Zhu Yawen Archives – CULTURE MIX

Review: ‘The Dumpling Queen,’ starring Ma Li, Kara Wai, Zhu Yawen, Pakloy Liang, Zoe Su, Yang Qing and Ben Yuen

May 3, 2025

by Carla Hay

Pictured clockwise, from left: Ma Li, Pakloy Liang and Zoe Su in “The Dumpling Queen” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

Directed by Andrew Lau

Cantonese and Mandarin with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Hong Kong and in mainland China, from 1977 to 1991, the dramatic film “The Dumpling Queen” (a biopic of Zang Jianhe) features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: After being abandoned by her affluent husband, single mother Zang Jianhe lives in near-poverty and starts a dumpling empire from humble beginnings.

Culture Audience: “The Dumpling Queen” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and biopics about successful entrepreneurs.

Pictured clockwise, from top: Ma Li, Pakloy Liang and Zoe Su in “The Dumpling Queen” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

“The Dumpling Queen” is a formulaic biopic about entrepreneur Zang Jianhe that is neither great nor terrible. Uneven film editing spends too much or too little time on certain areas of her life story. Ma Li’s admirable performance is the movie’s best asset.

Directed by Andrew Lau and written by Han Jia Nv, “The Dumpling Queen”(which takes place mostly in Hong Kong and briefly in mainland China) is told in chronological order from 1977 to 1991. (Zang Jianhe died in 2019, at the age of 75.) The movie begins in 1977, in the city of Qingdao. Zang Jianhe (played by Ma Li) is looking forward to reuniting with her husband Huang Hanzhou (played by Kenny Wong) in Hong Kong, after he has been away for an unspecified number of years because Hanzhou has been working for his family’s business in Thailand.

Jianhe and Hanzhou have two daughters together: Bei Bei (played Pakloy Liang), who later gets the name Joanne, was born in 1968. Peng Peng (played by Zoe Su), who later gets the name Jessica, was born in 1972. Bei Bei is the more serious-minded and more intellectual sister. Peng Peng is playful and more extroverted than Bei Bei.

Jianhe is very close to her mother Zang Yushu (played by Yan Qing), who taught Jianhe how to make dumplings. Yushu raised Jianhe and Jianhe’s younger sister Zang Jianping (played by Eponine Huang) as a single mother. The movie begins by showing dumplings being served during a family meal that includes Jianhe, Yushu, Bei Bei, Peng Peng and Jianping.

Yushu is very conservative and traditional. She believes that wives must always listen to their husbands. Yushu tells that advice to Jianhe before Jianhe, Bei Bei and Peng Peng go to Hong Kong. Jianhe is very obedient and introverted, but over time, her personality evolves to be more independent and assertive.

Things don’t go as planned for Jianhe when she in Hong Kong. In fact, the trip turns out to be a disaster. At the train station in Chaozhou, Jianhe meets up with Hanzhou and his judgmental mother (played by Nina Paw), who doesn’t have a name in the movie.

Hanzhou’s mother tells Jianhe that not only has Hanzhou found a new wife, he also has a son with the new wife. The movie is vague on the details on whether or not Hanzhou is a bigamist, but his mother says he’s not a bigamist. It’s unclear in the movie if Hanzhou and Jianhe were officially married or were common-law spouses. There’s no mention of divorce in the movie.

In traditional Chinese culture, sons have more value than daughters. That’s why Hanzhou’s mother wants him to choose the woman who gave birth to the son. Hanzhou’s mother cruelly tells Jianhe: “Just because you gave birth to Hanzhou’s daughters, that doesn’t make you good enough for him.”

Hanzhou and Jianhe settle in Hong Kong with Bei Bei and Peng Peng. Jianhe loves living in Hong Kong and changes her mind about living in Thailand when Hanzhou needs to live there. And so, when Hanzhou tells Jianhe that he has to spend more time in Thailand for the family business, he gives her an ultimatum: Go with him and they can remain a couple, or stay in Hong Kong and end their relationship.

