dGenerate Films' Best Chinese-Language Films of the 2000s
by mymovieslists | created - 28 Jun 2012 | updated - 24 Jun 2021 | Public- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. In the Mood for Love (2000)
PG | 98 min | Drama, Romance
Two neighbors form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. However, they agree to keep their bond platonic so as not to commit similar wrongs.
Director: Kar-Wai Wong | Stars: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, Siu Ping-Lam, Tung Cho 'Joe' Cheung
Votes: 166,937 | Gross: $2.73M
2. Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2002)
551 min | Documentary
The impact of the decline of heavy industry on workers and their families in the Tiexi district of Shenyang, China, at the turn of the 21st century, documented unflinchingly by a fly-on-the-wall camera.
Director: Wang Bing
Votes: 1,325
3. Platform (2000)
154 min | Drama, History
A theatre troupe from rural Fenyang struggles under the decline of communism and rise of popular culture in China in the 1980s.
Director: Zhangke Jia | Stars: Hongwei Wang, Tao Zhao, Liang Jingdong, Tian-yi Yang
Votes: 3,076
4. Yi Yi (2000)
Not Rated | 173 min | Drama, Romance
Each member of a middle-class Taipei family seeks to reconcile past and present relationships within their daily lives.
Director: Edward Yang | Stars: Nien-Jen Wu, Elaine Jin, Issei Ogata, Kelly Lee
Votes: 28,422 | Gross: $1.14M
5. Still Life (2006)
Unrated | 111 min | Drama
A town in Fengjie county is gradually being demolished and flooded to make way for the Three Gorges Dam. A man and woman visit the town to locate their estranged spouses, and become witness to the societal changes.
Director: Zhangke Jia | Stars: Tao Zhao, Zhou Lan, Sanming Han, Lizhen Ma
Votes: 7,308 | Gross: $0.07M
6. Devils on the Doorstep (2000)
139 min | Comedy, Drama, War
Villagers in World War II China are unsure what to do with the two enemy prisoners who have been left in their care.
Director: Wen Jiang | Stars: Wen Jiang, Kenya Sawada, Hongbo Jiang, Teruyuki Kagawa
Votes: 8,617 | Gross: $0.02M
7. Oxhide (2005)
Not Rated | 110 min | Documentary, Drama
Daily life in an impossibly cramped Beijing apartment takes on epic proportions in this, intimate portrait, with unprecedented access, of a working-class Chinese family.
Director: Jiayin Liu | Stars: Huifen Jia, Jiayin Liu, Zaiping Liu
Votes: 269
8. Summer Palace (2006)
Unrated | 158 min | Drama, Romance
Yu Hong leaves her home village and starts university in Beijing, where she develops a consuming and compulsive relationship with another student. The student riots from 1989 then ensue and take a toll on their lives.
Director: Ye Lou | Stars: Lei Hao, Xiaodong Guo, Xueyun Bai, Lin Cui
Votes: 4,318 | Gross: $0.06M
9. The World (2004)
Not Rated | 143 min | Drama
An exploration on the impact of urbanization and globalization on a traditional culture.
Director: Zhangke Jia | Stars: Tao Zhao, Taishen Cheng, Jue Jing, Zhongwei Jiang
Votes: 3,490 | Gross: $0.06M
10. Blind Shaft (2003)
Unrated | 92 min | Crime, Drama
Two coal miners and conmen looking for their next murder victim decide on a naïve country boy desperately looking for a job.
Director: Yang Li | Stars: Yixiang Li, Baoqiang Wang, Shuangbao Wang, Jing Ai
Votes: 2,914 | Gross: $0.03M
11. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
PG-13 | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang, Chang Chen
Votes: 281,664 | Gross: $128.08M
12. Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003)
82 min | Drama, Comedy
On a dark, wet night a historic and regal Chinese cinema sees its final film. Together with a small handful of souls they bid "Goodbye, Dragon Inn".
Director: Tsai Ming-liang | Stars: Kang-sheng Lee, Shiang-chyi Chen, Kiyonobu Mitamura, Chun Shih
Votes: 6,174 | Gross: $0.03M
13. Three Times (2005)
Not Rated | 120 min | Drama, Romance
Three stories set in three times, 1911, 1966 and 2005. Two actors play the two main characters in each story.
