Chinese Cinema across decades and distances: a new Film Studies at Showroom

Showroom Cinema’s next series of film studies kicks off on Wednesday 29 April. Each season, four screenings and lectures, curated and presented by a local academic, take you deeper into a corner of film canon. 

Dr Wayne Wong, Lecturer in East Asian Studies at University of Sheffield, will explore the richness and diversity of Chinese film across four decades and genres. If you’ve enjoyed classics like In the Mood for Love, Infernal Affairs, or Ip Man, this is a great chance to learn about the emergence of those genres and experience rarer works from beloved directors like Wong Kar Wai and John Woo. Or if you want to dip a toe into global cinema and East Asian history, Dr Wong will use four lectures to examine how Chinese filmmakers have used genre to explore desire, identity, violence, and historical change. 

The season starts with Comrades: Almost A Love Story - a 1996 melodrama starring Maggie Cheung. From Past Lives to When Harry Met Sally, many films have told the story of friends slipping into romance; usually after a series of near misses. Comrades is a stellar example. Cheung and Lai Ming play the chemistry perfectly, in a process that’s awkward and uncertain but also comfortable, natural and fulfilling. From there, we head to The Grandmaster, presented in its full, extended runtime of 130 minutes for the first time in UK cinemas. In Wong Kar Wai’s version, it’s Tony Leung as Ip Man - the revered grandmaster who mentored Bruce Lee - in a more grounded biopic. 

Luckily, John Woo’s The Killer brings more action! The director who introduced us to the spectacle of Gun-fu in films like Hard Boiled and A Better Tomorrow is in breath-taking form for this story of one vicious hitman, one fierce cop and ten thousand bullets… Closing the season is An Elephant Sitting Still on Wednesday 17 June. From 2018, it’s the most contemporary film and the most melancholy; a slow-moving tragedy and the only film by director HuBo. This story of four strangers, dissociating in a decaying northern Chinese city brings the trajectory of Chinese film into sharp focus to end the season, from carefree Hong Kong action to a more serious and precarious present. 

Individual film tickets are £12 each, or £6 with a free CINE26 membership. For the best value, get a season pass to all films and lectures for just £80 at: https://showroomcinema.org.uk/festivals/film-studies-chinese-cinema

By Nathan Makalena, Creative Coordinator