Hanzhou and Jianhe have a big argument about this matter. He tells her that his mother was right about Jianhe using him for a relocation to Hong Kong. At one point he offers a compromise that Jianhe thinks is unacceptable: He will take Bei Bei to Thailand, while Jianhe can keep Peng Peng in Hong Kong. In the end, Hanzhou breaks up with Jianhe and cuts off contact with her, Bei Bei and Peng Peng. He also refuses to give child support.

Jianhe is too embarrassed to go back to Qingdao to live with her mother. And so, she pretends to her Qingdao family for a long period of time that she and the kids are living happily with Hanzhou in Hong Kong. The truth is Jianhe’s life in Hong Kong is much more difficult than she tells her mother and sister.

Jianhe’s passport expires, so she experiences a lot of problems finding a job as an undocumented immigrant in Hong Kong. She eventually finds a job as a dishwasher and sanitation worker for a restaurant. Jianhe is a very hard worker, but the job’s pay is so low, she’s living in near-poverty.

Through a recommendation, Jianhe has been able to find an apartment (across from Causeway Bay) at a rental price that she can afford. The landlord/apartment manager is Hong Jie (played by played by Kara Wai), also known as Sister Hong, who has a lively personality and an interesting past. (She used to be a nurse.) Jie has empathy for single mother Jianhe and tells her that because Jianhe has kids, it’s the only reason why Jie will sometimes let Jianhe pay the rent in installments or past the due date.

“The Dumpling Queen” gets a little unfocused when it starts to show the lives of other people who live on the same floor of the apartment building. Mr. Jin (played by Won Cho Lam) and Mrs. Jin (played by Ya Mei) are parents to underage children Jin Jintai (played by Lucky Leung) and Jin Duotai (played by Lv Zefeng). The spouses are in a toxic marriage because Mr. Jin is very abusive to Mrs. Jin.

A sex worker named Rose (played by Fiona Sit) is also on the same floor, but Bei Bei and Ping Ping are too young to understand what Rose does for money. They just think she’s a party girl who dresses up when Rose goes out. A disabled man named Brother La Ta (played by Cheung Tat Ming) is bullied by Mr. Jin, but Jianhe treats Brother La Ta with kindness.

Jianhe eventually opens up to Sister Hong about her personal life. She tells her about Hanzhou abandoning her and the children. When talking about her mother, Jianhe says she has fond memories of making dumplings with her. Sister Hong encourages Jianhe to make dumplings because she can see how happy it makes Jianhe.

And that’s how Jianhe makes dumplings for her neighbors in the apartment. Her dumplings are an immediate hit with the residents. It’s the start of Jianhe thinking that she could make a living from selling dumplings.

Jianhe gets into an accident at her restaurant job when a fellow employee accidentally crashes into her, and she falls down on the hard floor. Her injuries temporarily put her in a hospital. And it’s how she decides that she has to find work that’s less hazardous to her health. With money that she gets from worker’s compensation, Hanzhou decides to open her own dumpling stall at Wan Chai Pier, a place that has several food vendors with stalls.

Many of the food vendors are undocumented immigrants. And so, every time police are nearby for a possible raid, the vendors scramble away and try not to get caught. The movie presents this problem—as well as the problem of local thugs trying to extort the vendors—as something that Jianhe can overcome with the right attitude. It all looks too pat and convenient in the movie. For example, Jianhe is able to win over some local extortionists by waving a knife in self-defense and then getting them as loyal customers once they eat her dumplings.

That’s not to say that Jianhe’s dumplings were an instant hit at Wan Chai Pier. During the first few weeks of operating her dumpling stall, she gets discouraged by the low sales. For starters, her dumplings (which she eventually names Shandong dumplings) were in the “pot sticker” shape that was new and unfamiliar at the time. An elderly vendor named Mr. Dessert (played by Ben Yuen) becomes her ally and suggests that she change the way to pronounces the word “dumpling” to sound more Cantonese.

For reasons that are shown in the movie, Jianhe also gets to know a police officer named Brother Hua (played by Zhu Yawen), a married father. Jianhe and Brother Hua develop an attraction to each other. The movie shows whether or not their relationship becomes more than platonic.

