Little China Store | Chinese Movies | Chinese DVDs | Chinese Films | Gong Li | Raise The Red Lantern | For The Children | To Live | The Road Home | Not One Less | Electric Shadows | Breaking The Silence | The Story Of Qiu Ju | Oasis | New Year Sacrifice | Curse Of The Golden Flower | Ju Dou | Chinese Box | Memoirs Of A Geisha | Blind Mountain | Shanghai Triad | Temptress Moon | Red Sorghum | Picture Bride

Actress Gong Li. Director Zhang Yimou. Oscar nominated masterpiece. Chinese language with English subtitle option. Originally banned in China for it's dark depiction of Chinese society. Raise The Red Lantern takes place in 1920's China when women had few options. Following the death of her father, Songlian (played by Gong Li) a beautiful 19 year old, agrees to marry a wealthy nobleman. She becomes wife four of the older master. Each wife has her own house within the closed world of the family compound, where every evening a red lantern is lit in front of the door of the wife with whom the master chooses to spend the night with. This film shows how each wife plots against each other for the attention of the master. The list of awards is astonishing including Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards 1991, Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress 1993, Silver Lion for Best Director - (1991 Venice International Film Festival), Best Foreign Language Film - (1992 New York Film Critics Circle), Best Foreign Language Film - (1992 David di Donatello Italian Film Awards), Best Cinematography - Zhao Fei (1992 Los Angeles Film Critics Association), Best Film Not in the English Language - (1993 British Academy Film Awards), Best Foreign Language Film - (1993 National Society of Film Critics), Best Foreign Language Film - (1993 London Film Critics Circle), Best Foreign Language Film - (1993 Kansas City Film Critics Circle), Best Cinematography - (1993 National Society of Film Critics), Nominated Golden Lion for Best Film - (1991 Venice International Film Festival), Nominated Best Foreign Film - (1992 National Board of Review), Nominated Best Foreign Language Film - (1993 Independent Spirit Awards), Desson Howe of the Washington Post states that "In purely aesthetic terms, "Raise the Red Lantern" is breathtaking, Film Critic James Berardinelli said "the appeal to the eye only heightens the movie's emotional power. I don't think I've ever seen a movie quite like Raise The Red Lantern. Since I consider it to be a defining example of Chinese movie making and one of the best films of the '90s, I doubt that I ever will again."

This is my favorite Chinese film. Raise The Red Lantern has a mysterious effect on every person who watches it. Gong Li shows why she is Asia's best actress. Not only is she one of the most beautiful women in the world but this film shows why she is equally a great actress. Many famous actresses rely on their beauty for success but Gong Li is a great actress first. This film is like art on the screen and most viewers will have deep thoughts about it long after they watch it. Raise The Red Lantern is one of the most unique films ever made in the history of cinema. It's beauty on the screen is only the beginning of the effect it will have on you. This film has a special place in the world of film production and will leave a lasting impression on anyone who experiences it. Raise The Red Lantern is not just a film but an education. This film should be the first film in your Chinese film collection. Excellent gift item. This is truly a one of a kind unique film and the best of the best and will be the treasure of your Chinese films. This is a five star film that can be highlighted as the best of the five star films. I have no problem voting 'Raise The Red Lantern' the best Chinese film ever made. PRICE $19.00

Actresses Quan Yuan and Ping Ni. Chinese language with English subtitle option. In response to the death of her husband and young son, peasant Zhang Meili founds a school in the dry desert landscape of northwest China. When cultured and chipper Xia Yu arrives from Beijing to help her out, the two women bond and learn from each others character how to best serve the children. Various subplots include the arrival of Xia¡'s husband, who tries in vain to persuade her to return to the city, Xia¡'s quick abortion, and the comically clandestine relationship between Zhang and a local projectionist. Award winning Film at the China Golden Rooster Awards sweeping all major catagories including the Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. In the parched desert of China, Meili Zhang, known as Zhang Laoshi (Zhang Teacher in Mandarin) is married to a man who is executed by trial because he stole some train track ties for money, which ended up causing the train to wreck and two people died. She then teaches her young son to read and write and that evolves into teaching all the kids in the community only to have her son die at age seven. That is the backdrop of the movie before it even begins and from there, two woman enter each others very different worlds.

