radio Five Live’s film critic Mark Kermode said in the film review programme that PTU (2003) is his Film of the Week.

The DVDs of both films should be available in the UK soon.