“The Dumpling Queen” awkwardly handles anything to do with Jianhe’s love life. The movie depicts Jianhe as not making much time for a love life because she spends most of her time taking care of her kids and working. Bei Bei and Peng Peng eventually help with the dumpling business as it starts to grow. The sisters continue to work for the business when Jianhe establishes the brand Wanchai Ferry in 1985, the year that the company’s first factory was built.

One of the biggest weaknesses in “The Dumpling Queen” is that it reduces the rise of Wanchai Ferry into a corporate brand by just showing a glorified series of extended montages when more time and details were needed for these scenes. The closest that the movie depicts of corporate competition are multiple scenes of Jianhe turning down offers from a rival Japanese company to buy Wanchai Ferry because she refuses their idea to erase the Chinese identity of her dumplings. Jianhe’s 1997 sale of 70% of her Wanchai Ferry shares to corporate giant Pillsbury is not covered in depth but is mentioned in the movie’s epilogue.

The narrative of “The Dumpling Queen” has flaws, but Ma’s performance outweighs the flaws in many scenes. She is able to convey emotions with so much credibility, most viewers will be rooting for Jianhe and feeling the emotions along with this character. Ma gives the type of performance that when Jianhe gets emotional, it looks authentic—not like an actress who’s trying too hard. The other cast members do well in their roles, particularly Wai, who is a scene stealer as the charismatic Sister Hong.

“The Dumpling Queen” should also be commended for showing that in the competitive world of business, there is room for unselfish friendship. The characters of Sister Hong and Mr. Dessert are supportive of Jianhe without expecting anything in return. Whether or not these characters were fabricated for the movie, it’s a realistic bright spot in this story that sometimes falters in other areas that look too saccharine.

The movie also shows that Jianhe’s success came from not only believing in herself but also having the humility and good sense to listen to constructive criticism. For example, during the first few months of that Jianhe sells her dumplings at Wan Chai Pier, a customer suggests that Jianhe make the dumpling linings thinner. Jianhe takes this advice, and it ends up vastly improving her sales.

“The Dumpling Queen” is not the type of movie to get into all the business details of what it takes to create a company that ends up being worth millions. Nor is it a fantasy that peddles a “get rich quick” scheme. The movie—although at times clunky and trite—succeeds at the very least in its intention to be inspirational.

CMC Pictures released “The Dumpling Queen” in select U.S. cinemas on May 2, 2025.

Review: ‘The Battle at Lake Changjin II,’ starring Jing Wu and Jackson Yee

April 24, 2022

by Carla Hay

“The Battle at Lake Changjin II”

Directed by Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam

Mandarin, Korean and English with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Korea, China, Japan and the United States, in December 1950, the action film “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” features a mostly Asian cast of characters (with some white people) representing military people and politicians involved in the Korean War.

Culture Clash: Two bickering brothers, who are in the China-based People’s Liberation Army, have various battles with each other and military enemies during the Korean War against the United States.

Culture Audience: “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in violent war movies with amateurish dialogue and stereotypical characters that don’t have much that’s interesting to say.

Steven John Venn in “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

“The Battle at Lake Changjin II” should have the more accurate title of “The Battle at Lake Changjin: The Deleted Scenes.” That’s because this cash-grab war movie isn’t a true sequel but just a series of scenes that could’ve been in the first movie. And the first movie wasn’t even that great in the first place. And even though “The Battle at Lake Changjin” (which is nearly three hours long) and its sequel “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” (which has a total running time of about two-and-half-hours) are both over-indulgent messes, just because “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” has a shorter time length doesn’t make it better than its predecessor. “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” is worse.

“The Battle at Lake Changjin II” has a nearly identical storyline as its predecessor, because the movie has the same production team as 2021’s “The Battle at Lake Changjin.” Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam directed both movies, while both screenplays were written by Lan Xiaolong and Huang Jianxin. In both movies, the Chinese military group People’s Liberation Army fights against the U.S. military during the Korean War’s Battle at the Chosin Reservoir.

The Army’s 7th Company is led by a courageous and respected commander Wu Qianli (played by Wu Jing), who has a 19-year-old brother named Wu Wanli (played by Jackson Yee) in the company. Wanli enlisted in the Army against Qianli’s wishes. Also returning from the original “Battle at Lake Changjin” movie are the 7th Company’s political instructor Mei Sheng (played by Zhu Yawen), fire platoon leader Yu Congrong (payed by Li Chen), artillery platoon leader Lei Suisheng (played by Hu Jun) and sniper Ping He (played by Elvis Han). Because this is a war movie, not everyone makes it out alive.

