"Actor: Mei yi Chang"

• A Confucian Confusion / Mahjong (Criterion Collection) - UK Only | Unknown | (25/08/2025) from £28.79   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In this pair of sharp, sprawling satires, one of Taiwan's most celebrated filmmakers, Edward Yang, captures the anything-can-happen mood of Taipei at the end of the twentieth century. Made in between his epic dramas A Brighter Summer Day and Yi Yi, A Confucian Confusion and Mahjong find Yang applying a lighter but no less masterly touch to his explorations of human relationships in an increasingly globalized, hypercapitalistic world. These intricately constructed ensemble comediesone set in a cutthroat corporate milieu, the other in a shady criminal underworldreveal the absurdity and cynicism at the heart of modern urban life.In this pair of sharp, sprawling satires, one of Taiwan's most celebrated filmmakers, Edward Yang, captures the anything-can-happen mood of Taipei at the end of the twentieth century. Made in between his epic dramas A Brighter Summer Day and Yi Yi, A Confucian Confusion and Mahjong find Yang applying a lighter but no less masterly touch to his explorations of human relationships in an increasingly globalized, hypercapitalistic world. These intricately constructed ensemble comediesone set in a cutthroat corporate milieu, the other in a shady criminal underworldreveal the absurdity and cynicism at the heart of modern urban life. Taiwan 1994 (A Confucian Confusion) 1996 (Mahjong) Colour 1.85:1 Mandarin, Taiwanese Spine #1275 A Confucian Confusion Edward Yang's first foray into comedy may have been a surprising stylistic departure, but in its richly novelistic vision of urban discontent, it is quintessential Yang. This relationship roundelay centres on a coterie of young Taipei professionals whose paths converge at an entertainment company where the boundaries between art and commerce, love and business, have become hopelessly blurred. Evoking the chaos of a city infiltrated by Western chains, logos, and attitudes, A Confucian Confusion is an incisive reflection on the role of traditional values in a materialistic, amoral society. Mahjong Edward Yang's follow-up to A Confucian Confusion is another dizzying comedy set in a globalized Taipei, but with a darker, more caustic edge. Amid a rapidly changing cityscape, the lives of a disparate group of swindlers, hustlers, gangsters, and expats collide, with a naive French teenager (Virginie Ledoyen) and a sensitive young local (Lawrence Ko) who tries to protect her caught dangerously in the middle. By turns brutal, shocking, tender, and bitingly funny, Mahjong is a dazzling vision of a multicultural Taipei where nearly every relationship has a price and newfound prosperity comes at the expense of the human soul. TWO-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital restorations, with 5.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks Excerpts of director Edward Yang speaking after a 1994 screening of A Confucian Confusion New interview with editor Chen Po-wen New conversation between Chinese-cultural-studies scholar Michael Berry and film critic Justin Chang Performance of Yang's 1992 play Likely Consequence PLUS: An essay by film programmer and critic Dennis Lim and a 1994 director's note on A Confucian Confusion New cover by Tori Huynh

• Early Hou Hsiao-Hsien: THREE FILMS 1980-1983 | Blu Ray | (16/04/2018) from £14.29   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  One of world cinema's most dynamic and highly regarded auteurs, Hou Hsiao-hsien has influenced entire generations of filmmakers and was once dubbed one of the three directors most crucial to the future of cinema. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present three films from early in his career, Cute Girl, The Green, Green Grass of Home and The Boys from Fengkuei, all making their worldwide debut on Blu-ray. Cute Girl (1980) A young bride-to-be falls for a laid-back land surveyor whilst visiting her family in the countryside. Conceived as a commercial vehicle for popular Hong Kong singer Kenny Bee, this romantic comedy was Hou Hsiao-hsien's debut feature. The Green, Green Grass of Home (1982) A substitute teacher (again played by Kenny Bee) moves to a remote village, where he falls in love with another teacher at the local school. The Boys from Fengkuei (1983) Three young men leave their fishing village for the city to look for work, where they face some harsh realities about growing up. The film which established Hou Hsiao-hsien as a leading figure of the Taiwanese New Wave, The Boys from Fengkuei was rapturously received in Europe and is often considered the director's first mature masterwork. Features: Limited Edition O-card [2000 copies First Print Run Only] In a 1988 worldwide critics' poll, Multi Award Winning Chinese Director HOU HSIAO-HSIEN was championed as one of the three directors most crucial to the future of cinema The Boys From Fengkuei Won the Golden Montgolfiere Award at the 1984 Nantes Three Continents Festival The Green, Green Grass Of Home Won the Golden Horse Award for Best Child Star (Pin-chun Chou) at the 1982 Golden Horse Film Festival Available for the first time in the UK and for the first time on Blu-ray anywhere in the world

• Born Invincible | DVD | (25/07/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Classic Kung Fu fare from the Hong Kong school directed by the old master himself, Joseph Kuo, Born Invincible has only been available in an extremely crackly print for years. Fortunately this version has been cleaned up, though lovers of Oriental kitsch will be glad to hear that the risible, excruciating dubbing remains intact. The plot revolves around the evil Ching Ying (Carter Wong), who has trained since the age of three in the near-impossible art of Tai Chi Kung Fu. His body has become tantamount to a single, deadly muscle, the 108 pressure points of human vulnerability reduced to just one--his sole weakness. His training has also left him with whitened hair and a voice that, dubbed, is a little too close to Harry Enfield's Grayson character from the Mr Cholmondley-Warner sketches in high excitement. Having killed two elders of the Lei Ping school in martial combat over an old score, it falls to the students of that establishment to avenge their masters, through three rigorous years of training. The awesome, though often-comical fight scenes (which in no way resemble Tai Chi) dominate the movie, involving as they do protracted acrobatic manoeuvres, few of which seem to involve actual contact with the human body. Still, lovers of The Matrix might care to revisit this, in order to check out how those moves were first committed to celluloid when editing was less of a fine art. --David Stubbs