Favorite Chinese Movies ^_^

This week on the BBC WorldService they had a programme on a famous TV series "Dream of the Red Chamber"

Here is the description:

"In Close Up we have the last in our series on Iconic TV. Dream of the Red Chamber was one of China’s best-loved shows – since it was first broadcast in 1987 it has been repeated some 700 times on TV channels around the country. But why then are fans horrified that the show is about to be remade? Ed Butler finds out."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/close_up.shtml

"Master of The Flying Guillotine" still remains one of my favorite Chinese films ... albeit I don't recommend it for likes of kerou, I do believe others with a stronger stomach and more elastic sense of humor like myself will revel in its many visual pleasures.

再见，

何睿林

Chungking Express is my all time favourite. Followed by World without thieves and Croucing Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon <卧虎藏龙> (favourite) and House Of Flying Daggers <十面埋伏>. Both beautiful films!!

My Chinese language teacher asked for a list of Chinese films that American college students would like. I only have the English titles but I've included IMDB links. Most of them are not happy movies and all of them have strong female leads (except Farewell my concubine, but that's debatable.) All of them did pretty well in America. Sorry, no plot summaries as I'm recycling this list.

Zhang Yimou:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110081/ To live http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0235060/ The road home

Wong Kar Wai:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109424/ Chungking Express http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118694/ In the mood for love

Chen Kiage

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106332/ Farewell my concubine

Hou Hsaio Hsien

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0459666/ Three times

Lee Ang

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808357/ Lust, caution (at the Egyptian theatre now, not on video yet)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111797/ Eat Drink Man Woman

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107156/ The Wedding Banquet

Alice Wu

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384504/ Saving Face

Raymond Lee

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105859/ Dragon Inn

Actually one of Chen Kaige's movies I really liked was Temptress Moon 风月. It stars Gong Li and the late Leslie Cheung (truly one of the top few greatest Chinese actors of all time!)

It's a really sad story and definitely not a movie to watch if you want to get in a good mood. But in my mind it's one of the greatest Chinese movies of all time.

Everything by Wong Kar Wai is awesome. 2046, In The Mood For Love, Fallen Angel, Happy Together, Chungking Express etc. (Too bad they're all in Cantonese, so it doesn't really help when you're learning Mandarin. Although some characters speak Mandarin, especially in 2046 where most characters speak Cantonese, a few Japanese (Wong Faye, her Japanese boyfriend and the narrator) and Gong Li and the hotel manager speak Mandarin.) Which is quite funny as well, when Gong Li and Tony Leung are in a conversation. (Mandarin vs. Cantonese)

If you're in for comedy you should definitely watch all of Stephen Chow's work. I guess he's best known for Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle but his other work is hilarious as well.

Personally speaking, I prefer <红河谷>. Of course, If u addict to Tibet :)

towardslight, 我同意你所提的意见，大多数的美国人（外国人）不太了解中国文化、历史使他们不能完全欣赏这种靠中国文学的电影。反而李安常常挨中国知识分子批评了因为近来他导的不是中国电影而是美国的或一种中美杂交种。

watercarrier, 向你一样教外语 （在美国中西部当汉语老师）。

《色戒》是我今年看到的最好的一部中文电影。但我也听说了它在美国反应平淡。也许是因为文化的原因吗？这部电影在台湾、香港和大陆的评论界与普通观众那里都得到了rave review

Watercarrier:

我觉得，《色戒》 这部电影没意思！ 主要， 这是无事生非地一个故事！ 情节阐明得非常慢， 就没有什么有趣的内容了。

特别是结尾也没有意义，难道一块钻戒的权势能使女主角完全改变心意吗？ 我觉得不可能呗！

梁朝偉和冲陈的表演是电影里独特表演！ 如果按照汤唯和王力宏的表演质量来判断的话，我算这两个演员是新手并不是专业演员！ 特别是王力宏， 虽然我非常喜欢他可是我不得不来批评他的表演， 因为他演得相当不自然啦！ 说实在的，他一上场我就打了一个哈欠，要睡觉！

我认为 《色戒》 是一般般的一部电影再说就不应得荣誉，而且赢得金马奖是不应该的!