In my personal collection of Chinese films, For The Children was the biggest surprise of all. When I first decided to preview this film, I didnt expect anything special. I was wrong. This film is so moving emotionally, that I have watched it twenty times. The Director does a special thing with music and fadeouts that captures your heart and keeps the movie rolling at a fast pace. By the end of the movie, you're not only overcome with emotion, but reeling at what just happened. As a man, I thought this was going to be a movie about children and I had no idea what was coming. This film has it all. Marriage, divorce, abortion, change, affairs, death, children, lonliness, fullfilment, failure, success, and so much more. Out of my entire Chinese film collection, only Raise The Red Lantern can place higher. This is my second favorite film out of my entire collection and I believe that so much, that I have given it as a gift to many people in my life. This is a film that will make you laugh, cry, and most of all, reach inside of yourself and make you appreciate your life. The two leading actresses are amazing and its for men and women to enjoy. This film is a treasure and can be included on the best of the best list. For The Children accomplished something extreamly unique which was to win Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. That is amazing! This is a five star film and an example of pure cinema excellence. Excellent and recommended gift item! PRICE $19.00

Actress Gong Li. Actor Ge You. Director Zhang Yimou. Chinese language with English subtitle option. This epic saga from the director of Raise The Red Lantern follows four generations of one family as they struggle through the turbulence of 20th-century China. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. This film can be compared to a film like Gone With The Wind. It spans over four decades from the 1940's to the 1980's. The film shows and teaches you Chinese culture and events such as the Japanese invasion and personal loss. In the 40's, in China, Fugui is a gambler. His wife Jiazhen (Gong Li) can not stand it any longer and leaves. He loses everything, and creates puppet shows to survive. Jiazhen comes back. This is a historical chronicle of China from the 40's to the 80's, the story of the family of Fugui and Jiazhen. Also a study of how history can randomly affect people and their lives. The battle becomes simply just To Live.

To Live is in the top ten of my personal Chinese film collection. This emotionally deep drama sets a standard for excellence and detail. Gong Li once again displays her remarkable acting ability. Her beauty is transcended through the screen in her youth at the beginning of the movie and then watch as the makeup technicians age her over four decades as the years go by. This movie is 2 hours and 15 minutes long and is a smartly written film. You will become absorbed in the characters and at times this exceptional film will make you laugh and in contrast will bring tears to your eyes. An especially notable scene accurs in the hospital when all of a sudden something has gone wrong with her daughter's pregnacy and Gong Li's character is hysterically crying holding her daughters hand on the hospital bed as the young girl begins bleeding to death right before her eyes and the survival of her daughter depends on a doctor who is in the other room unable to help after being almost starved to death by the Red Guard radicals. It's a deeply moving scene and only hope can save her only daughter. To Live is simply under-rated and should be looked upon as a great Chinese film. Which characters will survive and who doesnt becomes the saga of this film. And when the credits roll at the end, you will be left with a feeling of mixed emotions. You will feel sadness for those who didnt make it and you will feel happiness for those who did and you will see how Gong Li, her husband and family fight for the right to live. To Live is a complete film and is a real treasure. This is a five star movie and highly recommended for not only being a great film but it will also introduce you to Chinese life during that era. The movie set is exceptionally detailed and the music will captivate your soul. This is a fantastic gift film for all ages. PRICE $19.00

Actress Ziyi Zhang. Actor Honglei Sun. Director Zhang Yimou. Chinese language with English subtitle option. Romantic story of a lifelong love between a young woman and her dream man. The story is capped at the beginning and end with the present day story of a city businessman Luo Yusheng who returns to his home village in North China for the funeral of his father, the village teacher. He finds his elderly mother insisting that all the traditional burial customs be observed, despite the fact that times have changed so much. Yusheng realizes that his mother's wishes must be respected. On the day of the funeral more than one hundred of Changyu's former pupils turn up to carry the coffin and none of them will accept payment. Before returning to the city, Yusheng symbolically honors his father's dearest wish and he spends one day teaching in the village school.