Director: Hsiao-Hsien Hou | Stars: Shu Qi, Chang Chen, Fang Mei, Shu-Chen Liao
Votes: 6,154 | Gross: $0.15M
14. Suzhou River (2000)
83 min | Drama, Romance
After getting out of prison, small-time crook Mardar stumbles upon a woman who looks exactly like his long-lost lover.
Director: Ye Lou | Stars: Xun Zhou, Hongsheng Jia, Zhongkai Hua, Anlian Yao
Votes: 6,428 | Gross: $0.10M
15. What Time Is It There? (2001)
Not Rated | 116 min | Drama, Romance
A watch salesman meets a young woman soon leaving for Paris and becomes infatuated, so he begins to change all the clocks in Taipei to Paris time.
Director: Tsai Ming-liang | Stars: Kang-sheng Lee, Shiang-chyi Chen, Yi-ching Lu, Miao Tien
Votes: 5,323 | Gross: $0.19M
16. Infernal Affairs (2002)
R | 101 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A story between a mole in the police department and an undercover cop. Their objectives are the same: to find out who is the mole, and who is the cop.
Directors: Andrew Lau, Alan Mak | Stars: Andy Lau, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, Eric Tsang
Votes: 131,477 | Gross: $0.17M
17. Lust, Caution (2007)
NC-17 | 157 min | Drama, History, Romance
During World War II era, a young woman, Wang Jiazhi, gets swept up in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue with a powerful political figure, Mr. Yee.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Tang Wei, Joan Chen, Leehom Wang
Votes: 45,530 | Gross: $4.60M
18. Petition (2009)
120 min | Documentary
It is a fantastic documentary about Chinese govt's systemic oppression and persecution toward ordinary folk who petition the government.
Director: Liang Zhao | Stars: Zhang Weiye, Xiao Yuan
Votes: 354
19. Unknown Pleasures (2002)
Unrated | 112 min | Comedy, Drama
Two unemployed Chinese teenagers have trouble resisting the temptations of the Western world.
Director: Zhangke Jia | Stars: Wei Wei Zhao, Qiong Wu, Tao Zhao, Qing Feng Zhou
Votes: 2,550 | Gross: $0.01M
20. Millennium Mambo (2001)
R | 119 min | Drama, Romance
The ethereally beautiful Vicky recalls her romances with Hao Hao and Jack in the neon-lit clubs of Taipei.
Director: Hsiao-Hsien Hou | Stars: Shu Qi, Jack Kao, Chun-hao Tuan, Jun Takeuchi
Votes: 6,758 | Gross: $0.01M
21. Spring Fever (2009)
116 min | Drama
Hired to spy on a philandering husband, Luo Haitao soon becomes entangled in a clandestine affair with the other man. Along with Luo's girlfriend, they succumb to the delirium of drunken nights, but how long can their tryst last?
Director: Ye Lou | Stars: Hao Qin, Sicheng Chen, Wei Wu, Zhuo Tan
Votes: 1,640 | Gross: $0.01M
22. Bing ai (2007)
114 min | Documentary
BINGAI features one woman farmer who refuses to move away from her village. The audience will follow her seven-year struggle with officials who pressure her to relocate, while a strong ... See full summary »
Director: Yan Feng
Votes: 13
23. Hero (2002)
PG-13 | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A defense officer, Nameless, was summoned by the King of Qin regarding his success of terminating three warriors.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, Ziyi Zhang
Votes: 187,678 | Gross: $53.71M
24. The Wayward Cloud (2005)
Not Rated | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Hsiao-Kang, now working as a pornographic actor, meets Shiang-chyi once again. Meanwhile, the city of Taipei faces a water shortage that makes the sales of watermelons skyrocket.
Director: Tsai Ming-liang | Stars: Kang-sheng Lee, Shiang-chyi Chen, Yi-ching Lu, Kuei-Mei Yang
Votes: 5,637
25. Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
R | 99 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy
In Shanghai, China in the 1940s, a wannabe gangster aspires to join the notorious "Axe Gang" while residents of a housing complex exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf.