And once again, the chief villains of the story are U.S. Marines Major General Oliver P. Smith (played by John F. Cruz) and U.S. Army Commander Douglas MacArthur (played by James Filbird). “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” adds some more American leaders who weren’t in the “The Battle at Lake Changjin.” U.S. president Harry Truman (played by Ben Z Orenstein) appears briefly in a few scenes. Truman, who is depicted as someone who tried to reign in MacArthur, utters this line in one of the scenes: “MacArthur needs to be reminded that no man is bigger than this war.” Lieutenant Colonial Wilber Colbert (played by Steven John Venn) is a stereotype of a ruthless American military leader who thinks Americans are better than anyone else.

This inferior sequel does a few things differently with the characters in the movie, compared to “The Battle at Lake Changjin.” A wounded 7th Company battalion commander named Yang Wenjang (played by Geng Le) gets a little bit of a backstory. Wenjang has a flashback to his life before he was in the war, when he’s seen with his girlfriend. But that barely counts as character development, which is mostly non-existent in this movie.

“The Battle at Lake Changjin II” (also titled “Water Gate Bridge”) has even more over-the-top battle scenes than in “The Battle at Lake Changjin.” Some of the Chinese soldiers almost seem to have superhuman powers, based on the way they can do eye-popping leaps and kicks in the air, where they look like action stuntmen, not realistic soldiers. And sometimes, they’re literally on fire doing it, as there’s more than one sequence where soldiers who are burning up in flames still get things done.

Even though “The Battle at Lake Changjin” and “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” (which were both filmed during the same time period) are among the most expensively produced movies in China’s history, many of the visual effects look cheap and tacky, and the stunts often look sloppy. “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” is even more incoherent than its predecessor.

It isn’t until the last 15 minutes of this three-hour schlockfest that “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” tries to bring some grief-stricken humanity to the story, to show the realistic emotional traumas of war. But by then, it’s too little, too late. The last scene in the movie is overly sentimental and looks very forced, because the sappy tone is very off-balance from the rest of the callous violence film. This final scene looks like it belongs in a completely different movie but was dropped in “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” as a manipulative attempt to get viewers to cry.

The directors of “The Battle at Lake Changjin” movies have said that it’s possible that a six-hour directors’ cut could be released. Two to three hours of watching one of these films is more than enough time wasted. If you just want to turn your brain off and watch shootouts and explosions with mindless dialogue and forgettable characters, then “The Battle at Lake Changjin” movies are for you. If you care about watching more meaningful and authentic movies about real-life wars, your time is better spent on any number of higher-quality choices.

CMC Pictures released “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” in select U.S. cinemas on February 11, 2022. The movie was released in China on February 1, 2022.

Review: ‘The Battle at Lake Changjin,’ starring Jing Wu and Jackson Yee

April 24, 2022

by Carla Hay

“The Battle at Lake Changjin”

Directed by Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam

Mandarin, Korean and English with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Korea and briefly in China from June to December 1950, the action film “The Battle at Lake Changjin” features a mostly Asian cast of characters (with some white people) representing military people and politicians involved in the Korean War.

Culture Audience: “The Battle at Lake Changjin” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in violent war movies with amateurish dialogue and stereotypical characters that don’t have much that’s interesting to say.

James Filbird in “The Battle at Lake Changjin” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

“The Battle at Lake Changjin” is a very bloated war movie filled with simplistic dialogue, poorly written characters and tedious fight scenes. This repetitive depiction of a crucial battle in the Korean War does not earn its nearly three-hour running time. The film portrays China’s military group the People’s Liberation Army fighting against the U.S. military during the Korean War’s Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. Because it’s a scripted movie with some fictional characters, don’t expect it to be entirely accurate to real history.

If you only want to see war movies that have a certain agenda and care more about expensive-looking battle scenes than crafting a well-made war story, then “The Battle at Lake Changjin” might be for you. If you prefer to watch a war movie that places more importance on showing repetitive explosions and violent deaths than placing importance on audiences getting to know the main characters, then “The Battle at Lake Changjin” might be for you. For everyone else, it’s a mind-numbing slog that just looks like a video game with a big movie budget.

“The Battle at Lake Changjin” (directed by Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam) is reportedly one of the most expensively made Chinese movies of all time, with a production budget of $200 million. Most of that money looks like it went into the bombastic battle scenes that pull out every visual-effects trick in the book to make the explosions, battlefield shootouts and killings look very over-the-top. Unfortunately, hardly any of the movie’s budget seems to have been invested in quality screenwriting or acting. The movie’s screenplay (written by Lan Xiaolong and Huang Jianxin) is simply abysmal, while the acting is mediocre at best.

“The Battle at Lake Changjin” attempts to have some meaningful family drama, by having the movie’s two central characters as brothers who often disagree with each other. Older brother Wu Qianli (played by Wu Jing) is commander of the People’s Liberation Army’s 7th Company, where is considered a a respected war hero. However, Qianli bears the burden and guilt over the war death of his older brother Wu Baili, who was killed in combat.

Qianli’s 19-year-old brother Wu Wanli (played by Jackson Yee) admires his older brother Qianli. However, the two brothers clash because Wanli wants to join the People’s Liberation Army, but Qianli doesn’t want that to happen, mainly out of fear that he doesn’t want to lose another family member in war combat. Wanli doesn’t see it that way, because he thinks that Qianli views him as inferior and not brave enough to fight in a war. Therefore, Wanli feels insulted.

Not surprisingly, Wanli ends up secretly joining the Army, much to Qianli’s disapproval. Qianli tells Wanli that he won’t get any special treatment, just because they are brothers. In fact, Qianli goes out of his way to not give Wanli any help or advice, even when other members of the Army bully and tease Wanli because they think Wanli will get nepotism perks. A lot of people in this army doubt that babyfaced Wanli has what it takes to be a tough soldier.

Wanli remains steadfast in his commitment to the Army. And slowsly but surely, he starts to gain respect from his Army peers and Wanli. These supporting characters in the 7th Company aren’t given enough depth in their personalities or development in their story arcs. They include political instructor Mei Sheng (played by Zhu Yawen), fire platoon leader Yu Congrong (payed by Li Chen), artillery platoon leader Lei Suisheng (played by Hu Jun) and sniper Ping He (played by Elvis Han).

Wanli’s first friend in the 7th Company is a fellow teen soldier named Zhang Xiaoshan (played by Shi Pengyuan) young soldier of the 7th Company who befriends Wanli. There’s also a sublot about how one of the People’s Liberation Army also includes Mao Anying (played by Huang Xuan), the eldest son of then-Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong (played by Tang Guoqiang), also known as Chairman Mao, who allowed Anying to join the war with some reluctance. People who know Chinese history already know what Anying’s fate was.

Military officials in this movie are depicted as broad caricatures with hollow personalities that just recite forgettable lines. One of these side characters is Peng Dehuai (played by Zhou Xiaobin), People’s Volunteer Army commander and People’s Revolutionary Military vice chairman. The movie gives the worst jingoistic dialogue to American military officials such as U.S. Marines Major General Oliver P. Smith (played by John F. Cruz) and U.S. Army Commander Douglas MacArthur (played by James Filbird), who’s depicted as a robotic warmonger, who’s often wearing sunglasses and chomping on a pipe.

“The Battle at Lake Changjin” gives very amateurish re-enactments of what behind-the-scenes war strategies might have been. The filmmakers seem to think that throwing in a lot of explosions and gunfire, in addition to showing men constantly shouting at each other, are enough to make a compelling war movie. It’s not. “The Battle at Lake Changjin” is an onslaught of very staged and very loud scenes of destruction that turn into a mishmash of mayhem until its very predictable conclusion.

CMC Pictures released “The Battle at Lang Changjin” in select U.S. cinemas on November 19, 2021. The movie was released in China on September 30, 2021.

Review: ‘Chinese Doctors,’ starring Zhang Hanyu, Yuan Quan, Zhu Yawen, Jackson Yee, Li Chen, Ou Hao and Zhou Ye

August 12, 2021

by Carla Hay

“Chinese Doctors”

Directed by Andrew Lau

Mandarin with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Wuhan, China, from January to March 2020, the dramatic film “Chinese Doctors” features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: During the several weeks that Wuhan was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous doctors and patients at a local hospital fight the devastating effects of the pandemic, including sudden deaths, problems with patient overcrowding, a shortage of hospital workers, staffers who are overworked, and various disagreements related to health care and their personal lives.

Culture Audience: “Chinese Doctors” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in a very melodramatic and unrealistically trite version of the COVID-19 crisis in Wuhan.

“Chinese Doctors” horrifically exploits the tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic by being an unrealistic soap opera about what happened in Wuhan, China, when the city was at the epicenter of the pandemic in the first three months of 2020. Most of the movie is set in an unnamed hospital that quickly becomes overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Instead of giving valuable and informative re-enactments of what really happened in a Wuhan hospital, “Chinese Doctors” (directed by Andrew Lau and written by Yonggan Yu) presents an accelerated version of a disaster movie, where deaths are just used as drive-by spectacles.

This movie has an abundance of ridiculous, eye-rolling scenes that undermine the seriousness of the subject matter. For example, in real life, numerous infected people showed up at hospitals but were turned away because there was no room. No one rioted over it.

However, in “Chinese Doctors,” this scenario is filmed like an angry mob scene where infected people stormed into the hospital. At one point, the mob becomes so hostile, that a doctor stands up on a table and uses a megaphone to shout: “Do you want to live?” And she makes a threat that if people don’t calm down, “I’ll get even with you!”

It’s a movie where people do perky group dances together in an overcrowded hospital while patients are dying around them. It’s a movie where a doctor yells jubilantly to COVID-19 patients, “We’ll get everyone cured as soon as possible!” (Never mind that while all of this is happening in early 2020, there is no cure for COVID-19 or even a vaccine.) And it’s a movie that seems to revel in its shameless, tacky exploitation.

Aside from the tawdry soap opera elements to the story, the movie’s gaudy cinematography and quick-cut editing are in very poor taste because they emulate music videos or commercials in what’s supposed to be a dramatic film about a deadly pandemic. The death scenes in “Chinese Doctors” are used only as backdrops to the bickering, emotional breakdowns and ego posturing of the doctors. And there are at least two instances where the audience is manipulated into thinking that someone has died in the hospital from COVID-19, but it’s a fake plot development because the person or persons end up surviving.

The movie features several doctors and patients, but only some of them get enough screen time so that viewers get to know their personalities. These characters are:

Zhang Jingyu (played by Zhang Hanyu), the hospital’s chief doctor, who is in his 50s and who has a compassionate but firm personality. His wife ends up becoming a COVID-19 patient.
Wen Ting (played by Yuan Quan), a no-nonsense taskmaster in her 40s and who is the highest-ranking female doctor on the hospital’s COVID-19 crisis team. She’s the doctor from the aformentioned scene where she shouted threats to a mob of people in the hospital who demanded service.
Tao Jun (played by Zhu Yawen), an arrogant doctor in his 30s who arrives from a prestigious hospital in Guangzhou and almost immediately clashes with Dr. Zhang.
Yang Xiaoyang (played by Jackson Yee), a nervous doctor in his 20s who is eager to impress his more experienced colleagues.
Wu Chenguang (played by Li Chen), an even-tempered doctor in his 40s who is a trusted colleague of Dr. Zhang.
Jin Zai (played by Ou Hao), a food delivery guy in his 20s who is certain he won’t get infected because he’s very careful about wearing as much personal protective equipment (PPE) as possible.
Xiao Wen (played by Zhou Ye), Jin Zai’s wife, who is in her 20s and is about nine months pregnant with their first child, whom they already know will be a daughter.

There are the predictable frantic scenes of doctors trying to keep up with the overflow of patients coming into the hospital and worrying about running out of PPE, medicine, supplies and other necessities. Dr. Zhang leads a task force to recruit volunteer medical workers from other hospitals. It’s how Dr. Tao ends up at Dr. Zhang’s hospital. These two “alpha males” argue with each other about how things are supposed to be done.

