Hao Dong Xi

Having this week sat through the turgidly bad Kraven the Hunter my faith in awesome filmmaking has been fully restored by Yihui Shao's outstanding writing and directing.

Of course her creation could well have been spoiled if the actors had been failing in their performances but thankfully ALL the actors are magnificent and do Shao's script proud.

It's one of those rare movies were its impossible to select an outstanding performance and I cannot separate the three female leads, I suppose I have to heap praise on Ms. Isabella Zeng merely because the performance from one so young is astonishing.

I'm from the UK but live in Asia so I see lots of movies from India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and China and I have to say the majority of the films I watch (at least 6 a month) are better than so called Hollywood productions in many aspects.

I'm only sorry the majority of cinema goers in the West will not get to view this touching, heart warming, thoughtful, provocative, brilliant movie.

This is a movie which require no acting skill ,no story and no character development. All the lines were execute fast like AI by actor. Director wish to tell her own girl's power golden Internet words to the audience. Most of the scene were a few people gathering,speak the golden lines for10min and combine into 2hr movie.

I feel amused by the audience reactions to the movie. They excitedly repeat and acknowledge the golden line which the actor said.

I feel sad by its high rating over to most of my favorite classics movie cause I not consider this as a movie. A China version of Barbie movie but without entertainment value and acting skill.

At the Berlin screening, the audience was 99% Chinese, with 95% of them being women. Walking out of the cinema with my friend, I just felt utterly refreshed. It's been a long time since I felt, "I paid for the ticket and truly got an excellent experience in return."

The film isn't perfect-there are moments where you wonder if it's not deep enough, or if its structure feels limited, loose, and incomplete. Yet, that doesn't take away from the fact that it's light, joyful, and entirely comfortable-what a rare and precious quality that is. Every ten minutes you'll laugh along with other audience. It talks about feminism and women's self-discovery, but it doesn't feel detached from real life or overly dramatic. Neither does it rely on empty theories. Unlike some films, it doesn't give you the impression that the director is portraying an imagined version of life, but rather something genuine and relatable.

Delightful movie that brings up serious topics about expectations from both society and from people themselves, without being somber or bringing in antagonists. All the characters are very mature, and shine through how they introspect and deal with their own issues.

Although the main topic woven through the plot is feminism, the film shows us similarities to expectations about talent, relationships, parenthood and school. How the characters grow around these topics is the real substance of the movie, and it's put together in a way that balances humor and substance well.

What's really bolding this back though, is that there are a few moments were the writer/director let themselves get carried away and we get characters essentially dictating what we are supposed to think in that moment. This is unnecessary as the movie was already getting us to think about these topics, and it really whiplashes you out of the movie at those points.

This even happens with the Shanghai location: at some point we see her walk past the Sihang storehouse full with bullet holes from where the legendary RoC company made their last stand against the Japanese, and the dad says something about not making noodles much because they're southerners. But then later the mom just says "we live in Shanghai" to her own daughter.

Overall definitely recommend, very uplifting and likeable for a large variety of audiences.

The film explores the modern day challenges of women in China and especially being a single mother. On a deeper level, it explores the ability for women to courageously live the life they wish to live. The expectations placed upon them and the relationships between mothers and daughters, and between women and 'womanhood'. Extrapolate this out though it's also about people in general living within the confines of social expectations set for them instead of chasing after the things that bring them joy - and the real costs of that.

Every so often a movie leaves me with thoughts and feelings beyond the plot that makes me want to watch it again. This is one of them.

The movie feels like a kindhearted friend telling you stories about ups and downs realities of a life well lived. I found myself laughing and crying with the characters and entranced by the connections, chemistries that they shared.

Unclear to me though if watching as a non-mandarin speaker will be able to understand the nuances of what's said.

If I have one complaint about the film it would be that it tried to tackle too many themes. Because of that points it felt like some of the commentary was a bit shallow. Nonetheless, it still got me thinking and apparently now writing about it.