This is one of my absolute favorite films. Remember when the Wizard of Oz started out in black and white and then color is introduced to tell the main story? This film does exactly the same thing. This is about a young girl in the China countryside in her teens who meets the new school teacher and it's love at first sight. The hook in this fantastic film is her unbelievable obsession. All of us have dreamed of someone loving us to the point that they would die for us and Ziyi Zhang does just that. Almost comedic at times is her devotion of tracking his every move to the point where you go from smiling at her successes and then suddenly tears when she fails. Ziyi Zhang is known for being Sayuri, the beautiful star in Memoirs of a Geisha. This film here is more of a simplistic plot that makes you start cheering her on for her love for this man. At times during this film, this young girl wearing her red coat hides in the warm springtime fields for just a sight of him and as the months go by you find her again standing silently in a freezing cold snow blizzard waiting for him to return to her village and it torches right down into your heart. Her carefree innocence of a young woman running down the road filled with romantic joy effects her every thought as she becomes overwhelmed with the introduction of feeling love for the first time in her life. During an era when arranged marriages were the norm, the entire community becomes aware that this is real love and that was unheard of at the time. The Road Home is under-rated and unknown and a real treasure. As a man, I would say every woman or young girl will relate to this film and yes, men will like it too. It's not mushy. It's cat and mouse and charming. Another of Director Zhang Yimou's wonderful creations. This is a five star movie in its respective category. Great gift item for all ages. This is a special film and a treasure. PRICE $19.00

Actress Wei Minzhi. Actor Zhang Huike. Director Zhang Yimou. Chinese language with English subtitle option. Not One Less is an original, extremely affecting story of a small Chinese village and the children that inhabit it. When an elementary school teacher leaves her assignment to care for her ill mother, the community leader allows a 13-year-old girl, Wei Minzhi, to take her place. After the class clown is forced to leave the village in order to find work, Wei Minzhi organizes a fundraiser that will give her enough money to track him down and return him to his rightful place back in the classroom. This film proves that determination and will can conquer any odds.

This film is moving and heart felt and one of my favorite films. A Sony Pictures Classic. This film I have given as a gift several times and is a wonderful movie. Not One Less surprised me in making my personal collection. No internationally well known stars, this film slowly builds into a search and find mission and humbles the class clown into begging for food lost in a big city. If thats not enough, this young 13 year old girl takes it upon herself to find him without food to eat and almost no money to her name. This girl ends up sleeping on the street waiting for days asking everybody for help. The film seduces you when you realize that all her attempts to find the young boy are failing and you find your heart hurting for this situation. You watch the transition of this once trouble maker 10 year old boy become a hungry boy, alone and lost and finally seeing his older 13 year old teacher on television in tears begging for him to come home and nervous around TV cameras, eventually asking "Where did you go"? This film is for all ages and a real feel good movie. Another of Director Zhang Yimou's wonderful creations. I only keep the best movies in my personal collection and Not One Less is one of my treasures. Great gift! PRICE $19.00

Electric Shadows is a nice film based on a little girls relationship with a boy and they become best friends as little kids. Then, life seperates them. Then as fate would have it, now in their early 20's, working as a bike delivery boy, he crashes and accidentilly kills a girls dog. Without blinking an eye, she picks up a brick and bashes him in the head. After he gets out of the hospital, he discovers that this girl is his long lost childhood friend. To complicate matters she has become deaf and estranged from her parents who she has been secreatly watching through a telescope from her high-rise apartment. Her obsession with theater is a backdrop to the story. This is a nice feel good story when the young man coordinates a reunion with everybody involved. The story starts out 20 years earlier with her mom wanting to be a movie star but her career dreams are ruined when she gets pregnant and then has to raise her child as a single mother in an era when that was looked down upon in China. This wonderful film will be a nice addition to your Chinese film collection. For all ages. PRICE $19.00

Actress Gong Li. Chinese language with English subtitle option. Breaking the Silence tells a story of single mother Sun Liying, who is obliged to work hard to bring up her deaf son Zheng Da. To enable her son to attend a normal school, she quits her well-paid job and delivers newspapers so that she can have more time to practice speaking to the son. Best Actress at Golden Rooster Awards 2000, Best Actress at Montreal World Film Festival 2000, Netpac Award at Hawaii International Film Festival 2000.

