1980s Chinese Movies

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Mount Yellow is the famous tourist attraction, the yellow mountain, in Anhui Province of China. In the early era of reforms, many peasants left their home and move to cities in search of jobs and better life, and many female migrant workers from the rural areas are from Anhui Province. Most of these female peasants found jobs as house maid and the protagonist in this movie is no exception. This film is about the experience of her and many like her, reflecting the reform from a personal perspective.

In 1949, a small Chinese fishing village populated almost entirely by women awaits the establishment of a government by the newly victorious communist regime. In addition to other worries, the villagers wonder how the government will react to their traditional customs, which decree that wives may only see their husbands three times a year, and the circumstances under which they are permitted to become pregant are very limited. In addition, those who are caught violating these rules are drowned. The almost exclusively female population of the village is explained by the fact that most of the male population died during an ocean storm. Winner of the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Film in 1989

Before dying from HIV, a man names three college girls that he had sexual relationships with while working at Southern University. A four-member special investigation team is formed to track them down

An old leper who owned a remote sorghum winery dies. Jiu'er, the wife bought by the leper, and her lover, identified only as "my Grandpa" by the narrator, take over the winery and set up an idealized quasi-matriarchal community headed by Jiu'er. When the Japanese invaders subject the area to their rule and cut down the sorghum to make way for a road, the community rises up and resists as the sorghum grows anew.

A Lijing City elementary school student takes credit for an insect collection that was not his.

Said to be the first science-fiction film produced in China (and perhaps having its North American theatrical premiere in Future Imperfect?), Death Ray on Coral Island spares no bile, camp, or latent envy in portraying America as the cunning archenemy that will stop at nothing—industrial espionage, assassinations, even ballroom dancing—to steal China’s futuristic weaponry. The film occupies a pivotal moment in China’s modern history, representing a legacy of the Great Cultural Revolution and a harbinger of the nation’s ascension on the global economic stage. Courtesy of the China Film Archive and Shanghai Film Group.

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Centers around experiments on a disembodied, living female head. This is one of only a small handful of horror films produced by Mainland China in the 80s since genre films were banned there until the late 80s.

An poor shipyard worker falls in love with a girl from a cadre family, and their romance is strongly opposed by the older generation.

In 1949 a Nationalist military officer is tricked into fleeing to Taiwan without his wife. His godson's father also remained on the mainland. They hope for national reunification.

The tragic romance of Prince Kaisal and Mariyam from Uigur folklore.

In the spring and summer of 1949, the People's Liberation Army launched an offensive under the orders of Mao Zedong and Zhu De, they crossed the Yangtze River and Nanjing was liberated on April 23 which signaled the fall of the KMT regime, Chiang Kai-Shek fled to Taiwan; on October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong standing on the rostrum of Tiananmen, solemnly declared the foundation of the People's Republic of China.

The film is a powerful condemnation of the political radicalism of the Cultural Revolution and shows how ordinary people were victimized during a decade of turmoil.

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Young people are successful in challenging the traditional custom of arranged marriages in Taohuagou village in the Zhongyuan mountains.

Jin Hua learns the story of a coin with a hole in it and his summer camp team in a model airplane competition is inspired.

A young man leading an aimless life finds that he must change his outlook to life when he falls in love with a hard working letter carrier. As he tries to impress her by collecting and learning about postage stamps, he acquires a rich, diverse knowledge of China's history and accomplishments and even wins the top award in a national quiz competition among Chinese factories.

After the leader of Qingdao CPC was trapped by enemy, a new leader comes. He makes efforts to save the predecessor and find out the traitor.

A group of young people have problems operating a small hotel.

Maimat, a young roast lamb seller, pretends to be a translator working at the Tourism Bureau while attending his friend's wedding.

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An adaptation of Weng Meng's 1953 novel.

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Longgang Village establishes a farmers' band to bring culture and entertainment into their lives.

Set in the Shaanxi province of Northern China, In The Wild Mountains is a simple yet insightful tale of village life and how economic changes in the country affect even the most remote regions.

Sixteen-year-old An-ran gets into repeated trouble because she refuses blind obedience to authority, openly challenging and correcting a teacher who makes a mistake in class. She is different.

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An old mansion, sealed for years, re-opens as a museum. A ghost is sighted by the museum's guide, our heroine, who has fallen for a social outcast, a scientist obsessed with finding ghosts with his machines.

Ding Jian arrives in Guangzhou and learns about city life.

Director Zhang Junzhao's superbly tense revisionist war film (featuring striking cinematography from future Fifth Generation standard bearer Zhang Yimou) is widely considered to be the first work of Mainland Fifth Generation cinema.

investigation into the death of a Chinese mill worker

The Red Army and Nationalist forces battle over the Chishui River in 1935.

The lives and loves of 5 young people of the Uighur minority in Xinjiang set in a musical that reflects the upsurge of disco and breakdancing in late 80s China.

Photographer and adventurer Tong (Yu Rong-Guang) spots a mirage of a beautiful woman while on a mission and is obsessed by the beauty of her. Heading into Mongolia with best friend (Tsui Siu-Ming), the discovery of the woman and her true nature is anything but beautiful however as she's the leader of a gang of desert bandits.

Beautiful Wan Wen Zheng plays a ghost bent on revenge. Originally killed while being raped, she gives supernatural fighting powers to a Kung Fu boxer in this atmospheric film.