Happy Times 2000  PG, 96 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Zhao Benshan, Dong Jie, Fu Biao, Li Xuejian, Dong Lihua, Leng Qibin, Niu Ben, Gong Jinghua, Zhang Hongjie, Zhao Bingkun
Middle-aged bachelor Zhao (Zhao Benshan) plans a wedding that is far over his head financially. To pull it off, Zhao and his best friend (Fu Biao) concoct a scheme to raise money. As a result, deceptions follow–all of which make for an entertaining comedy of errors.
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 Hero 2002  N/R, 96 min.
Genre: Foreign / Action / Adventure
aka: Ying xiong
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, Chen Daoming, Donnie Yen, Liu Zhong Yuan, Zheng Tia Yong, Yan Qin, Chang Xiao Yang, Yakun Zhang, Ma Wen Hua, Jin Ming, Xu Kuarng Hua, Wang Shou Xin
Set in ancient China, this story relates the exploits of a warrior who defeats three would-be assassins of the Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang (Chen Daoming) and prevents them from killing him. Ten years later, a man called Nameless (Jet Li) appears at the Emperor's palace and claims to be the warrior who defeated the would-be assassins. The Emperor listens to the story Nameless tells, but he notices a few flaws in the story, and Nameless finds himself in a very complicated situation.
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House of Flying Daggers 2004 PG-13, 119 min.
Genre: Foreign / Action / Drama / Fantasy / Romance
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Zhang Ziyi, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Song Dandan
During the days of the corrupt Tang Dynasty, local police agents Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) are assigned the job of locating the leaders of a revolutionary group: The Flying Daggers. Leo arrests a blind dancer, Mei (Zhang Ziyi), who works at the Peony Pavilion because he thinks she has ties to the Flying Daggers, and then Jin helps her break out of prison believing that she will lead him to the Flying Daggers. But, while helping her find her way home, Jin falls in love with Mei and now must consider whether or not he can betray her trust. An Academy Award nomination was received for Best Cinematography.
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Ju Dou 1990 N/R, 94 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Gong Li, Li Baotian, Li Wei, Zhang Yi, Zheng Ji-an, Chong Ma, Zhijun Cong, Fa Wu, Jin Jia, Niu Xingli, Quanbin Yang, Zhaoji Jia
Ju Dou (Gong Li) is a young woman who, when tortured for not bearing a son, has an affair with her infertile husband's (Li Wei) nephew (Li Baotian). She succeeds in conceiving a child–but with tragic results. The film received a Best Foreign Film Academy Award nomination.
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Not One Less 1999 G, 106 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Wei Minzhi, Zhang Huike, Tian Zhenda, Gao Enman, Sun Zhimei, Feng Yuying, Li Fanfan
Due to an emergency, a teacher in a small, poor village in China must temporarily leave his job. The town's mayor selects a 13-year-old girl to take his place, but she will only get paid if no one leaves school before the regular teacher returns. When one student leaves for the big city, the teacher takes off to get him back. Another excellent film from director Yimou.
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 Raise the Red Lantern 1991  PG, 125 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Gong Li, Ma Jingwu, He Caifei, Cao Cuifeng, Shuyuan Jin, Lin Kong
Set in the 1920s, this film is based on Su Tong's novel about the plight of women in China where women ranked very low in positions of power. When a young girl, Sonlian (Gong Li), marries an older man (Ma Jingwu), their union results in tragedy for Sonlian. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film.
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Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles 2005 PG, 107 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Ken Takakura, Shinobu Terajima, Kiichi Nakai, Li Jiamin, Oiu Lin, Jiang Wen, Ken Nakamoto, Bin Li Li, Chen Ziliang, He Zhezhou, Yang Zhenbo
Gou-ichi Takata (Ken Takakura) is an aging Japanese fisherman who has been estranged from his son Ken-ichi (voice of Kiichi Nakai). The son's wife, Rie (Shinobu Terajima), contacts Gou-ichi to report that his son has terminal cancer. Ken-ichi refuses to see him, but Rie does give Gou-ichi a video tape that Ken-ichi has been working on. That tape marks the turning point as Gou-ichi journeys to China to complete the video and, in the process, begins to understand more about the relationship between his son and himself.
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The Road Home 1999 G, 90 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Zhang Ziyi, Sun Honglei, Zheng Hao, Zhao Yuelin, Li Bin, Chang Guifa, Sung Wencheng, Liu Qi, Ji Bo, Zhang Zhongxi
While helping his mother (Zhao Yuelin) prepare for his father's traditional Chinese funeral, Luo Yusheng (Sun Honglei) remembers stories from the past when, in 1958, his father, Luo Changyou (Zheng Hao) arrived in the Chinese village of Sanheton. The 20-year-old Luo Changyou was sent to the northern Chinese village to build a schoolhouse and then educate the children. Eighteen-year-old Zhao Di (Zhang Ziyi) meets and falls in love with the young teacher–despite warnings from her grandmother (Li Bin) that a marriage to Luo Changyou will fail because of their class differences.
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Shanghai Triad 1995 R, 108 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Gong Li, Li Baotian, Li Xuejian, Sun Chun, Wang Xiaoxiao, Fu Biao, Chen Shu, Liu Jiang, Jiang Baoying, Yang Oianquan
Shanghai's underworld of prostitution and opium trade is seen through the eyes of a 14-year-old servant, Tang Shuisheng (Wang Xiaoxiao).
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 The Story of Qiu Ju 1992 PG, 100 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama / Comedy
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Gong Li, Lei Quesheng, Liu Peiqi, Yang Liuchun, Ge Zhijun, Zhu Wanqing, Cui Luowen, Yang Huiqin, Wang Jianfa, Lin Zi, Ye Jun
This story of bureaucracy in modern-day China reveals the problems encountered in a country that has never before had local rule. A Chinese woman (Gong Li) is determined to get an apology from the Village Head (Lei Laosheng) after he physically attacked her husband (Liu Peiqi).
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To Live 1994 N/R, 125 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Ge You, Gong Li, Niu Ben, Guo Tao, Jiang Wu, Ni Dahong, Liu Tianchi, Zhang Lu, Xiao Cong, Dong Fei
The effects of political upheaval on private lives in Chinese society are shown through 30 years in the lives of one Chinese family.
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| 1. Happy Times (2000)
2. Hero (2002)
aka: Ying xiong
3. House of Flying Daggers (2004)
4. Ju Dou (1990)
5. Not One Less (1999)
6. Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
7. Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005)
8. The Road Home (1999)
9. Shanghai Triad (1995)
10. The Story of Qiu Ju (1992)
11. To Live (1994)
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