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Reviews
Lü cha (2003)
Avant Gaurde Film
Though this film lacks a conventional plot, if you analyze the film
you will see a developing theme. Like other 6th generation Chinese films, the film puts an emphasis on urban china. One character, Wu Fang, always orders green tea whenever she dates. At each date she never tells stories of her own life, but only of her friend and her friend's puzzling family life. This shows her desire to keep her identity a secret, but the viewer must believe that these could be stories about her own dysfunctional family. The other character, Lang Lang has the same face as Wu Fang, but a strikingly different personality. Lang is never conservative, and only appears at night. When we see Fang, we always see her during the day. The man is puzzled and intrigued by both women, one a night-life girl and the graduate student. His pursuit of both women portray's man's classic fight to encompass both a party girl and a smart, intelligent woman. Though the movie ends suddenly, viewers will find that it has a shocking revelation at the end, one that keeps you talking after the film ends.
Hong fen (1995)
A portrayal of communism
If you look at the film as an analysis of communism, you will see how one woman follows the communist's path for rehabilitation, while the other runs from the re-socialization process. As they grow in the cultural revolution, you can see how Socialist China starts to effect each person, with shocking results at the end. In this movie, rich land owners go to poverty stricken men, while self-sufficient women turn into Buddhist monks. With clever use of rain as a symbol for loss, this film deconstruct the opposition between old society and the war, between losing one's old life and gaining a new one, and even between sadness and happiness. The use of the color yellow is for Chu Yi's life, and the use of the color red symbolizes the Chinese revolution. Also in this film, the countryside dwellers speak mandarin, a deliberate usage by director Li Sho Hong, one of the few 5th generation female directors in Chinese Cinema.
Huang tu di (1984)
For the Trivia Section
This movie is from the so called "5th Generation" of Chinese filmmakers. It demonstrates how the old way of life failed CuiQuo, but the communist, or new way, has also failed her. When CuiQuo drowns, she does so right after she sings the word "communist." This is to signify to viewers how Communism failed her family. There is also a significant use of rivers in the movie. The ending has a river of people, which drowns her brother, and the actual river, which drowns her. The use of a uniform is also used in the film, where we can see the solider beginning to lose pieces of his uniform as he becomes more accustomed to the family.