This is a good film with another good performance from Gong Li. This film is a mellow story that I liked a lot. It really shows how much heartache a parent has to deal with watching their child go through the challenges of being handicapped. This is a side of Gong Li we have not seen much as she faces a situation which she has very little control over the outcome. She doesnt give up and teaches her child that he must not give up either. This is a nice film to watch and I recommend it for anybody, especially families that face challenges like her situation. Nice gift item for all ages. PRICE $19.00

Actress Gong Li. Director Zhang Yimou. Chinese language with English subtitle option. A clash between Qiuju's husband Qinglai and the village head Wang Shantang leads to a fight in which Qinglai is injured. Qiu thinks Wang owes her husband an apology, but the village head, whose pride has been hurt by a remark made by Qinglai, remains unrepentant. When Qiuju takes the matter up with the police, Constable Li Shunlin attempts mediation between the parties. Constable Li considers the matter settled when Wang agrees to pay Qinglai's medical bills. Considering it insufficient redress, Qiuju returns the money and sues Wang. After a series of trips back and forth between the country and the city, her and her sister travel in the cold, selling food just to fund the trip, all while being pregnant. The case eventually goes to trial. But, suddenly, Gong Li almost dies while having her baby and the village chief jumps right in to save her life. This creates a surprise twist of an ending to the film when a surprise visitor arrives on the day of her baby celebration party.

This movie is great. I have watched Gong Li play an Empress, a Geisha, a Concubine and many other roles but here she plays an ordinary Chinese village woman and she is excellent. One of the great aspects of this film is the feel that you are watching real life and not a film. It's almost as if the film was shot around regular people on the street during a normal day and it's so convincing, I believe it was. If this film didnt have Gong Li as the star, it may have been an ordinary production but because she played the star, she put this film on the map. One of my favorites in my personal collection, I would rank this film as one of her top 10 performances in her deep portfolio. It's not that the movie is anything extrodinary, its the fact that she plays the part so well that you find yourself fascinated at her acting ability. At times you almost have to remind yourself of what is going on because you can't help but become focused on Gong's performance. She dresses down for the part and plays a country village pregnant woman wearing traditonal country village clothes and for such a beautiful woman to play such a part so well, I give this movie 5 stars for her sheer acting ability. Some of the scenes where she goes into the city and is taken advantage of being over charged on purchases and when she thinks she has lost her sister are deeply touching. As I always say, when Gong Li cries, you may cry with her. Such an amazing actress. A treasure of a film and an excellent gift, especially for Gong Li fans. PRICE $19.00

This movie is not for the faint of heart. The rape scene is not the issue here. This is really about watching how some disabled people are treated by their own families. After the first 30 minutes of this film, it transforms into this beautiful love story between a severly handicapped girl and a mentally challenged young man. The girl is very lonely and kept as a prisoner in her own home. The issue of the early rape scene is washed away as you realize that the boy didnt really know what he was doing. The two have a love affair and the girl finds love for the first time in her life, only to be found out by others and nobody knows or understands whats really happening. The film has an uncomfortable ending as you watch her only happiness being taken away from her simply because she is mute and cant speak or write. Everyone thinks she is a victim but she is actually happy but neither the boy or her are able to convey the truth to anyone due to their respective handicaps. This film is for adults due to the rape scene which is not graphic but still it exist so its not for children. For those who can handle deep emotion, this film is brave and special. PRICE $19.00

Chinese language with English subtitle option. The New Year brings little hope for an unfortunate resident of a mountainside home in eastern China. The woman has been left a widow after her husband dies. Sold by her mother-in-law, she subsequently faces an unpleasant passage through life until she unexpectedly meets and marries a gentle soul who seems to care for her. A child is born, but the storm clouds gather once again when her husband and offspring both book a premature date with the grim reaper. Now viewed with suspicion by the villagers, she is seen as an unlucky charm, and outcast from society. A moving, yet harrowing film, New Year Sacrifice lingers long in the memory after the final credits roll.