Director: Stephen Chow | Stars: Stephen Chow, Wah Yuen, Qiu Yuen, Siu-Lung Leung
Votes: 150,892 | Gross: $17.11M
26. Kong que (2005)
136 min | Drama
China in the late 1970s and early 1980s: the life of an ordinary working family as seen through its three siblings.
Director: Changwei Gu | Stars: Jing An, Li Feng, Changwei Gu, Meiying Huang
Votes: 1,125
27. Oxhide II (2009)
132 min | Documentary, Drama
The director shows herself and her parents making dumplings in their apartment with nine fixed camera positions, with which she revolves around the kitchen table.
Director: Jiayin Liu | Stars: Huifen Jia, Jiayin Liu, Zaiping Liu
Votes: 148
28. Mountain Patrol (2004)
PG-13 | 90 min | Action, Drama
A moving true story about volunteers protecting antelope against poachers in the severe mountains of Tibet.
Director: Chuan Lu | Stars: Duobujie, Lei Zhang, Dao Qi, Xueying Zhao
Votes: 5,432 | Gross: $0.14M
29. I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
115 min | Drama, Romance
A day laborer is badly beaten, and a young man nurses him back to health.
Director: Tsai Ming-liang | Stars: Kang-sheng Lee, Shiang-chyi Chen, Norman Atun, Pearlly Chua
Votes: 2,417 | Gross: $0.02M
30. The Orphan of Anyang (2001)
84 min | Drama
A prostitute from the Northeast, desperate and unable to make ends meet, abandons her baby. An unemployed factory worker decides to take the child for the 200 yuan (about $37 Canadian) a ... See full summary »
Director: Chao Wang | Stars: Tianhao Liu, Fuwen Miao, Guilin Sun, Sengyi Yue
Votes: 261
31. 2046 (2004)
R | 129 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Several women enter a science fiction author's life over the course of a few years, after the author has lost the woman he considers his one true love.
Director: Kar-Wai Wong | Stars: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Ziyi Zhang, Faye Wong, Gong Li
Votes: 61,789 | Gross: $1.44M
32. The Other Half (2006)
111 min | Comedy, Drama
Working as a secretary for a legal office, Xiaofen records clients detailing the sordid aspects of their lives: divorce cases, medical malpractice suits, financial corruption and ... See full summary »
Director: Liang Ying | Stars: Xigui Chen, Gang Deng, Huibin Liu, Xiaofei Zeng
Votes: 77
33. Survival Song (2008)
94 min | Documentary
Survival Song is a modern day story of outlaws, poachers, squatters and misfits fighting to survive on the fringes of Chinese society. Han, a college graduate who used to be a forestry ... See full summary »
Director: Guangyi Yu
Votes: 9
34. Along the Railway (2000 Video)
125 min | Documentary
A year in the life of the sidings dwellers who eke out a living, begging, foraging, stealing and sleeping rough near the Baoji railway station in Shaanxi.
Director: Haibin Du
Votes: 43
35. Crime and Punishment (2007)
Not Rated | 122 min | Documentary
In a small town near China's North Korea border, a state police station exerts itself as a solicitous caretaker of the locals. As it goes out to catch criminals and punish them too, professionalism fades into the background.
Director: Liang Zhao | Stars: Wang Yu Fu, Ge Tao
Votes: 58
37. Though I Am Gone (2006)
66 min | Documentary
Pioneering filmmaker Hu Jie uncovers the tragic story of a teacher beaten to death by her students during the Cultural Revoution. In 1966, the Cultural Revolution exploded throughout China,... See full summary »
Director: Jie Hu | Star: Jingyao Wang
Votes: 77
38. Cha ma gu dao xi lie (2004)
110 min | Documentary
Delamu ¨C Tibetan for "Peace Angel". Since ancient times, China's two primary land routes connecting it to the outside world have been the Silk Road in the north, and Tea Horse-Road in the ... See full summary »
Director: Zhuangzhuang Tian | Star: Kuirong Wang
Votes: 185
39. Xunzhao Lin Zhao de linghun (2004)
115 min | Documentary, Biography, History
This landmark documentary reveals the tragic life of a gifted young woman who was executed for speaking out during the height of Chairman Mao's rule. Lin Zhao, a top student from Peking ... See full summary »
Director: Jie Hu
Votes: 43
40. My Life as McDull (2001)
75 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
McDull is not the brightest kid on the block, but he continuously tries to do his best to please his mother. Still it seems he may not be destined for great things like she wishes, but McDull strives to try anyway.
