The Unfinished Comedy: How a brave satire in Maoist China destroyed its creator’s career
In the 1957 satirical film The Unfinished Comedy, made during Mao Zedongโs Hundred Flowers Campaign, one of the characters is a CCP censor who initially...
Tristan Shaw
Tristan Shaw is an American writer who enjoys folklore, film, and history. You can follow him on Twitter @Tristan89201760
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Hanshan: Investigating the life of Chinese literatureโs most mysterious poet
The poet Hanshan ๅฏๅฑฑ, a name meaning โCold Mountain,โ ranks as one of the most eccentric and mysterious figures of Chinese literature. He is said...
Film Friday: โThe Great Buddha+,โย Taiwanโs award-winning dark comedy, is worth the hype
Director Huang Hsin-yaoโs satirical, sometimes bleak dark comedy focuses on class, political corruption, and religion in Taiwan. The Great Buddha+ ๅคงไฝๆฎๆๆฏ won five awards...
5 must-see Chinese movies of 2018
Five noteworthy Chinese movies from 2018, including from big-name directors Zhang Yimou, Jia Zhangke, and Jiang Wen. As 2018 comes to a close, Iโd say...
Zhang Shichuan and Zheng Zhengqiu: The unlikely duo who pioneered Chinese cinema
History now remembers Zhang Shichuan, a businessman, and Zheng Zhengqiu, an intellectual, as two of the key founding fathers of Chinese cinema. Their story could...
Hopping Vampires and Beautiful Ghosts: A Brief History of Chinese Horror, Pt. 2
From killer butterflies and hopping zombies (in a movie nominated for Best Film at the Hong Kong Film Awards) to dismemberment, cannibalism, and worse levels of exploitation and sleaze, Chinese horror films in the last four decades have taken a smorgasbord of configurations and forms โ with different degrees of silliness and scare.
Hopping Vampires and Beautiful Ghosts: A Brief History of Chinese Horror, Pt. 1
Chinese horror films might not be internationally renowned โ and indeed, they are frowned upon in today's Chinese film industry โ but they have a rich history, with roots in ancient folklore, featuring stories of ghosts, zombies, monsters, and magic, full of creepy crawlies and psychedelic weirdness.
5 classic movies to remember Xie Jin, the master of Chinese melodrama
Xie Jin remains relatively obscure outside of his home country, which is a shame. He directed such canonical films as The Red Detachment of Womenย ็บข่ฒๅจๅญๅ...
โHavoc in Heavenโ: How Chinaโs first animators braved war, politics, and exile to create a masterpiece
Based off "Journey to the West," this hand-animated classic took more than two decades to complete, with its creators suffering the vicissitudes of 20th-century Chinese history.ย ย The final product is nothing short of a national treasure.