The first thing you must understand about this wonderful film is that it's a 1956 film. The story takes place around 1910. This is old school China. This film is one of my favorites in my personal collection. The woman, to no fault of her own, becomes a White Tiger which is doom for that era. Two dead husbands, sold out for marriage, her child is eaten by a wild animal and the bad luck just continues to happen. This film is listed as one of the best 100 Chinese films of the 20th century and I agree. And just like the commerical review above, I agree, this movie sticks with you after you watch it. Especially after you watch all the terrible things that happen to her and you keep expecting a happy ending, but as she walks into the night homeless and penniless in the dead of winter, in the cold snow, through her town, and nobody will help her, her fate awaits her. When the credits roll, you just shake your head in disbelief at what happens to her. A real treasure. If you have a Chinese film collection, it cant possibly be complete if you dont have this film. Highly recommended. PRICE $19.00

Actress Gong Li. Director Zhang Yimou. Chinese language with English subtitle option. Curse of the Golden Flower is a dazzling, visually stunning film. Calling again upon the talents of the striking Gong Li, Yimou tells an epic tale of lust and power set in the opulent world of the Later Tang dynasty. The plot follows the story of the Emperor (Chow Yun Fat) and his Empress (Gong Li) and the tragic disintegration of their royal family whose problems go far beyond the merely dysfunctional. For starters, the ailing Empress has long been having an affair with her stepson, the Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye). Unbeknownst to her, Wan has been dallying with the Imperial Doctor's daughter (Li Man), and has plans to escape the palace with her. Meanwhile, the Emperor himself has just returned from a long trip, and while relations with his wife are obviously icy, it becomes clear that his plans for her are far more ominous than she could ever imagine. Everyone involved has a secret plan for either escape or domination, resulting in an explosive ending wherein the darkest family secrets are revealed and horrifically bloody battles are waged both inside and outside the walls of the sparkling, gold-encrusted palace.

Curse of the Golden Flower is a big production battle scene movie. It's a good movie and as usual, Gong Li is her spectacular self playing an Empress. There are some special effects during the fighting battle scenes and for this type of film category, it's certainly the best I have watched. If you have ever seen the film "300", it's that level of effects but this is on a much larger scale. As you watch the film you learn all of the underlying relationships going on and you get excited knowing that at some point, all of the characters in the film are going to learn those secrets as well and you wonder what all that anger is going to cause when everybodys secrets are exposed. The film set is exceptional with stunning gold and multi-colored scenes. Good story and fun to watch film. Good gift item for guys and women who like battle scenes. PRICE $19.00

This movie is one of my personal favorites in my Chinese film collection. I personally like Chinese village movies the best of all and this is in that category. Unlike most films which take place early in the 20th century, this films story takes place in the 1990's. This is a film where a young woman is kidnapped into an old school remote Chinese village and forced to have a baby and marry. She is tricked into going to the village by a girl her own age who introduces her to a man in the city who pretends to hire her to sell medical supplies to remote villages with the promise of making a good living in sales. The film's plot is about escape. She tries to escape many times only to fail over and over again. Finally her father arrives to take her home only to be stopped by the local police because they want to investigate the situation more and because the police themselves fear the villagers. If you like shocking sudden endings, this film is one you will like a lot. The ending will leave you breathless for a few seconds as the woman watches her father being beaten on by the kidnapper husband who stole her. She decides she has had enough of it all and in the blink of an eye, her rage takes over. Not for children due to the adult content that takes place. An excellent film and good gift item. PRICE $19.00

Actress Gong Li. Actress ZiYi Zhang. English. 2nd CD with Interviews. Nominated for six Academy Awards winning three. Arthur Golden's blockbuster bestseller, Memoirs of a Geisha, has been brilliantly brought to the big screen by Oscar-nominated director Rob Marshall. Music Soundtrack John Williams. The film opens in a remote Japanese fishing village in 1929, where two sisters, Chiyo and Satsu, are sold by their troubled father to people who place Chiyo in a classy geisha house known as an okiya in Gion and Satsu in a much more vulgar and dangerous district. Chiyo becomes a maid to Hatsumomo, a cold, controlling, and calculating geisha who is instantly jealous of Chiyo's unusual, beautiful eyes and childish innocence. Chiyo is befriended by Pumpkin, another maid at the okiya, but the two are soon driven apart. Chiyo is shown compassion by the Chairman and another, more successful geisha, Mameha, who takes her under her wing as her "little sister," furthering the battle between Chiyo, now called Sayuri, and Hatsumomo. As Sayuri is trained in the art of being a geisha, learning how to walk, talk, dance, and serve in order to please and honor her distinguished male clients, World War II looms on the horizon, threatening to upend Japan and its old ways. Memoirs of a Geisha is a lush, sweeping historical and romantic epic, featuring gorgeous period costumes, primarily the exquisite kimono worn by the geisha. Ziyi Zhang is outstanding as Sayuri, who stands up to the oppressive Hatsumomo (Gong Li), while Michelle Yeoh, as the wise and elegant Mameha. Ken Watanabe, Koji Yakusho, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa are among the men who take an interest in Sayuri, who is continually faced with difficult choices that will shape her destiny, just as Japan's destiny is changing shape with the coming of the West. John Williams's soaring score is enhanced by solos from virtuosos Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman.

Well where do I begin? This is an excellent best of the best film. Although this is a Japanese story, I have it included in my collection simply because in my personal opinion, this is a masterpiece. When you pair Asia's two best actresses together in one film and make them rival characters, the results are amazing. Of my Japanese films, which I have very few of in my collection, this is the best of the best by far. I have watched this movie over 20 times and read the book. Gong Li who is Chinese, plays a Japanese Geisha and speaks perfect english in this film. This woman is amazing. But she is just one of the gems in this film. You will love little nine year old Chiyo. You will love the female narrator. You will love to hate Gong Li's character Hatsumomo. You will bond with five to ten characters in the movie. Ziyi Zhangs absolute best work of her life. At one point she does a dance on stage for the Spring Festival and let me tell you its breathtaking. She did great in 'The Road Home' which is one of my Chinese film treasures. She does equally as good or better in this film. Clearly, Gong Li is the polished actress in this film, but that takes nothing away from the rest of the cast. Also, let me highlight 'Suzuka Ohgo'. She is the little girl who plays Chiyo, who eventually grows up to be a Geisha, which is Ziyi Zhangs role as the adult Chiyo known by her Geisha given name "Sayuri". I found it interesting that even as you read the commercial review above and on the actual DVD box, Suzuka is not listed. This little girl should have won an oscar. I have never seen a child actor in a role where I thought they deserved an Academy Award, but now I have and it's Suzuka Ohgo. With a long list of major actors and actresses in this film, at the end of the day, my first Academy Award would have went to her. Best performance I have ever watched on screen by a child. This film is a five star film. This film can be included on the best of the best list. This film ranks up with films like 'Raise The Red Lantern' and 'For The Children'. For all ages young and old, male or female. Great gift item especially for females but trust me, men will get pulled in by the Spring Dance scene and will end up watching the movie too. This movie is mystical and will give you chill's down your spine from the unbelievable Memoirs Of A Geisha music. The set is big production first class. This movie is a must see and an education into the exclusive world of the Japanese Geisha. PRICE $19.00

Actress Youki Kudoh. English language. Winner of the Audience Award for Best Dramatic Picture at Sundance, this period romance follows the saga of a young Japanese girl who becomes a "picture bride" for a Hawaiian sugarcane worker following her parents' deaths. Arriving in Hawaii to discover her fiance has deceived her with an old photo, she nonetheless fulfills her duty, eventually admitting her own deception and learning to accept her life. Winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival.

This film is a charmer. I only offer a few Japanese films that I feel are special movies and this one is excellent. It's a great film with some deeply sad moments that will touch your heart. I pull this film out every few months to watch it again. The actress Youki Kudoh is to say the least adorable and elegant and has a personality that will make you feel for her situation and bring a tear to your eye. Within the first minutes of the film you will be hooked by her delicate and fragile presence. Being matched up with a stranger more than twice her age, she's unhappy at the harsh living conditions and is convinced she will get back to Japan only to soon realize that she will never be able to raise the money and even if she did make it back, there would be nothing to go back too. She then comes to the realization that she is stuck and has no options. She finally melds into the life of the other immigrants and finds herself acting and living as the others. She gets help at dealing with the situation as her and another girl bond into good friends before tragedy strikes. The sadness of this epic tale is capped with a feel good ending which makes this wonderful film complete. Makes a nice gift for all ages, men and woman. This Japanese film will make a nice addition to your collection of foreign films. PRICE $19.00

