Chinese Media Log

• 亲爱的

  Dearest

  2014, Movie

  I made the mistake of starting this too late, and couldn't stop until it was over at 1 AM. This made me feel things. A complex situation where everyone is a traumatized victim. (Except for the cop; he sucks.)

  

• 三峡好人

  Still Life

  2006, Movie

  Oh, I liked this a lot; The setting is stunning, the style is contemplative, the background is interesting.

  The is set in Fengjie while it was being demolished and flooded to allow for the construction of the Three Gorges Dam 三峡大坝. The project displaced more than a million people who were resettled by the government and given payment, as well as a yearly allotment of grain based on how much land they lost.

  

• 十七岁的单车

  Beijing Bicycle

  2001, Movie

  Pretty good, and sad. Delightful Beijing accents.

• 阳光灿烂的日子

  In the Heat of the Sun

  1994, Movie

  I liked it.

  Loved the beginning. The unreliable narrator "it was so long ago, who can even remember what happened, but alas I continue" bit didn't really work for me.

  Great acting from Xia Yu, less so from Ning Jing.

• 二十四城记

  24 City

  2009, Movie

  Saw this at MoMA. A bit slow, but interesting and full of cute accents. He loves 10 second shots of people unmovingly staring at the camera while stuff happens in the background.

• 东宫西宫

  East Palace, West Palace

  1996, Movie

  Saw this at MoMA. A good illustration of why BDSM scenes need to be negotiated.

• 狂飙

  The Knockout

  2023, TV

  Most popular Chinese drama of the year, I believe.

  I enjoyed a lot of it, but dropped it towards the end when every third sentence started to be about how Education and Rectification is getting rid of what little evil remains in society. Unfortunately for the propogandists, the gangster is just too compelling.

  Check out this incredible coin flip: