Zhao Le (1992)
Directed by
Ning Ying
Writing credits
Ning Dai
Ning Ying
Also Known As:
For Fun
Runtime: 93 min
Country: China
Language: Mandarin
Color: Color
imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108652/
Awards:
1993 Won Golden Montgolfiere Nantes 3 Continents Festival, France
1993 Won Best New Director San Sebastián International Film Festival, Spain
1993 Won Gold Award Tokyo International Film Festival, Japan
1993 Won FIPRESCI Prize Berlin International Film Festival, Germany
2005 Selected in the 100 best chinese movies of 100 years cinema history China Film Archive
Plot Outline: A charming story of a group of senior citizens who set up a Peking Opera club in hopes of finding revitalization through singing and dancing. Fast paced and delightful.
This film is the first in a completed trilogy by director Ning Ying, that aims to portray the lives of Beijing "lao bai xing" (ordinary people) before the city is completely modernized. (The other two films are, "On the Beat" and "I Love Beijing.") It's a very important film of 90s New Social Documentary Film, and absolutely Ning Ying's best work.
A janitor retires after working all his life at a small Beijing Opera theater. Feeling that he has too much time on his hands, he comes across a group of elderly people in a park who play and sing old opera tunes. The janitor sets out to organize them into an "official" association, but trouble soon erupts when he begins to exert too much authority.
Most cast members are non-actors. Some of them can still be found in Tiantan Park performing Beijing Opera just as they do in the film. "For Fun ' won the Gold Prize at the Tokyo Young Cinema Competition, the Fipresci Prize in Berlin and the Euskal Media Prize in San Sebastian, Spain. It is a truly wonderful portrayal of a slice of life in Beijing that will soon disappear. Ning Ying is one of China premier woman director.
http://www.3continents.com/3continents/ ... filmid=377 (in french)
http://www.asianfilms.org/china/zhaole.html
About director Ning Ying:
Born in Beijing in 1959 to a family of scholars. Studied violin from an early age and entered the Beijing Film Academy in 1978. After making progress in the film world received a scholarship in 1981 and was admitted to the renowned Centro Sperimentale di Cinematographia in Rome, Italy where director Masumura Yasuzo and cinematographer Nestor Almendros studied. After four years in the editing program and three in the directing, she was chosen as assistant director for Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor (1987). Returned to the Beijing Film Academy in 1987 and made her directorial debut in 1990 with Someone Loves Just Me ("Youren pianpian aishangwo", tv drama). In 1992, her For Fun ("Zhao Le") a warm but intense portrayal of a senior amateur theater troupe, gained worldwide success and was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize in the Forum at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Gold Prize of the Young Directors section of the Tokyo International Film Festival, and the Grand Prix-Montgolfière d'Or at the Festival of 3 Continents in Nantes, France. Her latest feature, On the Beat ("Minjung Gushi"), released in 1995, was also highly acclaimed. Invited to Turin in 1996 to make a promotional documentary for the city, she served as a juror for the Berlin International Film Festival this year.
Although Ning Ying entered the Beijing Film Academy the same year as her fifth generation colleagues, her younger age and her Italian experience certainly gives her works a very different flavor and makes her a rather unique personality in the scene of modern Chinese cinema.
Shotsnaps:
Source: TVrip
Codec: DivX5.5, 980kbps, MP3 VBR, 80kbps, 320X240
Note: Sorry I can't find any subs for it, but since Ning Ying is a pioneer of China New Social Documentary Film, and this one her first feature is very hard-to-find even in china, and absolutely one of the best chinese film ever made. I still highly recommend this to everyone who really wanna see some truly wonderful films. In fact, the plot is very simply and easy understandable.
Ning.Ying.-.Zhao.Le.-.For.Fun.(1992).TVRIP.NO.SUB.by.auess.avi 
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Clicked!
Thanks a lot auess 