Actress Gong Li. Actor Jeremy Irons. Actress Maggie Cheung. Musician Ruben Blades. English. Hong Kong-born American director Wayne Wang. In 1997, with the city on the verge of the British handing the colony back to the Chinese, he returned for a different look. In Chinese Box, Jeremy Irons plays John, an English journalist moving among the Chinese business elite and British officials at expensive nightclubs. The politics of transition are seen through the prism of his personal relationships. He is in love with Vivian played by Gong Li, a woman he meets in Beijing who's now working at a club owned by Chang, a Chinese man she wants to marry seemingly for his status, not so much love. But Chang wants to become respectable and won't marry her because of her checkered past. After a personal crisis, John goes out with a camcorder to capture images of the last days of British rule. He becomes fascinated by Jean, played by Maggie Cheung, a mysterious woman who hides half her scared face behind a scarf as she darts through the streets aggressively selling strange items. Played with a manic verve by martial arts star Maggie Cheung, Jean comes to represent everything that is strange and enigmatic about Hong Kong. Chinese Box is a thoughtful, realistic blend of individual lives set against a large historical backdrop.

There is something strangely addictive about this film. The first time I watched it, I wasn't blown away by it. The 2nd time I watched it, I liked it more. The 5th time I watched it, well, you get the point. Asia's best actress Gong Li is her wonderful self as normal. Maggie Cheung is so interesting of a character yet seemingly has very little to do with the story, yet her performance brings balance to the film. Maggie's character is enough to watch this film alone. I've watched many of Maggie's movies and although she is not the lead role in this film, I would say it's her best work. She's like a nomad and again, has nothing to do with the story at all, yet her injection into the story is like sprinkles on a cupcake. Ruben Blades who plays John's roommate sings a short song that is hilarious and a second which is his famous hit song Across The Borderline. Excellent soundtrack. This film has great music. This is a good film for all ages and it's really good at giving you a feel for downtown Hong Kong. Someone dies at the end and it makes an interesting ending. Good gift item for teens to adult. PRICE $19.00

Actress Gong Li. Chinese language with English subtitle option. Lush, lyrical parable about the modernization of China, Temptress Moon is the story of Zhongliang (Leslie Cheung), a Shanghai gangster raised on the sumptuous rural estate of the powerful, opium-addled Pang family. As a boy, Zhongliang, promised the life of a student, becomes instead a servant for his sister and her drug-addicted husband and a playmate for Ruyi played by Gong Li, the female heir to the Pang dynasty. A permanent outsider, Zhongliang escapes the painful decadence of the Pang household and becomes a smooth-talking mobster, seducing women in the jazz-saturated clubs of 1920s Shanghai, but he is forced to face his past when hired to seduce and abduct Ruyi in a criminal attempt to gain control over the now vulnerable Pang estate. What begins as a routine seduction becomes more complicated when Zhongliang finds himself unable to escape his true feelings for Ruyi and crippling memories of his painful childhood. Cinematographer Christopher Doyle revels in the eclectic visual spectacle of a tradition-bound China cracking and hatching its version of the jazz age. Li and Cheung turn in inspired performances, their palpable onscreen chemistry igniting director Chen Kaige's magnificently detailed historical epic.

This film is a classic Gong Li type movie wherein her presence in the movie brings intensity and emotion. This movie is an intense romantic love story and stars two actresses from Raise The Red Lantern. A man who comes to deceive Gong Li is slowly seduced by her and it changes his plans. A surprise ending brings Gong Li to an interesting state of mind. When you watch Gong Li in her movies, her fate always ends up being an interesting one and that exact situation happens in this cool film. Good gift item for teens to adult. PRICE $19.00

Actress Gong Li. Director Zhang Yimou. Chinese language with English subtitle option. An erotic tale of forbidden love as an embittered and impotent factory owner's battered bride and his overworked nephew secretly maintain a relationship until it seems murder is the only only way to be together freely. Ultimately, Ju Dou addresses the problems of China's feudal society in the 1920s. Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, and other major filmmakers spoke out against Chinese officials who attempted to censor the film and keep it out of theaters.