你自己认为呢？

《色戒》是改编自中国女作家张爱玲的小说，由香港著名影星梁朝伟主演。张爱玲，女，1920年出生在上海。小说家、著名编剧，成名于上世纪40年代，52年移居香港，后移居美国，逝于1995年。曾经著有《倾城之恋》、《多少恨》、《十八春》、《黑玫瑰与白玫瑰》、《半生缘》等小说，译注《海上花列传》等，以及为数众多的散文，是中国近代文学中受广大读者喜欢的一位传奇人物。

不过，xiaodai,你看的中国片比我看的多多了，看来确实是中国通啊。对了，你教什么的？

Kerou85:

Actually it stars, Cecilia Cheung (张柏芝) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Promise_%282005_film%29

It's a pretty unique, avante garde fantasy film about a slave girl who in exchange for being saved of a slave life, and given the life of a Queen, can't even experience true love. Check it out I think you'll really like it!

Watercarrier (担水人?)

《色戒》没看过，但很感兴趣。DVD已经被分发了吗？

附笔：我也是教师。

最近有一部片子叫《色戒》，也是李安导的，你们看了吗？

xiaohu, do you mean that movie with the pianist (jay chou)...and all those apples? If it is, then I just saw it about 2 weeks ago and I loved it! ^_^

Also, I just recently watched "The Longest Night In Shanghai". It was so great, I had to watch it twice!

You might like a movie called 無極，(The Secret) it's got lot's of adventure and romance and it's fast paced. A very fun movie...and everyone I know who's seen it really liked it!

I like Bishonen aka 美少年之戀。 I can't remember if it is in Cantonese or Mandarin. It might be a bit of both.

Wow... this list should keep Kerou85 from seeing daylight anytime soon!

Haven't yet seen "The World" mentioned on this list, which is a very modern look at employees of a Beijing theme-park. Great cinematography and extra visuals, put together by Jia Zhangke.

AND... for the person thats exhausted all of the above suggestions, try to get your hands on the old Dr. Who serial called "Talons of Weng Chiang", a mystery involving a Chinse magician. It's predominanty in English, but it's classic just to watch Tom Baker fumble through a few clunky lines of Mandarin.

The Emperor and the Assassin is next on my rental list. :)

My Man Moloch, if you can get your hands on The Banquet, snatch it up. I buy all my Chinese movies from YesAsia.com (not a paid advertisement, I swear), and if you buy enough from them in one order, they'll often throw in a free DVD. That's how I got Beijing Rocks.

OH! And Blood Brothers!!! In fact, I think I'll do a blog post on that someday soon. (Man, I miss doing the podcasts.)

*Once Upon a Time in China

I think I've seen most of the movies that I found in the states listed. A few that I may have skimmed over, but like:

Missing Gun 寻枪

Happy Times

Eye in the Sky

Cell Phone

Shaw Brothers' films often have not very good production values, but I still like them:

Black Magic

The One Armed Swordman

Wu Zhe Tian (The only Woman emporer)

A general warning is that serious Chinese movies are tear-jerkers; no happy endings. Hong Kong movies are more like Western ones in that sometimes everything turns out alright, but the Mandarin is dubbed (often more standard, though).

Once Upon in China is a comedy that's not too slap-stick.

Brother Frank, heck yeah, most definitely a classic and it's place on your shelf is well-deserved. I've never seen it for sale in any dvd store I've been in so I'm pretty impressed you have it.

Anyone seen 苹果 (Lost in Beijing) yet? Looking forward to it..

Did anybody mention Shower/洗澡？

whoa! what a list! thanks xiaodai!

I liked Comrades, Almost A Love Story. Anyone seen that? :)

Interesting, nobody yet mentioned 色戒. I thought it was quite good.