Director: Toe Yuen | Stars: Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, Jan Lamb, Chun-Wai Lee, Sandra Kwan Yue Ng
Votes: 1,257
41. Beijing Bicycle (2001)
PG-13 | 113 min | Drama
A seventeen-year-old country boy working in Beijing as a courier has his bicycle stolen, and finds it with a schoolboy his age.
Director: Xiaoshuai Wang | Stars: Lin Cui, Xun Zhou, Bin Li, Yuanyuan Gao
Votes: 4,744 | Gross: $0.16M
42. Timber Gang (2006)
Not Rated | 90 min
Yu Guangyi's stunning debut explores a grueling winter amongst loggers in Northeast China as they employ traditional practices through one last, fateful expedition. For generations, the ... See full summary »
Director: Guangyi Yu
Votes: 30
43. 1428 (2009)
Not Rated | 116 min | Documentary
The "Great Sichuan Earthquake" took place at 14:28 on May 12, 2008. 10 days after: Scenes not seen on official/TV, "survival" is the keyword. Ordinary people are salvaging destroyed pig ... See full summary »
Director: Haibin Du
Votes: 108
44. Yan mo (2005)
150 min | Documentary
The dam of Three Gorges, the largest dam that humans have ever built on earth, is under construction in China. The water-reserving began in 2003, and is expected to be completed in 2009. ... See full summary »
Votes: 61
45. Blind Mountain (2007)
95 min | Crime, Drama
A young woman is kidnapped and sold to a villager in the mountains.
Director: Yang Li | Stars: Lu Huang, Youan Yang, Yuling Zhang, Yunle He
Votes: 2,091 | Gross: $0.01M
46. Blue Gate Crossing (2002)
85 min | Drama, Romance
An is-she-or-isn't-she gay comedy focused on a Taiwanese teen, the boy she might like, and the girl she may love.
Director: Chih-yen Yee | Stars: Gwei Lun-Mei, Chen Bo-lin, Yolin Liang, Joanna Chou
Votes: 4,376
48. Durian Durian (2000)
116 min | Drama
Hong Kong life from the perspective of a young northern mainland Chinese woman working as a prostitute in Hong Kong.
Director: Fruit Chan | Stars: Hailu Qin, Wai-Fan Mak, Xiao Ming Biao, Wai Yiu Yung
Votes: 800
49. Face (2009)
138 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Hsiao-Kang, a Taiwanese film director, travels to the Louvre in Paris, France, to shoot a film that explores the Salomé myth.
Director: Tsai Ming-liang | Stars: Kang-sheng Lee, Yi-ching Lu, Fanny Ardant, Jean-Pierre Léaud
Votes: 1,005
50. Fuck Cinema (2005)
173 min | Documentary
This documentary shows how different young people try to realize their dreams or become famous through the film industry. One of the main characters of this documentary is named Wang, a ... See full summary »
Director: Wenguang Wu | Stars: Wenguang Wu, Zhang Yuan, Wang Zhutian
Votes: 39
51. Ghost Town (2008)
169 min | Documentary
A remote village in southwest China is haunted by traces of its cultural past while its residents piece together their existence. Zhiziluo is a town barely clinging to life. Tucked away in ... See full summary »
Director: Dayong Zhao
Votes: 49
52. Good Cats (2008)
108 min | Drama
Luo Liang, a young man trying to meet the expectations of family and work, has come to town looking for something better but is unsure of his lot in life.
Director: Liang Ying | Stars: Xiaopei Liu, Liang Luo, Deming Peng
Votes: 6
53. Mang zhong (2005)
109 min | Drama
Cui, a young Korean mother living on the outskirts of Chinese society, has a husband in jail and a son to support. She barely makes a living selling kimchi to workers along the side of a ... See full summary »
Director: Lu Zhang | Stars: Lianji Liu, Bo Jin, Guangxuan Zhu, Tonghui Wang
Votes: 129
54. Zha lai nuo er (2008)
92 min | Drama
Jalainur, a name from the beautiful Lake Hulun(aka Dalai nuur in Mongolian), is one of the last places in the world where steam trains are still running. It is also where the story begins. ... See full summary »
Director: Ye Zhao | Stars: Zhi-Zhong Li, Yuan-Sheng Liu
Votes: 52
55. Little Moth (2007)
99 min | Drama
A couple purchases an eleven-year old girl who cannot walk, with the intention of using her to earn money through begging.