This is one of my favorite films. This film is excellent and old school china. It's kind of in the realm of Raise the Red Lantern except opposite of being in the rich realm but instead she lives and marrys an older mean man in the countryside. After physical abuse takes place, she falls in love with a younger workhand relative and they begin having an affair. They then get revenge on the man by having a baby. The mean older husband has an accident and is crippled. This is where the story really starts to get bizarre. They stick him in a wooden bucket and they force him to live in the bucket for revenge. The baby grows up to realize he is a product of an affair and surprisingly out of nowhere he suddenly becomes a major part of the movie when he starts to get revenge on everybody involved. This film is a five star film. I would say its one of my top 10 films in my Chinese collection. Gong Li is exceptional in this film, one of her best works. This is a well written movie and all around great flick. Great gift item. PRICE $19.00

Japanese language with English subtitle option. Based on a screenplay by the late filmmaking legend Akira Kurosawa, Kei Kumai's The Sea is Watching follows the lives of women residing and working at a brothel in Edo-era Japan. Amidst the daily routines of tea and gossip, the ladies of the Ashi No Ya house, inevitably get emotionally involved with their clients. Young, naïve O-Shin (Nagiko Tohno) falls for an inexperienced samurai, even though he is from a higher social class. Meanwhile, her big-sister figure, Kikuno (Misa Shimizu), has both a thuggish boyfriend and a kind, older man vying for her affections. Eventually, Ryosuke (Masatoshi Nagase), a troubled wanderer, visits the brothel, and he forms an unlikely connection with O-Shin, one that may have a lasting effect on her life. Filmed entirely on a set that recreates pre-20th-century Japanese village life, The Sea is Watching focuses on the brothel and its denizens with a tight lens. Although the actors turn in good performances, the real stars of the show are the costumes and sets, which recall an era of Japanese history that few contemporary films touch on. Surprisingly romantic, this tribute to Kurosawa is an enjoyable outing, strengthened by Kumai's vivid vision of the past.

I really like this film! This film is so charming and special, I consider it one of my treasures. I only have a few Japanese films in my collection and this is 2nd only to Memoirs of a Geisha. This story is about a house full of prostitutes who use Geisha fashion as a presentation device. Of course, real Geisha are not prostitutes, they are very talented artist and specialist in music, dance and skilled communication experts and are of the highest quality of professionals that world history has ever produced ( known as the 'Flower and Willow World' [ the Living Flower ] also encompasses traditional Japanese arts like painting, woodblock printing, teahouses, writing, dance, and cultural traditions such as the tea ceremony ) such as famed Geisha Mineko Iwasaki of the 1970's ( and still today about 750 exist in Kyoto Japan ) but sometimes in history that fashion look as been used to attract customers for the male entertainment industries ( which the american military experienced during WWII ). Romantic and comedic, these woman give you a look into their everyday life and watch as one girl falls in love with her customer and the result is not what she hoped for. Although humorous and entertaining at times, you wont actually laugh because the things that are funny are also sad. This is a really good film about female bonding but I would not classify it as a chic-flick because men will like it also. In it's respective category it's a five star film. The Sea is Watching is a film you will watch and never forget. Again, I will say that it is a real treasure of a movie. Highly recommended for everybody and all ages. Excellent gift item. PRICE $19.00

Actress Gong Li. Chinese language with English subtitle option. Uncle Liu brings his cousin to Shanghai to work for 'Boss,' the leader of a powerful drug empire in the 1930's. Shuisheng, a simple country boy is awed and overwhelmed by the opulence and immense wealth he is suddenly surrounded by. He is to be the attendant of Xiao Jingbao, the new mistress of 'Boss.' While he fumbles with the demands of his new role, much intrigue is going on around him, well beyond his bewildered perception. Xiao Jingbao is having a tumultuous affair, Fat Yu is starting a gang war, and 'Boss' is beginning to suspect that one of his trusted men is not loyal.

Attention Gong Li fans! This film must be in your collection! Why, you ask? Is it because it's a great film? No. I mean yes, it's a good film. But thats not the reason. Is it because it is about gangsters in old school china in the 1930's era? No, thats not the reason. So, what is it you ask? I'll tell you. Gong Li sings and dances on stage with that smart-alicky attitude and she is wearing a playful skimpy outfit and THAT is all the reason you need to get this film. Trust me. Even if you get the film and dont like it, you will watch the two perfomance scenes over and over again! Gong is quite the sexy ham in this movie and it is a keeper! The movie eventually ends up in the countryside on an island and the film takes a completely different feel away from the city and gangsters. She has money because of her lover gangster and is living next to a poor woman and her daughter. Her narcissistic behavoir is so bad you just want to reach through the screen and slap her. This movie is average but Gong's performance is exceptional and worth every penny. Great gift item for everyone and I think men will REALLY like it. Highly recommended. PRICE $19.00