Bazza, Jackie speaks action fluently. :-)

Wow, Xiaodai, that's a great list. It helped me to remember the name of a particular movie I'd seen before.

Frank, that's probably because Jackie Chan movies are usually always in Cantonese, so not much use for Mandarin studies. ;)

xiaodai

that's awesome!

Ah, I missed it! Thanks, xiaodai!

Oh, and of course I love Jackie Chan -- the Charlie Chaplin of our time.

Frank, see above: Supercop (AKA, Police Story III) 警察故事三 Jǐngchá gùshi sān (Stanley Tong 1992)

Xiaodai,

I was floored by your list.

I've always loved Feng Xiaogang's 冯小刚 work which is both down right hilarious and sociologically insightful. My top 2 picks are 大腕 and 天下无贼, both featuring the inimitable 葛优。

And not a single mention of Jackie Chan. *sniff* There is no justice in the world.

(Check out "Gorgeous" for a fun little flick with good action and humor.)

WoW! Thanks Xiaodai!

Kerou,

Here's a list I made for the C-Pod forum last year. Sorry anyone else for the repetition. Dai

Favorite film: To Live 活着 (Zhang Yimou 1991) [see below]

Sad fact: the film was banned in China, and Zhang and Gong Li were barred from filmmaking for two years.

Clearly, I like Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Ang Lee, and Stephen Chow. While I do like Wang Kar-wai, I think he can be a bit pretentious (think 50s French New Wave).

Note 1: It’s a shame there aren’t more women directors.

Note 2: I stole the plot outlines from Internet Movie Database (imdb.com).

Note 3: I guessed some of the Chinese titles.

Here’s a few of my favorites:

Modern Comedy-Drama

Happy Times 幸福时光 Xìngfú shíguāng (Zhang Yimou 2004)

Plot Outline: Zhao is an aging bachelor who hasn’t been lucky in love. Thinking he has finally met the woman of his dreams, Zhao leads her to believe he is wealthy and agrees to a wedding far beyond his means. [Compassion meets cruelty. Westerners might think it hard to find the humor.]

Together 和你在一起 Hé nǐ zài yīqǐ (Chen Kaige 2002)

Plot Outline: A violin prodigy and his father travel to Beijing, where the father seeks the means to his son’s success while the son struggles to accept the path laid before him. [Uplifting: great music, great ending.]

Chungking Express 重庆森林 Chóngqìng sēnlín (Wong Kar-wai 1994)

Plot Outline: The Chinese title means “Forest of Chungking”, referring to the metaphoric concrete jungle of the city, as well as to Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui, where much of the first part of the movie is set. The English title refers to Chungking Mansions and the Midnight Express food stall that Faye Wong’s stands outside during the end of the film. The movie comprises two different stories, told one after the other, each about a romance involving a policeman who has broken up with a girlfriend. [I liked Chungking Express, not the least because Wang Fei was in it. However, I can no longer listen to The mamas and the Papas’ song, “California Dreamin’” and I’m wary of canned pineapples.]

Eat Drink Man Woman 饮食男女 Yǐnshínánnǚ [Food, drink and sex (the prime desires)] (Ang Lee 1994)

Plot Outline: A senior chef lives with his three grown daughters; the middle one finds her future plans affected by unexpected events and the life changes of the other household members. [Unpredictable, in a good way. Funny. Don’t watch if you’re hungry.]

The Wedding Banquet 喜筵 Xǐyán (Ang Lee 1993)

Plot Outline: To satisfy his nagging parents, a gay landlord and a female tenant agree to a marriage of convenience, but his parents arrive to visit and things get out of hand. [About time a Chinese director maturely addressed homosexuality. ‘Course, it was filmed in N.Y. by a Taiwanese director. This is the only time I’ve seen a character for triple happiness!三重喜]

Pushing Hands 推手 (Ang Lee 1992)

Plot Outline: Master Chu, a retired Chinese Tai-Chi master, moves to Westchester, New York to live with his son Alex, his American daughter-in-law Martha, and their son Jeremy. However, Martha’s second novel is suffering from severe writers’ block brought on by Chu’s presence in the house. Alex must struggle to keep his family together as he battles an inner conflict between cultural tradition and his modern American lifestlye. [Another good East-meets-West flick.]