Director: Tao Peng | Stars: Yuanbing Gao, Dequn Han, Qifa Hong, Zelin Xu
Votes: 139
56. Ye che (2007)
94 min | Drama
Wu Hongyan is a young woman working as a prison guard during executions of female convicts. She feels lonely after her husband died, and she takes a night train to another city to visit a ... See full summary »
Director: Yi'nan Diao | Stars: Rongcai Fu, Chao Ji, Dan Liu, Shudi Liu
Votes: 678
58. PTU (2003)
R | 85 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When an obnoxious detective loses his gun to four young thugs, it's up to the P.T.U. (Police Tactical Unit) and their iron-willed leader to recover the weapon and clean up the mess before daybreak.
Director: Johnnie To | Stars: Simon Yam, Suet Lam, Ruby Wong, Maggie Siu
Votes: 5,157
59. Zuotian (2001)
R | 112 min | Biography, Drama, Music
An actor becomes increasingly introverted and psychotic and his entire family attempts to intervene.
Director: Yang Zhang | Stars: Xiuling Chai, Fengsen Jia, Hongsheng Jia, Tong Wang
Votes: 799 | Gross: $0.02M
60. Xunzhao zhimei gengdeng (2009)
PG | 117 min | Drama
A filmmaker searches the Himalayas for an actor and actress to play the lead roles in his Tibetan opera.
Director: Pema Tseden | Stars: Dobe Dorje, Drolma Gyab, Manla Kyab, Lumo Tso
Votes: 80
61. Haixian (2001)
86 min | Drama
An existential portrait of two lonely people living on the edge of contemporary Chinese society - a prostitute and a corrupt, violent cop - and a relationship with no future.
Director: Kate Zhu | Stars: Taishen Cheng, Zi Jin
Votes: 90
62. Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest Part 4 (2008)
79 min
A rare screening of the artist's most recently completed films in his celebrated series, based on the history of seven intellectuals in the ancient Chinese Wei and Jin Dynasties.
Director: Fudong Yang | Stars: Ran Chen, Kong Chenjiang, Yanqin Gao, Lu Huang
Votes: 27
63. Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest, Part 5 (2008)
90 min | History
A rare screening of the artist's most recently completed films in his celebrated series, based on the history of seven intellectuals in the ancient Chinese Wei and Jin Dynasties.
Director: Fudong Yang | Stars: Ran Chen, Yanqin Gao, Lu Huang, Xu Jing
Votes: 20
64. Springtime in a Small Town (2002)
PG | 116 min | Drama, Romance
The eight-year marriage of Liyan and Yuwen has left them both unfulfilled and distant. A visitor arrives from Shanghai, a doctor who's an old school friend of Liyan's and, unbeknownst to her husband, Yuwen's childhood sweetheart.
Director: Zhuangzhuang Tian | Stars: Jingfan Hu, Jun Wu, Bai Qing Xin, Xiaokeng Ye
Votes: 1,366 | Gross: $0.04M
65. Taking Father Home (2005)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama
A 17 year old boy from a village in the Sechuan province leaves for the big city looking for his father, who left 6 years before and has not been heard of since. The fact that his mother ... See full summary »
Director: Liang Ying | Stars: Xiaopei Liu, Jie Wang, Yun Xu
Votes: 116
66. Zhifu (2003)
94 min | Drama, Thriller
Economic unrest roils central China's Shaanxi Province: local factories are merging, thugs threaten managers, personnel records get lost, and workers are without protections such as health ... See full summary »
Director: Yi'nan Diao | Stars: Kai Han, Hongli Liang, Hua Qin, Xueqiong Zeng
Votes: 284
67. Wheat Harvest (2009)
98 min | Documentary
A documentary that sketches the double life of the young Niu Hongmiao, who cares for her sick father in the countryside and works in Beijing as a prostitute. A picture gradually emerges of the Chinese sex industry.
Director: Tong Xu
Votes: 62
Tell Your Friends