Join us for a free one-day workshop for educators at the Japanese American National Museum, hosted by the USC U.S.-China Institute and the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia. This workshop will include a guided tour of the beloved exhibition Common Ground: The Heart of Community, slated to close permanently in January 2025. Following the tour, learn strategies for engaging students in the primary source artifacts, images, and documents found in JANM’s vast collection and discover classroom-ready resources to support teaching and learning about the Japanese American experience.
Recent Popular Cinema of Mainland China
UCLA Film & Television Archive presents screenings and panel discussions of mainstream cinema in mainland China.
When:
May 14, 2010 12:00am to June 27, 2010 12:00am
Where
Though its cinematic output represents the third largest of any country, the film industry of Mainland China is still largely known in the West for its period costume epics and art films. Less well-known are the films of China's popular cinema, the genre entries, not entirely unlike their Hollywood counterparts, that feature attractive stars, high production values and stories of good versus evil in which everyday heroes always get the girl. It is also a cinema of diverse pleasures, from subtle characterization to stylized action, and significant themes, as filmmakers address the tensions of contemporary Chinese society—ecological balance, social responsibility, conflicted definitions of success—in entertaining terms. The Archive is pleased to present this showcase of offerings from the mainstream cinema of Mainland China and to welcome in person some of the represented artists.
Friday, May 14, 2010, 7:30 PM
LI SHUANGLING(2008, China) Directed by Huo Jianqi
Retiring in 1983 from decades of work in a steel foundry, Li Shuangliang still has work to do. He dreams of clearing away an enormous amount of waste slag that has built up next to the foundry, polluting the environment and affecting public health. Could this toxic eyesore become a beautiful paradise? Dazzling cinematography and sensitive performances grace this portrait of everyday heroism.
Producer: Han Siqing. Screenplay: Su Xiaowei. Cinematographer: Zhao Lei. Editor: Kong Jinlei. Cast: Wang Qingxiang, Guo Xiaodong, Dong Jie, Yuan Ming. Presented in Mandarin dialogue with English subtitles. 35mm, 90 min.
IN PERSON: Screenwriter Su Xiaowei.
Saturday May 15 2010, 7:30PM
TWO WOMEN IN RED SCARVES (Liang Ge Guo Hong Tou Jin De Nu Ren)
(2006, China) Directed by Han Zhijun
Novelist-turned-filmmaker Han Zhijun's simple tale concerns two rural women whose similarities, symbolized by the red scarves they both wear, are undone by fate. Widow Xi Feng harbors affectionate feelings for her neighbor, Yang Tianlong, though he hunts illegally on her land. But when Yang accidentally shoots someone, a seemingly insurmountable rift divides the two friends.
Producer: Zhao Guoguang. Screenwriter: Han Zhijun. Cinematographer: Zhao Bo. Editor: Zhao Bo. Cast: Zheng Weili, Ma Shihong, Zhao Xiaoyi. Presented in Mandarin dialogue with English subtitles. 35mm, 95 min.
IN PERSON: Writer-director Han Zhijun, actor Zhao Xiaoyi.
Sunday May 16 2010, 7:00PM
PERHAPS LOVE (Ru Guo Ai)
(2005, China) Directed by Peter Chan
A prolific director and UCLA alumnus, Peter Chan crafts a stylish musical that recalls golden-era Hollywood. Movie director Nie Wen (Jacky Cheung) defends his casting of a Hong Kong actress (Zhou Xun) in his latest movie, while guarding his romantic feelings and facing down the rivalry of her co-star (Kaneshiro Takeshi). Throughout, a mysterious, omniscient character gives the protagonists magical chances to relive "scenes" from the "films" of their lives, to reconsider who they were and who they have become.
Producer: Andrew Morgan, Peter Chan. Screenplay: Aubrey Lam, Peter To. Cinematographer: Peter Pau, Christopher Doyle. Cast: Jacky Cheung, Kaneshiro Takeshi, Zhou Xun. Presented in Mandarin dialogue with English subtitles. 35mm, 100 min.