The Story of Qiu Ju 秋菊打官司 Qiū Jú dǎ guānsi (Zhang Yimou 1992)

Plot Outline: Tells of a peasant woman, Qiu Ju, who lives in a rural area of China and whose husband suffers a slight at the hands of the village head. She then travels to a big city despite her pregnancy but has to deal with its bureaucrats in order to find justice. [Good slice of rural life.]

Action-Adventure

House of Flying Daggers 十面埋伏十面埋伏 shí miàn mái fú (Zhang Yimou 2004)

Plot Outline: A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful member of a rebel army out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem. [Story line kind of hokey, but the film is just gorgeous]

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 卧虎藏龙 Wòhǔcánglóng [unnoticed talent] (Ang Lee 2000)

Plot Outline: Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are lead to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman’s daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life. [Beautiful cinematography. Fabulous directing.]

The Emperor and the Assassin 荆轲刺秦王 Jīng Kē cì Qīn wáng (Chen Kaige 1999)

Plot Outline: In pre-unified China, the King of Qin sends his concubine to a rival kingdom to produce an assassin for a political plot, but as the king’s cruelty mounts she finds her loyalty faltering. [Visually stunning. Well-edited]

Hero 英雄 Yīngxióng (Zhang Yimou 2002)

Plot Outline: A series of Rashomon-like flashback accounts shape the story of how one man defeated three assassins who sought to murder the most powerful warlord in pre-unified China. [Exciting.]

Drama

A World Without Thieves天下无贼 Tiānxià wú zéi (Feng Xiaogang 2004)

Plot Outline: An unmarried con-team couple (Andy Lau & Rene Liu) head west after taking a city businessman for his BMW. The woman is trying to abandon her criminal lifestyle for the sake of her unborn child’s karma. But an encounter with a naive young carpenter travelling home with his life savings challenges their fate as thieves. [Not your typical Hong Kong fare.]

Chicken Poets象鸡毛一样飞 Xiàng jīmáo yíyàng fēi (Meng Jinghui 2002)

Undecided about his future, Yun Fei, an unknown young poet, goes to visit an old university friend in the suburbs of Beijing to seek his advice. He discovers that his friend has gone into business, and is successfully breeding black chickens. This first film, a deliberately allegorical visual fantasy, focuses on the 30-something generation in China, who have to adapt to a materialistic society very different from the political utopia of their childhood. [Cool avant-garde film. I met this director during the premier of this film and he seemed pretty hip. Unfortunately, the film crashed and burned at the end and we missed the last 10 minutes. Alas…alack…wellaway: can’t buy the film in the U.S. ]

In the Mood for Love (花样年华 Huāyàngniánhuá [flower of life] (Wong Kar-wai 2000)

Plot Outline: Hong Kong 1962, chief editor of a local newspaper, Chau and his wife move into new accommodation of Shanghainese building where he meets Li-chun, lives in next-door and moves in the same day. It’s also a coincidence that both of them are moving in without help from their spouses…[Loved the color.]

The Road Home 我的父亲母亲 Wǒde fùqin mǔqin (Zhang Yimou 1999)

Plot Outline: Prompted by the death of his father and the grief of his mother, a man recalls the story of how they met in flashback. [Lots of good life lessons. Plus, Zhang Ziyi.]

