ShogunRua wrote:I've tried to watch some mainland films, but my conclusion is invariably that they were quite awful, and simply inferior to Hong Kong cinema. Anything in particular you would recommend?
I'm far from the most well-versed man when it comes to it, but for example I recently finished watching the excellent Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks by Wang Bing - a 9h+ documentary about the decline of some of China's industrial complexes during three years. A fantastic feat and extremely impressive.
Another more popular one should be Devils on the Doorstep by Wen Jiang, which depicts wartime in China during the Japanese occupation in the 30s and 40s. Has 140 rankings here an average tier of 8.24.
Then there's of course Jia Zhangke, of whom I've only seen Still Life so far but he seems to have an impressive body of work so far; which seems to be in the more contemplative vein, as much of modern Asian cinema today, it seems.