Wednesday May 19 2010, 7:30PM
A WORLD WITHOUT THIEVES
(2004, China) Directed by Feng Xiaogang
Professional thieves Wang Bo (Andy Lau) and Wang Li (Rene Liu) are lovers and partners in crime, but Wang Li decides to reform when she meets Fu Gen, a simple peasant traveling to Beijing with a bundle of cash for his family, naively insisting that no thief would ever rob him. Word gets out, and soon the train is crawling with thieves vying with each other for the money in this action-packed caper.
Based on a short story by Zhao Benfu. Screenplay: Feng Xiaogang, Wang Gang, Lin Lisheng, Ah Lu. Cinematographer: Zhang Li. Editor: Liu Miao. Cast: Andy Lau, Rene Liu, Ge You, Li Bingbing. Presented in Mandarin dialogue with English subtitles. 35mm, 112 min.
Saturday May 22 2010, 7:30PM
Print courtesy of Tai Seng Entertainment
THE MESSAGE (Feng Sheng)
(2009, China) Directed by Chen Kuo-fu and Gao Qunshu
In Japanese-occupied China, the powerful Colonel Takeda learns of a double-agent in his own counterinsurgency unit, so he invites his group to a remote seaside mansion to discover which of them is "The Phantom." Accusing fingers point this way and that as the agents are eliminated one by one in this tightly-wound and handsomely produced "whodunit" mystery.
Based on the novel "Feng Sheng" by Mai Jia. Producer: Wang Zhongjun, Ren Zhongjun, Wan Ke. Screenplay: Chen Kuo-fu. Cinematographer: Jake Pollock. Cast: Zhou Xun, Li Bingbing, Zhang Hanyu, Huang Xiaoming. 35mm, 114 min.
Sunday May 23 2010, 3:00PM
SPRING SUBWAY(Kai Wang Chun Tian De Di Tai)
(2002, China) Directed by Zhang Yibai
This dreamy and stylish drama centers on a young couple drifting, perhaps inexorably, apart. Ever since Liu Jianbin (Geng Le) lost his job, he's been unable to tell his wife Chen Xiaohui (Xu Jinglei), instead riding the subway each day hoping for a solution. In their isolation, each one discovers other people craving human contact and affection in this heartfelt and beautifully photographed story.
Producer: Hou Keming, Liu Fendou. Screenplay: Fendou Liu. Cinematographer: Gao Fei, Zhao Xiaoding. Cast: Xu Jinglei, Geng Le, Zhang Yang. Presented in Mandarin dialogue with English subtitles. 35mm, 90 min.
Sunday May 23 2010, 7:00PM
SUPER TYPHOON (Chao Qiang Tai Feng)
(2008, China) Directed by Feng Xiaoning
Director Feng Xiaoning's action-packed eco-thriller pits the leaders of a coastal Chinese community against one another as a typhoon, brought on by global warming, draws ever closer. Mayor Xu (Wu Gang) calls for a citywide evacuation while other officials would rather avoid the cost. Lives hang in the balance as Mayor Xu turns to his childhood science teacher for advice in this delirious disaster epic.
Producer: Zhao Yuqiang, Ni Zhengwei. Screenplay: Feng Xiaoning, Su Xiaowei, Xu Haiban. Cinematographer: Feng Xiaoning, Zheng Jie. Cast: Wu Gang, Song Xiaoying, Liu Xiaowei. Presented in Mandarin and English dialogue with English subtitles. 35mm, 92 min.
IN PERSON: Director Feng Xiaoning and actor Liu Xiaowei
Tickets for the screenings can be purchased here.
Cost:
Tickets for screenings need to be purchased on UCLA Cinema webpage.
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Thursday, November 7, 2024 - 4:00pm
Join us for an in-person conversation on Thursday, November 7th at 4pm with author David M. Lampton as he discusses his new book, Living U.S.-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War. The book examines the history of U.S.-China relations across eight U.S. presidential administrations.