Meanwhile, there’s a scene of a female doctor having a tearful meltdown because she hasn’t been able to go home and hasn’t seen her family for days. She’s scolded by another doctor (played by Liang Dawei), who says that everyone is in the same situation. He’s later embarrassed when he finds out from another colleague that the crying doctor’s father recently tested positive for COVID-19. The movie makes a point of showing that the doctors and other hospital workers have worn masks for so long, the masks have left temporary scars on their faces.

The beginning of the movie makes it look like random people could just show up at the hospital, like they would at a shopping mall. But in reality, hospitals during the worst of the COVID-19 crisis were very strict from the beginning about who was let inside the already over-crowded hospitals during this crisis. We’ve all heard the horror stories about people who weren’t allowed to visit their loved ones who were COVID-19 patients dying in hospitals. It isn’t until later in the movie that these restrictions are depicted, such as when Dr. Zhang has to talk to his coronavirus-stricken wife through videoconferencing on her cell phone while she was confined to a hospital bed.

As for expectant parents Jin Zai and Xiao Wen, their story is the most manipulative one in the film. Jin Zai is very confident in thinking that he won’t get infected (he wears a mask and gloves while working), even though his job requires him to interact with strangers when Wuhan was on a quarantine lockdown. And when someone in a trashy COVID-19 melodrama is absolutely sure that they won’t get infected, you can easily predict what ends up happening to that person.

“Chinese Doctors” is cynically being marketed as a noble tribute to the doctors and all the other health care workers who made huge sacrifices to help patients during this crisis that turned into a pandemic. In reality, it’s a sloppily made, cash grab melodrama that uses COVID-19 as a gimmick. The real-life hospital workers, other caregivers and patients deserve a better movie. For an accurate look at a Wuhan hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, watch the noteworthy 2020 documentary “76 Days.”

CMC Pictures released “Chinese Doctors” in select U.S. cinemas on July 30, 2021. The movie was released in China on July 9, 2021.

Review: ‘Cliff Walkers,’ starring Zhang Yi, Yu Hewei, Qin Hailu, Zhu Yawen, Liu Haocun, Ni Dahong

May 4, 2021

by Carla Hay

“Cliff Walkers”

Directed by Zhang Yimou

Mandarin with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in early 1930s China, the dramatic film “Cliff Walkers” features an all-Asian cast representing the middle-class, wealthy and government spies.

Culture Clash: Four Communist spies, who are on a mission to rescue a former prisoner who witnessed war crimes by Japanese invaders, are betrayed by a traitor and try to stay alive during various deadly threats.

Culture Audience: “Cliff Walkers” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in riveting spy thrillers told from a historical Chinese perspective.

Liu Haocun in “Cliff Walkers” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

“Cliff Walkers,” the first spy movie from celebrated Chinese director Zhang Yimou, tells a captivating and thrilling tale (inspired by real events) of four Communist spies in 1931 China. The spies face life-threatening obstacles not only from their own ranks but also from the Japanese who invaded China during this time period. Much more than the usual “cloak and dagger” story about spies, “Cliff Walkers” has plenty of emotional resonance by realistically showing the heart-wrenching toll on the family lives of spies when these espionage agents go into this line of work.

“Cliff Walkers” (formerly titled “Impasse”) is the first feature-film screenplay from Quan Yongxian. He was previously a writer for the 2021 Chinese drama TV series “Cliff,” which was about spy couple working in Harbin, China. “Cliff Walkers,” which also takes place primarily in Harbin, is an apt title for the movie, since the main characters are constantly on the precipice of danger.

The suspense in this thriller doesn’t let up and will also keep viewers on edge. And although there’s some raw violence in the movie, this isn’t an over-the-top “Mission: Impossible”-styled spy flick where the spies also happen to be stunt masters. These espionage agents have to use their wits more than physical tricks to help them get out of predicaments.

Taking place in 1931, “Cliff Walkers” has a brief written intro explaining the historical context of what is going on while the story is happening. Japan has invaded China, resulting in secret camps where Chinese people are tortured. The puppet state Manchuku in China was controlled by the Japanese during this time period.

