Chinese Circuit
Posted: December 20, 2009
The First Gun (aka A Simple Noodle Story; San qiang pai an jing qi; 三枪拍案惊奇 )
Director: Yimou Zhang
Writer: Jianquan Shi, Jing Shang
Producers: William Kong, Weiping Zhang
Stars:
Honglei Sun
Shenyang Xiao
Ni Yan
Tri-genre: crime dramedy suspense
Story Situation: intrigue
Satisfaction Rating: good
Maturity Rating: 13+
Plotline: A jealous Chinese noodle shop owner (Shenyang Xiao) hires an assassin to kill his cheating young wife (Ni Yan) and her lover. The scheme goes quickly awry after someone brings a gun to a sword fight. Based on the Cohen brother’s 1985 debut film Blood Simple.
Comment: This co-production between Sony Picture Classics and Beijing New Picure Film Company with China’s premier director Yimou Zhang constitutes Zhang’s his first attempt at a commercial mainstream picture following a three-year hiatus during which he orchestrated the opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing Olympic Games.
Posted: December 13, 2009
Vicki Wei Zhao as Lady General Mulan Hua
Mulan (花木兰 )
Director(s): Jingle Ma, Wei Dong
Writer: Ting Zhang
Producer(s): Guangcheng Song, Zhe Wang
Star(s):
“Vicki” Wei Zhao (Best Actress recipient - Golden Horse, Huabiao)
Kun Chen (Best Actor recipient - Huabiao)
Jaycee Chan
Tri-genre: epic romance action
Story Situation: pretender
Satisfaction Rating: above average
Maturity Rating: 13+
Plotline: Around 450 AD in the Northern China kingdom of Wei, little girl Mulan Hua (Jiao Xu) secretly studies kung-fu and military strategy with her widowered father. Years later, when Mulan (“Vicki” Wei Zhao) reaches age 18, nomadic invaders threaten the kingdom. The emperor conscripts one man from every Wei family. However, Mulan has no brothers and her aging father is sickly. Mulan drugs her father, then disguises herself as a man and takes his place in the army. Her fighting skills quickly catch the attention of General Wentai (Chinese pop singer Kun Chen) who steadily promotes her to higher rank. One day, Wentai learns her secret when he catches Mulan bathing in a hot spring. They begin a dangerous romance, still hiding her gender. Mulan serves in the kingdom’s military for a dozen years, rising to the rank of general, playing key roles in decisive battles, and eventually returning to her father’s home to marry her longtime lover Wentai.
Comment: This live-action naturalist version of the story more accurately reflects the Chinese folktale of Lady General Mulan than Disney’s 1998 magical animated feature. The film also showcases only pop singer actors in key roles: Sexy China pop singer “Vicki” Wei Zhao (Painted Skin, Shaolin Soccer), handsome China pop singer Kun Chen (Painted Skin, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress), Jackie’s Chan’s US-born and educated son/Hong Kong pop singer Jaycee Chan (The Drummer), as well as Ukrainian-Russian pop singer “Vitas” Vitaliy Grachyov.
Pop star-actors (L-R) US/HK's Jaycee Chan, China's Vicki Wei Zhao and Kun Chen, and Ukraine/Russia's Vitas
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World's Favorite Films 2010
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World Favorite Foreign Language Films 2010
Yip Man 2 (Chinese)
My Name Is Khan (Bollywood)
Nodame Cantabile 2 (Japanese)
Blood Brothers: Secret Reunion (Korean)
L'arnacoeur (French)
Doraemon: Mermaid Adventure (Japanese)
Little Big Soldier (Chinese)
La rafle (French)
Io, loro e Lara (Italian)
Liar Game (Japanese)
Our Rossiya (Russian)
Younger Brother (Japanese)
Housefull (Bollywood)
Harmony (Korean)
Go Lala Go (Chinese)
Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf 2 (Chinese)
Chico Xavier (Portuguese)
Kandahar (Russian)