Not One Less一个都不能少Yī gè dōu bù néng shǎo (Zhang Yimou 1999)

Plot Outline: In a remote mountain village, the teacher must leave for a month, and the mayor can find only a 13-year old girl, Wei Minzhi, to substitute. The teacher leaves one stick of chalk for each day and promises her an extra 10 yuan if there’s not one less student when he returns. [This is a good film for newbie-intermediate dialogue]

Happy Together 春光乍泄 Chūn guāng zhà xiè (Wong Kar-wai 1997)

Plot Outline: A gay couple from pre-handover Hong Kong visits Argentina to renew their lagging relationship. Among other sites, they want to visit the Iguassu waterfalls which serve as a leitmotiv in the movie and represents their desire to revive the intensity of attraction they felt at the outset of their relationship. The couple runs out of money and are forced to work in order to return to Hong Kong.

King of Masks 变脸 Biànliǎn (Tian-Ming Wu 1996)

Plot Outline: Wang Bianlian is an aging street performer known as the King of Mask for his mastery of Sichuan Change Art in a true story. His wife left him with and infant son over 30 years ago. The son died from illness at age 10. This left Wang a melancholy loner aching for a male descendent to learn his rare and dying art. [Charming with no melodramatic ending.]

Shanghai Triad 摇呀摇﹐摇到外婆桥 Yào ya yào, yào dào wàipó qiáo (Zhang Yimou 1995)

Plot Outline: The story is about a young boy, Tang Shuisheng, who just arrived in Shanghai working as a servant in a Triad owned nightclub. He is assigned to Bijou, a cabaret singer and girlfriend of the Boss.

Vive l’Amour 爱情万岁Àiqíng Wànsuì (Tsai Ming-liang 1994)

Plot Outline: The film focuses on three city folks who unknowingly share the same apartment: Mei, a real estate agent who uses it for her sexual affairs; Ah-jung, her current lover; and Hsiao-ang, who’s stolen the key and uses the apartment as a retreat. [Different.]

Wooden Man’s Bride (Huang Jianxin 1994)

Plot Outline: Camels carry a bride to her groom’s house; he is a wealthy tofu maker and the bride’s father is in debt to him. Leading the caravan is Kui, a strong, courageous, and naive peasant. Bandits intercept them and carry off the bride. Kui follows: two days later, at the bandits’ stronghold, he seeks her return. [Stereotypical Chinese melodrama.]

Farewell My Concubine 霸王别姬 Bàwáng bié jī (Chen Kaige 1993)

Plot Outline: “Farewell, My Concubine” is a movie with two parallel, intertwined stories. It is the story of two performers in the Beijing Opera, stage brothers, and the woman who comes between them. At the same time, it attempts to do no less than squeeze the entire political history of China in the twentieth century into a three-hour time-frame. [Deserved the Best Foreign Film Oscar.]

To Live 活着 Huózhe (Zhang Yimou 1991)

Plot Outline: Fugui and Jiazhen endure tumultuous events in China as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry. Addicted to gambling, Fugui loses everything. In the years that follow he is pressed into both the nationalist and communist armies, while Jiazhen is forced into menial work. They raise a family and survive, managing “to live” from the 40’s to the 70’s in this epic, but personal, story of life through an amazing period. [My favorite Chinese film. And a pretty good, non-propagandistic overview of recent Chinese history. No wonder the Chinese authorities banned it.]

Life on a String 边走边唱 Biān zǒu biān chàng (Chen Kaige 1991)

Plot Outline: Two blind men pursue ephemeral and unlikely hopes. One is an aged master, a wandering troubador venerated as a saint, in physical decline, waiting to break his 1,000th banjo string, an event his own master promised years before would bring him sight. The other is his apprentice, Shidou, who longs for a woman’s love and is enchanted with the radiant and spirited Lanxiu. [Spiritual.]

Raise the Red Lantern大红灯笼高高挂 Dà hóng dēnglong gāogāo guà (Zhang Yimou 1991)

Plot Outline: China in the 1920’s. After her fathers death, nineteen year old Songlian is forced to marry Chen Zuoqian, the lord of a powerfull family. Fifty year old Chen has already three wives. [Lush.]

Ju Dou 菊豆 Jú Dòu (Yang Fengliang, Zhang Yimou 1990)

Plot Summary: A woman married to the brutal and infertile owner of a dye mill in rural China conceives a boy with her husband’s nephew but is forced to raise her son as her husband’s heir without revealing his parentage in this circular tragedy. Filmed in glowing technicolour. [Another visually-stunning film from Zhang Yimou, who scored an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and a best director award at Cannes with Ju Dou. Banned in China because of it’s hidden political message.]

Red Sorghum 红高粱 Hóng gāoliang (Zhang Yimou 1987)

Plot Outline: An old leper who owned a remote sorghum winery dies. Jiu’er, the wife bought by the leper, and her lover, identified only as “my Grandpa” by the narrator, take over the winery and set up an idealized quasi-matriarchal community headed by Jiu’er. When the Japanese invaders subject the area to their rule and cut down the sorghum to make way for a road, the community rises up and resists as the sorghum grows anew. [Some pretty heavy melodrama.]

Yellow Earth黄土地 Huáng tǔdì (Chen Kaige 1984)

Plot Outline: Yellow earth focuses on the story of a Communist soldier who is sent to the countryside to collect folk songs for the Communist Revolution. There he stays with a peasant family and learns that the happy songs he was sent to collect do not exist; the songs he finds are about hardship and suffering. He returns to the Army, but promises to come back for the young girl, Cuiqiao, who has been spellbound by his talk of the freedom women have under Communist rule and who wants to join the Communist Army. [Brought out the nostalgic and the sentimental commie in me.]

Comedies-Action Spoofs

Kungfu Hustle 功夫 Gōngfu (Stephen Chow 2004)

Plot Outline: In Shanghai, China in the 1940s, a wannabe gangster aspires to join the notorious “Axe Gang” while residents of a housing complex exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf. [Road Runner cartoon on crank meets Buddha Bar.]

Shaolin Soccer 少林足球 Shǎolín zúqiú (Stephen Chow 2001)

Plot Outline: A young Shaolin follower reunites with his discouraged brothers to form a soccer team using their martial art skills to their advantage. [Simply hilarious.]

God of Cookery 食神 Shíshén (Stephen Chow, Lik-Chi Lee 1996)

The God of Cookery, a brilliant chef who sits in judgement of those who would challenge his title, loses his title when a jealous chef reveals him to be a con-man and humiliates him publicly. [Bizarrely funny.]

From Beijing with Love 国产零零七 Guóchán línglíngqī (Stephen Chow 1994)

Plot Outline: An incompetent 007-wannabe is sent to locate a stolen dinosaur skull. [Odd mixture of comedy and violence in this 007 spoof.]

Iron Monkey 少年黄飞鸿之铁马骝 Shǎonián Huáng Fēihóng zhī tiě mǎ liú (Yuen Woo-ping 1993)

Plot Outline: A doctor fights the corrupt authorities as a masked Robin Hood hero, even while another martial artist/doctor is forced to hunt for him. [Brill.]

Supercop (AKA, Police Story III) 警察故事三 Jǐngchá gùshi sān (Stanley Tong 1992)

Plot Outline: A Hong Kong police officer, Chia Chu is sent undercover to mainland China to break up a drug smuggling ring.

[I’m in love with Michelle Yeoh.]

Hey, moloch! Great to see you again! You really liked Beijing Rocks? I saw it last week (own it actually), and while I like the leads, the movie itself didn't do much. Now "The Banquet," THAT was an awesome movie!

I really liked 'A Time to Love'.. maybe just because I like Zhao Wei a lot.

Two other favourites: Beijing Rocks, and Where Have All the Flowers Gone

Right on, "Wedding Banquet" was really good too... many of his recent films have been extremely popular, however the first few films by 李安 remained under the radar probably due to them being non-English... nonetheless they are solid and original.

"Hero" was 张艺谋 (Zhange Yimou). He's done several other fantastic Chinese Epic's... "Raise the Red Lantern", "To Live", "JuDou"...check 'em all out.

