Bloody Morning 1992 ( 8.5)

Freely adapted from Gabriel García Márquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the film follows the investigation of a local teacher's murder in a small and desperately poor rural village, the story of the crime gradually pieced together from the fragmented memories of witnesses forced to testify at an inquest. Sharing with her Fifth Generation colleagues Chen Kaige and Tian Zhuangzhuang a remarkable eye for the barren landscapes of northern China and a fascination with small-town life — especially those enduring superstitions that Communism failed to erase — director Li Shaohong also introduces several formal innovations, particularly in storytelling structure, that remain unprecedented in Chinese cinema.

Full of Colors 1982 ( 8.5)

When the Cultural Revolution comes to an end and reform sweeps over China, two drivers of the Fifth Iron and Steel Factory set up a pancake stall in the free market in front of the factory, annoying the secretary of the Party Committee.

高朋满座 1991

N/A N/A ( 8.2)

A young man with his brush plunges into a chaotic world and lights up the heavens. In a world where cultivators are paramount, will the vermilion bird swallow the dragon, or will the dragon transcend beyond all else?

Ballistic 2008 ( 4.667)

Lawrence Lau directs Ballistic, a crime thriller that uses the turbulent world of Taiwanese politics to tell a riveting story of cops, corruption, and how righteousness still has value in this grey-shaded world.

The Love Songs of Tiedan 2012 ( 7)

In his second feature, director/co-writer Hao pays rousing tribute to 'Er-ren-tai', a form of saucy musical performance closely associated with Hao's home region in the north-west near the Mongolian border. This colourfully accessible slice of backwater ethnography follows hapless hero Tiedan (Feng Si) from joyous childhood through to a maturity notable for an eventfully unorthodox love-life. Taking their cue from the Er-ren-tai songs themselves, which express passionate feelings in bursts of hyper-stylised intensity, Hao and his Korean editor Baek Seung Hoon sock over short scenes packed with freewheeling incident and comedy.