In mainland China during the 1990s, some of the biggest contemporary directors were making their mark on the local film scene. While Wong Kar Wai and directors like Edward Yang, Tsai Ming-Liang, and master of the long take Hou Hsiao-hsien were active in Hong Kong and Taiwan, a new generation of Chinese directors emerged in Beijing. Some are now well known today, such as Zhang Yimou and Jia Zhangke, but others made their staple movies during the 1990s, such as Tian Zhuangzhuang, Chen Kaige, and Zhang Junzhao. These filmmakers were known as the Fifth Generation of Chinese cinema and began making their art after the Cultural Revolution.
As a result, many of their movies often dwelled on themes of human existentialism and the reason why people exist. Using characters that were fairly ordinary people, they built on the social realism that the previous generation of Chinese storytellers embodied in their work, creating movies that gained worldwide attention. Some say the movement partially ended with the Tiananmen protests and massacre, as censorship increased and several key filmmakers left the country. These are the best movies from mainland Chinese in the 1990s.
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6 To Live
ERA International
1994’s To Live is an adaptation of a well-known novel by Chinese novelist Yu Hua. Directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Ge You and Gong Li, a frequent collaborator with Zhang, and a prominent actress during the 90s, the film is a sweeping look at contemporary Chinese history. Ge and Gong portray a couple living through the Chinese Civil War, as the man, who was the son of a rich man, loses everything. When conscripted into the army, he is captured by the communists and only gets to return home once they win. Years later, when the Great Leap Forward begins, only more hardships are in store for the family. To Live is a look into difficulties everyday citizens faced during these times of rapid change.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
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5 The Story of Qiu Ju
Sil-Metropole Organisation
Zhang Yimou and Gong Li collaborate in 1992’s The Story of Qiu Jiu, a comedic drama about a woman in search of justice. Qiu Jiu (Gong) is a peasant living on the farms with her husband and is about to give birth any day now. When the leader of their community kicks her husband in the groin, it leaves him unable to work. After the local police fail to do anything about the situation outside of paying a fine, Qiu Ju goes to the big city in search of a lawyer to take on her husband’s case. The Story of Qiu Ju is a glimpse into rural life in China, as it was filmed in Shanxi with a hidden camera, so several of the scenes in the movie genuinely depict everyday life as it occurred.
4 Raise the Red Lantern
Era International
Raise the Red Lantern is an adaptation of the 1990 novel Wives and Concubines by Su Tong, and it would later become a ballet at the National Ballet of China. In 1920s China, a young woman (Gong Li) married a wealthy man after her father’s death and left the family completely bankrupt. She will be the man’s fourth concubine, and while she initially is treated very well upon arriving at the home, she quickly discovers that the concubines, and the wife, are treated completely differently and must fight each other for the opportunity to essentially be seen and taken care of. Visually, Raise the Red Lantern is a seductive film, creating a particular kind of ambiance through cinematography that is unmatched by many movies today.
3 The Blue Kite
Beijing Film Studio
The Blue Kite was released by Tian Zhuangzhuang in 1993 before he hit a new stride and style of filmmaking in the 2000s. The movie is split into three episodic stories: “Father,” “Uncle,” and “Stepfather,” each of which corresponds to a particular moment in Chinese history. The narrator is originally a young boy, but in the first story, the backdrop is the Hundred Flowers Campaign. When his father is sent away and killed at a work camp, his childhood and coming of age are then marred by the Great Leap Forward and the imminent Cultural Revolution. The Blue Kite, like To Live and Farewell My Concubine, critiques the Communist Party and seeks to use it as a metaphor for poison, as it tarnishes this family’s unity and rots it down to the core.
2 In the Heat of the Sun
China Film Co-Production Corporation
Director Jiang Wen, best known for his appearance in Rogue One, released In the Heat of the Sun in 1994. It, too, is based on a book, albeit loosely. A teenage boy in 1970s Beijing, whose nickname is “Monkey,” roams the streets of the city day by day with his friends. Because of the Cultural Revolution, their local schools are unable to provide education, and their parents are often away. Unlike some heavy-hitting movies made by Fifth Generation filmmakers, In the Heat of the Sun utilizes Jiang’s personal experiences to create an authentic movie with moments of nostalgia, rather than total discontent with Chinese history.
1 Farewell My Concubine
Beijing Film Studio
Starring Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi, and Gong Li, Farewell My Concubine is a powerhouse of a movie. Per NY Times, the movie was initially banned in China due to how it negatively depicts the Cultural Revolution, but it would become the first Chinese movie to take home the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival. Farewell My Concubine’s protagonist is Cheng Dieyi (Cheung), a young man who, after being abandoned by his mother, is trained to play female roles in Chinese operas. As he grows older and stars in operas with Duan Xiaolou, he begins to embody his character, falling in love with his male co-star. As a love triangle begins, the Chinese Civil War unfolds, setting these performers on a dangerous path due to their profession. An epic story of unrequited love that weaves the turbulence of the period into its tale, it is not a movie to miss.