太好了!!! I'm definetly going to be busy for a while! All of these have been added to my list. ^_^

Brooke, PPLive is AWESOME!!! ( I even watched Xiang_Sheng for a while. I didn't catch any of the jokes, but o well- more motivation for my Chinesepod addiction, right?)

Anyway...谢谢你们!

I liked House of Flying Daggers (十面埋伏). The beauty of the scenery and sets was great, and so was the intensity of emotions.

Can one assume that you've already seen the blockbusters "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hero?"

Another Ang Lee film, Eat Drink Man Woman (饮食男女 or 飲食男女), came out around the same time as "The Wedding Banquet". It is set in Taiwan and, though mostly in Mandarin has a little Taiwanese thrown in; might be a good fit.

Make me a third on "In the Mood for Love".

I recently viewed, King of Masks. Sorry I don't know the chinese title. excellent film, also Electric shadows. Both were great.

Though I suspect this 1993 film is rather dated, I liked Ang Lee's "The Wedding Banquet" (喜宴 Xǐyàn), my introduction the "triple-happiness" [sic] character as representative of a wedding of convenience for a New York gay couple and a Mainland Chinese bride (the groom placates his traditional Taiwanese parents; the bride gets her Green Card).

I have two recommendations. Since you're in the states, you may check out some of the Disney DVDs and see if they have Mandarin audio tracks. Some do - Mulan comes to mind - and of course several Disney stories have cheesy romances involved. :- )

My other suggestion would be to download the infamous PPLive program from http://www.pplive.com/zh-cn/download.html . The site is all in Chinese, but based on the links, I chose the green button and installed it. Once the program is installed (you can choose English during the process), you will have access to hundreds of Chinese channels and programs that are difficult if not impossible to get here in the states. Everything from game shows to cartoons to movies to comedy (e.g. Xiang Sheng, which I love).

Hope this helps! Good luck on your studies!

Bazza, it was good enough to list twice. :-D

Frank you already mentioned that above. ;)

It is actually called "Together With You", that the nearest I can find.

I've added all the above to my rental list. :)

There's also a film called "Together" which you should get your hands on. Worth watching!

"Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" is one of Ang Lee's first films. It is set in Taipei and it has so many good things going on: humor, romance, drama, and endless shots of mouth watering food!

Yes, "Not one less" is a great movie!

Although the ending is a bit cheesy, in a "Hollywood ending" kind of way, but since you like cheesy, that should be no problem :-)

Another movie (well actually, a television series) that i liked very much is "中国式离婚", but it's not a very happy movie, as it's about divorce the Chinese way..

Not One Less （一個都不能少）

Yes yes yes, "In the Mood for Love" (花样年华 huayang nianhua/fa yeung nin wa) is probably my all-time favourite movie, it's fantastic in every aspect. Not only did it make me move to China for a year, thinking I would somehow miracously turn into Maggie Cheung as soon as I entered the airport, spending my time flirting with Tony Leung and wearing fantastic qipao's while buying noodle's in a thermos. Well that didn't happen (suprise), and I later found out the movie is actually shot in Bangkok since China doesn't look that way any more. It also made me a big fan of 30's Shanghai swing/jazz music, which is a big part of the soundtrack. This is also very possibly the finest, most subtle romance ever to be captured on film. You simply MUST see it!

You'll probably enjoy Suzhou River.

And of course there's "In the Mood for Love," its sequel "2046", "Together," and the ever-popular and tear-jerking "The Road Home." Enjoy!

One of my all-time favs is Chungking Express (重慶森林). It's a classic and must see. Don't let the first story (there are 2 in the movie) scare you - there is a bit of violence, and you may find it a bit strange (that's director Wong Kar-Wai for you!). You will find your romance in the 2nd story (one of the best romances ever filmed).

Did I mention that Wong Faye is incredibly adorable in this movie?! I think I will always be in love with her...