The Drummer; 战·鼓

Earlier this month, Jaycee Chan, actor and son of the much more famous Jackie, pleaded guilty in a Beijing court to drug offense and was sentenced to six months of jail time.
Young Jaycee has always been unconventional. Born and raised in the U.S., unlike most Asian Americans, he dropped out of college (College of William and Mary to be exact. Reason for leaving? Supposedly "all you can see in Virginia is sheep".). Then in 2009, he gave up his American citizenship to become a Chinese citizen. 
Sid, Jaycee's character, is the recalcitrant loser son of a Hong Kong mob boss Kwan (played by one of bigger China region's best actors of all time: 梁家輝, Tony Leung Ki-Fai. It's a pity that most American audience might've only known him from the early 90s French film "The Lover"). 
Sid was in an affair with his father's competing mob boss's mistress Carmen. The affair was discovered and the boss demands Kwan cut off Sid's two hands to settle the whole mess. Kwan sends Sid, along with him his most trusted bodyguard, to a mountainous region in Taiwan to hide out. 
While there, Sid unexpectedly ran into a traditional Zen Drumming Troupe, concept of which was based on a real group of self-subsisting hippie-like artists rigorously train daily in the art of Zen warrior drumming and perform worldwide. Sid is quite intrigued by the troupe's athletic practices and holistic discipline and quickly joins them. To the troupe-master's surprise, Sid proves himself more than just a spoiled delinquent and starts to enjoy his new-found simple life.
However, the mess he left behind didn't forget him. In the end he finds out that the bodyguard with whom he has bonded was the main engineer scheming to overthrow his father's mob business. 
Also worth mentioning is the brief but memorable appearance by Josie Ho (何超仪) as Sid's stubborn older sister determined to stay away from her mafia father and make it as a veterinarian. True to her on-screen black sheep persona, Josie's passion for acting and singing met the cold shoulders of his father Stanley Ho, the gaming king of Macau.


With Chinese subtitles with some of the dialogues in Cantonese. Enjoy the movie.

After the Final Battle; 决战之后

For advanced learners only.

If you happen to be a contemporary Chinese history bug, you have to watch this movie.

Although to American audience, the most seen Chinese movie genre is without a doubt action/Kung Fu, to mainland Chinese audience, however, it is definitely history/war movies.

This movie documents the lives of a group of highly ranked and decorated Nationalist generals and military officers from the time they were captured by the communists towards the end of the Chinese civil war, up to the point when they received amnesty.

Adapted almost verbatim from writer Huang Jiren (黄济人)'s investigative journalistic masterpiece 将军决战岂止在战场 (loosely translated "To Generals, winnings aren't only determined on the battlefields"). First published more than 30 years ago to critical acclaim, Huang followed up with a much belated part II in 2013, bringing another round of attention. The movie, however, was adapted solely based on part I and was released in the 1980s. 

The final "battle" in contemporary Chinese history generally refers to the conclusion of the three decisive battles of the Chinese civil war (1945-1949) that ended with Mao's communist party/army reigning over mainland and Jiang's nationalist party/army retreating to the island of Taiwan. The three battles are: Huaihai (淮海战役 or Xubang-徐蚌会战 in nationalist history) , Pingjin (平津战役, or 平津会战 in Taiwan), Liaoshen (辽沈战役, 辽西会战 or 辽沈会战 in Taiwan). As you can tell, the two sides never even agreed on the official names of the battles.
Huang's own maternal uncle was among one of those imprisoned generals. Far more than being a subject matter, his connection to all the other high-profile POWs and many more of his previous fellow cadets from the Whampoa Military Academy (黄埔军校, essentially China's West Point and the breeding ground for many top military leaders and strategists for both the Nationalists and the Communists) and the Nationalist colleagues made it possible for Huang to extensively interview the POW generals. They were critical in completing the missing pieces of the historical puzzles, providing alternative interpretation for the same events, what went wrong in intelligence and counter-intelligence. 

Contrary to common beliefs, both sides engaged in significant revisionism although recent decade or so have witnessed much improved communication, collaboration and compromise. What's amazing about this movie is that it was made in the 80s, way before open discussions about what version of history really happened became the norm. Losers not vilified and victors not lionized. Here is to the beginning of objective history.

I can't find a version with full Chinese subtitles. Deepest apologies. However, here's some small consolation: like most Chinese history/war movies, all of the characters, their positions, associated significance and events are spelled out telegram style. 

Enjoy the movie