Our contacts at Maggie's tell us that when Oliver Stone put the finishing touches on the script that would become Wall Street II, he was somewhat drunk and equally distracted by the local nightlife. We're not sure that Zhang Yimou has the same excuse though, which raises the possibility that China and the West have somehow become locked in a game of cultural brinkmanship just to see who will blink first.

That said, even if you've been avoiding Chinese cinemas, our focus in today's podcast should still be useful. So join us for a fast-moving dialogue that reveals our underlying despair at the state of the world, but reviews a useful measure word for talking about the number of times you have done something from start to finish. This is a simple but elegant way to add more nuance to your spoken Chinese. We hope it comes in useful.
 said on
December 10, 2010
“从头到尾” is an awesome expression.
 said on
December 12, 2010
Yes, PLEASE give as many Chinese movie recommendations as possible (in pinyin, please), and if possible, noting which do and do not have subtitles. I scour the DVD shops for Chinese films with English subtitles and it's not always easy to find new ones I haven't seen. Actually, I'll watch just about anything that has the subtitles because I'm desperate (I even watched My Long March last week!). But really nice to know which ones are good, and even better if I can ask for a specific one.
 said on
December 13, 2010
@susanjallen,

You can try 独自等待(du2zi4 deng3dai4),霸王别姬(ba4wang2 bie2ji1),大话西游(da4hua4 xi1you2),无间道(wu2jian1dao4). Hong Kong movies are usually better.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
December 14, 2010
Thank you, Echo
 said on
March 20, 2013
How about Brenden's top 5 ? (including the one mentioned in the dialog) I had already seen 2046 (thanks David). You guys are the best!
 said on
March 21, 2013
OK, I got Brenden's: 阳光灿烂的日子 and echo's 4. keep em rolling kids...

 said on
March 21, 2013
@dragonfly,

还有一些:摇啊摇,摇到外婆桥;甜蜜蜜;周渔的火车. I really like 甜蜜蜜. Watched it more than 10 years ago, only once, but still remember a lot of details. 一封陌生女人的来信 is also a pretty movie.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
March 21, 2013
In case you're checking US shops for Echo's recommendations: "甜蜜蜜" is also known as "Comrades: Almost A Love Story." 摇啊摇,摇到外婆桥 is Zhang Yimou's "Shanghai Triad;" 周渔的火车 is "Zhou Yu's Train."

---

I really enjoyed "The Grandmaster" (一代宗师), the latest Wong Kar-wai movie. A wonderful mixture of kung-fu and lacrimae rerum that works much better than it has any right to. I saw the mainland cut; not sure how it will change in its travels, but I'm told that it's being recut/already has been recut for international release.

Feng Xiaogang's early comedies are a lot of fun: 甲方乙方 is a little bit corny, but it's basically a funny, good-hearted little movie. 大腕儿 ("Big Shot's Funeral") falls apart at the end but is one of the smartest and most self-aware comedies to come out of China -- and it features Donald Sutherland in possibly the best turn ever by a foreign actor in a Chinese movie. The subtitles are excellent, too.

Zhang Yimou is kind of hard to pin down. His more recent movies have been pretty mercilessly mocked -- mostly deservedly so, though 满城尽带黄金甲/Curse of the Golden Flower is a lot more interesting when viewed through the prism of Bo Xilai and Gu Kailai -- but "To Live" (活着) really is a great movie. An improvement on the book, in some parts. His comedy 有话好好儿说 ("Be Cool") is almost completely forgotten, but has some great moments in it, and is a nice snapshot of Beijing at a point in time that now feels very distant. (For more Beijing nostalgia, the old TV series "The Editing Room" -- 编辑部的故事 -- is about as good as it gets.)

"Crazy Stone" (疯狂的石头) is a feather-light comedy, but is very well-made and is probably the closest we'll ever get to a Mainland Chinese heist movie under the current censorship regime. It also features a lot of Chongqing dialect, which I find adorably doofy.
 said on
March 21, 2013
All good recommendations, but I'm surprised no one has mentioned the cinematic tour-de-force that is "Future X-Cops" 《未来警察》. I heard it's one of Echo's favorites.
 said on
March 21, 2013
@murrayjames,

Strangely, your comment has just stirred Echo to yet another round of expressing her feelings on that film. On behalf of the rest of the office, I thank you for that.

On a separate note, I _would_ challenge anyone in the anti-Liu camp to watch the 2000 Hong Kong flick "Needing You" (孤男寡女 also sometimes also listed as 需要你), which is basically a Hong Kong version of Working Girl and thus further evidence that Andy is the Harrison Ford of China. The only downside was the casting of Sammi Cheung instead of Zhang Baizhi, but otherwise a very solid flick, and good listening practice in the mandarin version too.

 said on
March 21, 2013
@trevelyan,

The perfect movie for you 大块头有大智慧, with BOTH Andy Lau and Zhang Baizhi.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
March 21, 2013
Surely that should be Zhāng zhī, no? AKA Cecilia Cheung? 名不正则言不顺, yo.
 said on
March 21, 2013
@Brendan -- oddly enough, I think it is both actually.
 said on
March 21, 2013
你们是真的棒极了! this is wonderful! such a good way to learn. i'm going to watch everyone of these (starting with 阳光灿烂的日子 which i have now).

谢谢谢谢谢谢!!!

 said on
March 22, 2013
@Brendan,

Both bo2 and bai3 work. Oddly though, bo2 sounds more "HongKong-ish", and bai3 sounds more "Dalu-ish" to my ears.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
March 22, 2013
@trevelyan,

Challenge accepted! Speaking of Hong Kong films, I watched Chungking Express recently and I loved it. Is there a Mandarin version of it? If so I'd love to watch it. Either way, I massively recommend it to anyone who just wants to watch a good Chinese movie!
 said on
December 15, 2014
I know this discussion faded out long ago, but I have to say that 张艺谋's 有话好好说 was a great recommendation. It's one of the first mainland films that I not only thoroughly enjoyed but could completely follow with very little aid from subtitles. I wish there were more movies like it. Most films I watch that are set in China's dynastic period I find I always need to 靠字幕 or pause and look up some vocabulary that isn't in common usage today.