Film Pick of the Week: Happy Times

I think I have said before that Zhang Yimou is my favorite Chinese director. His stories are full of beautiful realism, from the scripts to the cinematography. One of Zhang Yimou's lesser known films is one of my sentimental favorites. The 2000 film Happy Times. I adore this film because it is one of those films that captures present day China well. It seem that most Chinese films that we get in the U.S. deal with historical or mythical themes or are martial arts films. This film is none of the above. It is a film that is beautiful in it's bitersweetness, in its ability to make you laugh and pain you at the same time. Set in modern China, it certainly does help American audiences see the real China, with real people like us, with real desires like us, with real feelings like us, and with real fears like us. Happy Times is like a slow brewed cup of coffee. While it takes its time to get going, it is very worth it once the end product has been experienced. I highly recommend this film to all of you that will be experiencing China with us in July. Check out the trailer below...