In the midst of this political and human-rights turmoil, four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spies have returned to Manchuku from the Soviet Union. These four espionage agents are doing a secret mission called Operation Utrennya. The operation’s purpose is to rescue a former prisoner named Wang Ziyang, who escaped from the Japanese-operated killing grounds Beiyinhe in China that was evenutally bombed by the Japanese. Because of what he experienced and witnessed, Wang Ziyang could expose war crimes (such as human experimentation) committed by the Imperial Japanese Army’s Unit 731.

The four spies happen to be two couples: quick-thinking and empathetic leader Zhang Xianchen (played by Zhang Yi), a former journalist; Wang Yu (played by Qin Hailu), who is Zhang’s even-tempered wife; Chu Liang (played by Qin Hailu), who is younger and more impulsive than Zhang; and Xiao Lan (played by Liu Haocun), who is Chu’s chameleon-like girlfriend. In the beginning of the story, the four comrades have split into two groups, as decided by Zhang. Group 1 consists of Zhang and Lan. Group 2 consists of Yu and Liang.

During freezing snowy weather, their caper begins. And, of course, there are immediate problems. A betrayal within the CCP spy ranks leads to the deaths of certain people early on in the story. And this traitorous ambush sends Zhang and Lan on a frantic quest to Harbin, in order to warn Yu and Liang about the betrayal while also trying to stay alive. Meanwhile, a fellow CCP agent named Zhou Yi (played by Yu Hewei) has his loyalties tested, since he is embedded with the enemy.

It wouldn’t be a spy story without a chief villain. And in this story, the villain is Gao Bin (played by Ni Dahong), a sadistic enforcer of the Japanese invasion. He represents the type of citizen who will be a traitor if it means he will be in a position of power. The Chinese spies willing to fight for their country have poison pills (kept in a mtachbox) that play a signficant role in the story.

Adding to the drama, Zhang and Yu are separated from their two kids who have become wayward street urchins. Their daughter is 8 years old, while their son is about 5 or 6 years old. At one point in the movie, Zhang is told that the children were last scene begging near the Modern Hotel. It just so happens that the Modern Hotel is where Lan goes with soem trusted allies to hide out.

What makes “Cliff Walkers” different from many other spy movies is the heartbreaking storyline of two spy parents (Zhang and Yu) who have been separated from the children and are trying to reunite with them, while the parents also having to fulfill their government responsibilities in their line of work. If they abandon their jobs, they are at risk of being punished and perhaps permanently separated from ther children. It’s a stressful and life-threatening tightrope that’s pulled in man different directions throughout the story.

Zhang’s portrayal of the spy whos shares his name is one of courage and humanity. It’s not an overly flashy role, but there are action sequences where Zhang the spy shows impressive combat skills. Lan is the other character who has many physically challenging action scenes. Frequently, she is the only woman with any power in the room. And she uses that power wisely.

While making “Cliff Walkers,” director Zhang Yimou went for as much realism as possible. According to some production information from the movie’s U.S. publicist: “Historical locations in Harbin were 100% rebuilt just for the film, such as the city’s central street, Asia Cinema and Martyr Hotel which were completely recreated in 1930s style. Lead actor Zhang Yi grew up in Harbin and in fact lived on a street that was one of the rebuilt filming locations. During filming, he was able to find his parents’ old house there and video chatted them to show them how accurately recreated it was.” And the freezing, snowy weather wasn’t faked for the movie.

The accurate production design and the striking cinematopgraphy make “Cliff Walkers” an visually intriguing movie to watch. But the movie wouldn’t work as well, if not for the success it has at maintaining a tone of urgency and suspense, thanks to the absorbing screenplay and well-paced direction. “Cliff Walkers” is not a movie for people who are negatively triggered by scenes of violence and torture. But for people who can handle on-screen depictions of the realistic cruel inhumanity that’s inflicted during political oppression, then “Cliff Walkers” offers a compelling look that is filled with despair and hope, just like real life.

CMC Pictures released “Cliff Walkers” in select U.S. cinemas on April 30, 2021, the same day that the movie was released in China.