Even though Ang Lee had previously made films in the USA (“Sense and sensibility” in 1995) it wasn’t until the “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” success that he would be seen as one of Hollywood’s major film directors. It achieved almost instant acclaim for its stunning cinematography by Peter Pau (“The Killer” and “The Swordsman”) and poetic martial arts choreography. The film follows two combatants searching for a stolen sword and a nomad fugitive who all encounter a beautiful yet highly skilled aristocrat’s daughter. “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” is a wuxia film directed by Ang Lee. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) – Taiwan This style would go on to change audience’s expectations of the ‘typical’ martial arts action movie.ĭespite being a co-American production, “Enter the dragon” was the first film to exhibit both Martial Arts and Chinese cinema to a truly international mainstream audience.Ģ9. Unlike earlier martial arts films from studios like the Shaw Brothers, Lee conveyed a more naturalistic and non-flamboyant style. It is considered to be the definitive Bruce Lee movie and a refined portrait of the martial arts sub-genre that he helped make so prominent. Lee stars as a martial artist who agrees to infiltrate the den of a secluded crime lord by entering a fighting tournament. The film was Bruce Lee’s final completed feature and arguably his most well-known. “Enter the Dragon” is a 1973 martial arts film by American filmmaker Robert Clouse. Here we present 30 Chinese-language films you should know about.Įditor’s Note: We have a rule for all of our World Cinema Project lists that the writer can only pick one film from each director, so the absence of famous films like Zhang Yimou’s Hero, Chen Kaige’s Farewell My Concubine and Edward Yang’s Yi Yi is not accidental, we believe we have chosen a more culturally significant film from each of these directors. In its long history of cinema, China has produced many great filmmakers. The Sixth Generation directors were still going strong in the 2000s, winning big awards in Europe, but the whole movie market was swallowed by domestic commercial films and Hollywood blockbusters. In the 1990s, the Fifth Generation directors of Mainland China like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige began to win major awards in European film festivals, that’s the time many foreign audiences started to revalue Chinese-language cinema. They addressed cultural and political matters that previous generations avoided. Dissociating themselves from Taiwan’s previous melodramas and Kung Fu efforts, the filmmakers aimed for a sense of naturalism and stillness. Meanwhile, the cinema in Taiwan would change drastically in the 1980s when a young group of writers and directors (Edward Yang and Hou Hsiao-Hsien) would launch the nation’s first new wave. Big studios like Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest made 1980s the golden age of Hong Kong cinema. Nicknamed the “Hollywood of the East,” Hong Kong developed its star system and distinctive genres, producing world famous filmmakers. However, the Hong Kong mainstream would eventually exploit characteristics from the new wave to revamp its appeal, resulting in fast paced action films taking over the market. The new wavers like Ann Hui and Tsui Hark pushed the Cantonese identity and produced edgier projects. In the 1970s/80s a new generation of filmmakers emerged, many of them studied filmmaking from international schools. But the center gradually moved to Hong Kong. Those well-acted, thought-provoking films are still relevant today.ĭuring the 1950s, the cinematic scenes in Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan were ushered into a new era. Some of the all-time classics of Chinese cinema were made by Shanghai-based companies during that period, like “Crossroads” (1937), “Angels on the Road” (1937) and “A Spring River Flows East” (1947). Shanghai remained the creative center at that time. Filmmakers turned their eyes to the cruel realities and started to make pictures with strong social commentaries. In the 1930s and 40s, China gradually plummeted into decades of political turmoil as the country was involved in perennial wars which devastated its people. It was home to more than 140 production companies and also the birth place of China’s first feature drama. Port city Shanghai played a crucial role. In the 1920s, Chinese big cities saw hundreds of film production companies established. The first Chinese film was made in 1905, ten years after the birth of film in France.
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