In the Mood for Love and 4 Other Chinese Movies With 90% and Higher RT Scores

For those who are tired of revisiting Park Chan-wook's The Handmaiden or rewatching Bong Joon-ho's Parasite, we have prepared our top five films that will make you fall in love not only with Korean cinema, but with Chinese cinema as well.

1. To Live, 1994

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

Zhang Yimou's epic saga of how a once wealthy and influential family survived the historical events of the mid-20th century: the Chinese Civil War and the Cultural Revolution.

The film was banned at home for criticizing government policies. However, it was well received abroad, winning three awards at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.

2. In the Mood for Love, 2000

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

The ability to transform the most typical plot into a work of art is a testament to the artist's true mastery. The age-old story of a man and a woman brought together by chance becomes light and lyrical, sad and fleeting, like summer evenings.

Wong Kar-wai does not miss a single detail, and as a result, the looks and gestures, the music, the color and the atmosphere of Hong Kong in the 60s create real magic.

3. Raise the Red Lantern, 1991

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

This is Zhang Yimou's third movie about the situation of women in pre-war China, when women were completely subordinated to their husbands and could only free themselves from their oppression through death.

Though men are constantly mentioned, they appear only in passing, but the power they wield and use squeezes the viewer into a vice.

In this oppressive world, ruled by unchanging rituals, the only element of life is the lighting of red lanterns, signaling the master's visit to the home of his wife, whom he has come to honor for a few hours.

4. Farewell My Concubine, 1993

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

A movie about how art becomes life and life becomes art. It is the story of two Beijing Opera performers and a former courtesan who became intimately involved with them.

The performances on stage and the events behind the scenes take place against a backdrop of political upheaval, and this combination creates a dynamic plot, emotional depth, and the opportunity to immerse oneself in the atmosphere of Beijing in the first half of the 20th century.

The film is considered one of the central works of the so-called fifth generation of Chinese directors and was awarded the Palme d'Or and many other film prizes.

5. Chungking Express, 1994

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

A unique movie in its style from the early work of Wong Kar-wai. It consists of two stories: the first one is about a young policeman who is suffering from a lost love, and the second one is about another policeman whose private life is not running smoothly either.

There is a mysterious drug dealer and a strange waitress in a diner, strange habits, fateful meetings and breakups, loneliness and tenderness, dreams and many real human feelings.

Another reason why the movie is worth seeing: Quentin Tarantino was so impressed by the film that the director himself organized its distribution in the US.