RadiiChina's 100 Films to Watch to Help You Understand China
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The history of cinema has shadowed the history of modern China, turning a lens on more than a century of radical upheavals that have given form and substance to the People’s Republic as it stands today. In the spirit of exploring this vast and complex country through the layer of its big-screen output, RADII presents our list of 100 Films to Understand China. This is not a ranked list of 1-100 — we’re not trying to tell you the 100 “best” or “most important” films to come out of China. Our goal is to give a round and deep profile of the country through the medium of films made here in the last 100 years or so.
This list is a syllabus of movies across the spectrum of time, space and quality that, taken together, provide a snapshot of today’s China, the forces that shaped it, and the directions in which it’s moving looking forward. We’re focusing primarily on films made in mainland China, since these come from a different cultural context and industrial framework than films made in Hong Kong or Taiwan.
In assembling the list we reached out to filmmakers, producers, distributors, curators, critics, experts and industry insiders, who gave us an eclectic mix of mainstream titles, cult classics, and deep cuts. They provided these via the category headings that we provided and therefore do not necessarily endorse all of the selections you’ll find here.
To make it easier to navigate, we’ve divided the 100 films up into 10 categories with 10 movies each:
- Pre-war Shanghai;
- The Mao Years;
- Opening Up;
- Indie & Arthouse;
- Documentaries;
- Wuxia;
- Pop(corn) Culture;
- China Today;
- Bad Films;
- Animation.
Filter
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100 new
Ne Zha zhi mo tong jiang shi
2019 — a.k.a. Ne Zha, in 1 top list -
99 new
Hao ji le
2017 — a.k.a. Have a Nice Day, in 0 top lists -
98 new
Dayu haitang
2016 — a.k.a. Big Fish & Begonia, in 0 top lists Check -
97 new
Bao lian deng
1999 — a.k.a. Lotus Lantern, in 0 top lists Check -
96 new
San ge he shang
1980 — a.k.a. Three Monks, in 0 top lists Check -
95 new
Nezha nao hai
1979 — a.k.a. Prince Nezha's Triumph Against Dragon King, in 1 top list Check -
94 new
Kong que gong zhu
1982, in 0 top lists -
93 new
Da nao tian gong
1963 — a.k.a. The Monkey King, in 0 top lists Check -
92 new
Zhu ba jie chi xi gua
1958 — a.k.a. Pigsy Eats Watermelon, in 0 top lists -
91 new
Tie shan gong zhu
1941 — a.k.a. Princess Iron Fan, in 0 top lists Check -
90 new
Mulan
2020, in 0 top lists Check -
89 new
Koali & Rice
2019, in 0 top lists -
88 new
Shang hai bao lei
2019 — a.k.a. Shanghai Fortress, in 0 top lists -
87 new
Gong fu yu jia
2017 — a.k.a. Kung Fu Yoga, in 1 top list -
86 new
The Great Wall
2016, in 1 top list Check -
85 new
Chun jie xin ling: Zhu meng yan yi quan
2015, in 0 top lists -
84 new
Transformers: Age of Extinction
2014, in 2 top lists Check -
83 new
Xiao shi dai
2013 — a.k.a. Tiny Times, in 0 top lists Check -
82 new
Tian ji: Fu chun shan ju tu
2013 — a.k.a. Switch, in 0 top lists Check -
81 new
Ren zai jiong tu: Tai jiong
2012 — a.k.a. Lost in Thailand, in 1 top list Check -
80 new
Di jiu tianchang
2019 — a.k.a. So Long, My Son, in 1 top list -
79 new
Wo he wo de zu guo
2019 — a.k.a. My People, My Country, in 1 top list -
78 new
Liu lang di qiu
2019 — a.k.a. The Wandering Earth, in 1 top list -
77 new
Shaonian de ni
2019 — a.k.a. Better Days, in 2 top lists -
76 new
Song wo shang qing yun
2019 — a.k.a. Send Me to the Clouds, in 0 top lists -
75 new
Feng Zhong You Duo Yu Zuo De Yun
2018 — a.k.a. The Shadow Play, in 0 top lists -
74 new
Diqiu zuihou de yewan
2018 — a.k.a. Long Day's Journey Into Night, in 3 top lists -
73 new
Wo bu shi yao shen
2018 — a.k.a. Dying to Survive, in 1 top list -
72 new
Rou qing shi
2018 — a.k.a. Girls Always Happy, in 0 top lists -
71 new
Zhan lang II
2017 — a.k.a. Wolf Warrior II, in 1 top list -
70 new
Lao Shi
2016 — a.k.a. Old Stone, in 0 top lists Check -
69 new
Mei ren yu
2016 — a.k.a. The Mermaid, in 1 top list Check -
68 new
Lao pao er
2015 — a.k.a. Mr. Six, in 0 top lists Check -
67 new
Zhuo yao ji
2015 — a.k.a. Monster Hunt, in 1 top list Check -
66 new
Bei Jing yu shang Xi Ya Tu
2013 — a.k.a. Finding Mr. Right, in 0 top lists Check -
65 new
Du zhan
2012 — a.k.a. Drug War, in 2 top lists Check -
64 new
Rang zi dan fei
2010 — a.k.a. Let the Bullets Fly, in 1 top list Check -
63 new
Feng kuang de shi tou
2006 — a.k.a. Crazy Stone, in 1 top list Check -
62 new
Jiafang yifang
1997 — a.k.a. The Dream Factory, in 0 top lists Check -
61 new
A Great Wall
1986 — a.k.a. The Great Wall Is a Great Wall, in 0 top lists Check -
60 new
Xiu chun dao
2014 — a.k.a. Brotherhood of Blades, in 0 top lists Check -
59 new
Yi dai zong shi
2013 — a.k.a. The Grandmaster, in 2 top lists Check -
58 new
Ip Man
2008, in 4 top lists Check -
57 new
Huo Yuan Jia
2006 — a.k.a. Fearless, in 2 top lists Check -
56 new
Shi mian mai fu
2004 — a.k.a. House of Flying Daggers, in 5 top lists Check -
55 new
Ying xiong
2002 — a.k.a. Hero, in 6 top lists Check -
54 new
Wo hu cang long
2000 — a.k.a. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, in 27 top lists Check -
53 new
Shao Lin si
1982 — a.k.a. The Shaolin Temple, in 1 top list Check -
52 new
Hongxia
1929 — a.k.a. Heroine in Red, in 0 top lists Check -
51 new
Huo shao hong lian si
1928, in 0 top lists Check
Last updated on May 3, 2021; source