It’s not often that a press release makes us perk up, but earlier today TimeOut publicized its list of 100 best films made in mainland China, and it’s really impressive. As editor James Wilkinson writes:
Some 88 experts from around the world – including celebrated directors such as sixth generation pioneer Wang Xiaoshuai (The Days) and Cannes Camera d’Or winner Anthony Chen (Ilo Ilo), and critic/director Mark Cousins – contributed to the poll, with their favourites being compiled into the final list.
You can check out screenshots of the films, a look at who voted, and other fun information over at TimeOut’s website. For now, the complete list is below — and yes, there are so many good ones, led by Chen Kaige’s stellar story of two Peking Opera stars over the course of the Cultural Revolution (one of the most brutally honest portrayals of that time period). How many have you seen? And how many will you now try to find?
1) Farewell My Concubine
2) Spring in a Small Town (1948)
3) Devils on the Doorstep
4) In the Heat of the Sun
5) The Pickpocket (aka Xiao Wu)
6) West of the Tracks
7) Yellow Earth
8) To Live
9) The Goddess
10) Street Angel
11) Still Life
12) Red Sorghum
13) Raise the Red Lantern
14) The Blue Kite
15) Blind Shaft
16) Platform
17) Suzhou River
18) The Sun Also Rises
19) Hibiscus Town
20) Summer Palace
21) Ju Dou
22) Black Snow
23) Two Stage Sisters
24) Havoc in Heaven
25) The Horse Thief
26) Petition
27) Oxhide
28) Let the Bullets Fly
29) Crazy Stone
30) Hero
31) The Big Road
32) Unknown Pleasures
33) Mr Zhao
34) Woman Demon Human
35) Sacrifice of Youth
36) King of the Children
37) Peacock
38) Mountain Patrol
39) Spring Fever
40) The Life of a Peking Policeman
41) The Crows and Sparrows
42) Back to Back, Face to Face
43) The Spring River Flows East
44) The Story of Qiu Ju
45) Prince Nezha’s Triumph Against Dragon King
46) In Expectation
47) City of Life and Death
48) Shower
49) Early Spring in February
50) The Dream Factory
51) A Touch of Sin
52) Beijing Bicycle
53) 24 city
54) Emperor Visits the Hell
55) Miserable at Middle Age
56) The Days
57) The Troubleshooters
58) New Women
59) My Memories of Old Beijing
60) Father
61) For Fun
62) Taking Father Home
63) Keep Cool
64) Oxhide II
65) Girl Basketball Player No 5
66) Purple Butterfly
67) On the Beat
68) The Search
69) The Missing Gun
70) Third Sister Liu
71) The World
72) A World Without Thieves
73) The Black Cannon Incident
74) Winter Vacation
75) House of Flying Daggers
76) If You are The One
77) People Mountain, People Sea
78) 11 Flowers
79) Doctor Ma’s Country Clinic
80) Disorder
81) East Palace, West Palace
82) The Legend of Sealed Book
83) Assembly
84) Long Live the Mistress
85) Lin Jia Pu Zi
86) Karamay
87) Princess Iron Fan
88) Fortune Teller
89) Cow
90) Drug War
91) The Next Life
92) Song of the Fisherman
93) Waves Washing the Sand
94) Zero Thousand Li Under the Clouds and Moon
95) Ermo
96) Last Train Home
97) The Swordsman in Double-Flag Town
98) Beijing Bastards
99) The September of Mine
100) The Message
Good to see The Sun Also Rises way up there. That film is absolutely glorious and for my money Jiang Wen’s best so far.