✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Cinema

A Century of Chinese Cinema, BFI

01 Jun 14 – 08 Oct 14, 12:00 AM

The BFI Southbank honour 100 years of Chinese film with a mammoth five-month season.

By CW Contributor on 24/6/2014

A still from
A still from "In the Mood for Love', dir. Wong Kar-wai
A Century of Chinese Cinema, BFI A Century of Chinese Cinema, BFI Ella Cory-Wright
Chinese cinema is one hundred years old, though you’d hardly know it. As far as most of us are concerned, China’s film industry was kicked into action by Bruce Lee circa 1970; even the most seasoned arthouse patron will be largely unacquainted with the half-century of cinema that preceded him. Fast-forward to the present day, and you’ll find that of the “Chinese” filmmakers now winning international acclaim, around half – like Lee himself – aren’t from Mainland China, but from Hong Kong (Wong Kar-wai) or Taiwan (Ang Lee). East Asia’s turbulent 20th-century history has done much to disrupt the flow of Chinese films to the West – clearly there are gaps to be filled.
Which is where the BFI’s mammoth new retrospective steps in. A Century of Chinese Cinema is a five-month effort to trace the history of Chinese movie-making across ten decades and three territories. While the Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwanese industries are often treated as distinct by historians, the BFI’s programme covers all three, in the process revealing the strikingly fluid movement of Chinese filmmakers between them. Which means that you’ll get to explore the punchy agitprop films of the Mao years, the Hong Kong-based Shaw Brothers’ funky kung fu romps, and Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-Liang’s droll, deadpan dramas in equal measure.
The season is chopped up into five chronological chapters, stretching from the golden age of Shanghai cinema in the ’30s to the provocative cinema of today’s auteurs, such as Wong Kar-wai and Jia Zhang-ke (who recently made waves with his outrageous A Touch of Sin). Along the way, films of special importance will be spotlighted – we’re particularly looking forward to Fei Mu’s Spring in a Small Town, described by the BFI's head of programming as “the finest work from the first great era of Chinese filmmaking”. Its elegance and bold modernity will leave you wondering why it hasn’t reached our shores before. The good news? It’s only the tip of the iceberg.

What A Century of Chinese Cinema, BFI
Where BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, Southbank, London, SE1 8XT | MAP
Nearest tube Waterloo (underground)
When 01 Jun 14 – 08 Oct 14, 12:00 AM
Price £12+
Website Click here to book via the BFI.



Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend: 13 - 15 May. Photo: Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche, showing as part of Village Screen Film Fest
Things to do in London this weekend: 13 - 15 May
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London (Photograph: Peter Lewicki)
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London, 2022
The best new restaurants opening in May. Photo: Cavita
Best restaurant openings: London, May 2022

A little more...

  • Exclusive Discount for Culture Whisper Members

    Culture Whisper members get £5 off BFI Cinema Membership. Now you can enjoy priority booking, exclusive events, £1.50 off BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX tickets, discounts at the Benugo bar and restaurant as well as regular promotions on streaming films on the new BFI Player (plus much more!)

    We think it's too good to refuse. Click here to learn more; to enjoy this offer please call 020 7928 3232 (11:30-20:30) and quote ‘Friends’

    BFI 

    Holding court at the Southbank Centre alongside The National Theatre, The Royal Festival Hall, and The Tate Modern, this industry HQ, hub of educational resources, key funding body and cinema is one of our guiding lights in current and future film news. It has two great bars, always abuzz, but we prefer the Riverfront: they have deckchairs and mean Bloody Marys.

    DINNER 

    The best option, if you're up for a 10-minute walk, is the Anchor and Hope gastropub on The Cut, which is exceptional. They don't take reservations, so you may have to wait at the bar with a bottle of wine, but we assure you it's worth it. 

Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
We love


  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×