Set in modern-day Beijing this powerful and evocative drama depicts in brilliant detail ... more
the daily struggle that the millions of citizens of Beijing face day in and day out. When a young man Guei arrives in Beijing from a rural village he finds a j...
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Beijing Bicyclekicks off like an updated Chinese reworking of the 1948 Italian neo-realist ... more
classicBicycle Thieves: a worker, dependent on his bike for his job, has it stolen and doggedly sets out to get it back. But pretty soon Wang Xiaoshuai's film mu...
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Beijing Bicyclekicks off like an updated Chinese reworking of the 1948 Italian neo-realist ... more
classicBicycle Thieves: a worker, dependent on his bike for his job, has it stolen and doggedly sets out to get it back. But pretty soon Wang Xiaoshuai's film mu...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
This deceptively simple modern-day fable, set in China's fastest growing city, tells the ... more
dramatic tale of two very different teenage boys: one a simple peasant lad (Guei), new to the big city; and the other an overly ambitious schoolboy (Jian).The two ...
Beijing Bicyclekicks off like an updated Chinese reworking of the 1948 Italian neo-realist ... more
classicBicycle Thieves: a worker, dependent on his bike for his job, has it stolen and doggedly sets out to get it back. But pretty soon Wang Xiaoshuai's film mutates into something more elemental: a battle of wills between peasant lad Guei, original owner of the bike, and Jian, a surly urban schoolkid who claims to have bought it second-hand. For both the bike is status: for Guei it secures him his job as a courier, while for Jian it lets him keep up with his peers and chat up the girl he fancies. Each sees himself as the rightful owner and neither will give way, so the bike swaps hands back and forth, stolen and re-stolen, as the duel waxes increasingly personal.There's a diverting subplot about a beautiful, stylishly dressed girl glimpsed by Guei who turns out be something other than she seems, but essentially the battle over the bike is the meat of the film. The fascination ofBeijing Bicycle--perhaps especially for non-Chinese viewers--is its portrait of present-day Beijing as a buzzing, high-pressure, neo-capitalist boomtown, impersonal and seemingly as lawless as any Wild West frontier burg. At no point, in all the thefts and counter-thefts and mounting violence, does anyone think to call the police--everyone is left to fight his own battles. Wang, one can't help suspecting, is slipping in a hint of social criticism in this vision of an uncaring society where possessions are all that matter.On the DVD:Beijing Bicycleon disc has the original theatrical trailer (the French version, oddly enough), filmographies for the director and four of his lead actors, notes on the film by Nick Bradshaw and trailers for other Metro Tartan foreign-language DVD releases. The transfer's in the full anamorphic widescreen of the original, with good Dolby Digital sound. --Philip Kemp
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Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 1995 - Drama - Director: Ang Lee - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Greg Wise, Hugh Laurie, Robert Hardy
Advantages: Beautiful buildings and a look at life for many ordinary citizens of Beijing Disadvantages: Can be busy and cramped
A hutong is an ancient alleyway or lane found in Beijing which can date back as far as the Yuan dynasty of China in the 13th century. The crisscrossing alleys can now offer a glimpse of another part of this ancient city that is quite different to the major attractions such as the Summer Palace or the Forbidden City.
The tiny, twisted and interconnected lanes wind through whole areas of the city of Beijing. The lanes are lined with traditional stone houses all arranged in quadrangles, so four houses around a courtyard, which are beautiful old fashioned buildings. They often involve carved pillars, window frames and doors and the open spaces of the courtyard lets in air and light to otherwise quite cramped areas-some of the lanes really are tiny with less than a metre of breadth. Most of the hutongs are still used as housing and are ...
flyingllamas 07.08.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Hutongs, Beijing
Advantages: Cheap, with helpful staff Disadvantages: pricy food (compared to outside of hostel),
I am back again, writing from the East! I write this while still at the hostel, while I wait for a train to Shanghai this evening. We checked out before 12 so effectively my experience of the place is complete. They are storing our bags and allowing us to use the communal facilities as we wait.
We booked our holiday to China in November, planning to go to Chengdu to visit a school friend of mine. She told us she would scope out the local hostels for us and that there was a chance we could stay in her friends flat instead. Then the earthquake hit Sichuan, and our holiday looked like it was going to be cancelled. We decided to change our destination to Beijing instead, and my friend came to join us. She recommended the hostel that she had stayed in on her last visit and it looked nice enough online, so she booked it for us a couple ...
Advantages: Strong Frame and Wheels, Tyres do not let go Disadvantages: None really!!
Bought this bike with my work cycle to work scheme.
A great buy from Halfords.
Excellent speck for the price and a very strong bike. I'm 18st 10 (253 ibs) and in my opinion this bike can handle this weight easily.
Great colour Black with like a Pearlesent White, Very good speck components, Shimano Deore derauillers and Sram Truvatic Crank.
Hydrolic Brakes and Discs. These will stop you instantly and do tare a little time to get used to or a flight over the bars could come along. These sqeak when covered in Muck and Water for the first few occasions, but when used this disapates.
Wheels are Alex DP17 rims, Strong, Maxxis Ingnitor Tyres Grip like hell.
Suntour XCR forks are ok for Cross Country riding, Not a great Jump fork, but hey Im no Jumper! (I think that if yoiu are lighter than me you could have some safe landings with these ...
Star And Director Filmographies, Scene Selection, Original Trailer, Nick Bradshaw Film Notes, World Cinema Trailer Reel
Aspect Ratio
Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital Mandarin
Professional reviews
Review
"...Superb and harrowing....BEIJING BICYCLE moves adroitly with the emotional impact of a steamroller..." (Los Angeles Times, p.C34, 25/01/2002)
"...A humane and tender chronicle of the lives of desperate people....Austere and unforgettable..." (Movieline, p.41, 01/02/2002)
"...Mr. Wang has a graceful, almost classical sense of perspective....BEIJING BICYCLE is at once somber and mysterious, comical and sad..." (New York Times, p.E33, 25/01/2002)
"...The camerawork is immensely stylish and assured, with gorgeous use of colour..." (Sight and Sound, p.38-9, 01/07/2002)
DVD Description
Wang Xiaoshuai's moving, emotional BEIJING BICYCLE tells the story of a young country boy, Guei (Cui Lin), who comes to the big city determined to make it. He soon finds a job as a bike messenger in which he gets a small percentage of each delivery, working hard to build up enough credit to eventually own the bike for himself. As he grows closer to his goal, the bike is stolen and ultimately winds up in the hands of Jian (Li Bin), a poor city boy who sees the bike as his only way to make friends and impress the girl he loves. With both boys claiming the bike is theirs, a series of fights ensues over what is more than just a bike--it has become a symbol of success, power, and greed in a changing country. Lin and Bin are excellent as the two boys battling over the bike; it is heartbreaking to watch Lin keep a tight hold of the bike even as Bin and his friends beat him senseless. Cinematographer Lui Jie depicts a very different China, one that is filled with dangerous, meandering alleys and frightening poverty. The film, almost devoid of color save for a young woman's red dress and shoes, is reminiscent of Vittori De Sica's BICYCLE THIEF and Peter Yates's BREAKING AWAY; the freedom the bicycle represents overwhelms both young boys as they risk their lives to hold on to it. The film won a Silver Berlin Bear for its honest, gritty, heartfelt depiction of a Beijing that is not often seen in the West.
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