The best Wang Lai’s drama movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Wang Lai’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Wang Lai.
The Golden Lotus
5.7/10
Golden Lotus is based, in part, on Jin Ping Mei, a famous erotic novel of ancient China. Li Han-Hsiang adapted part of the story into this film, which starts with Hsi Men Ching, a successful merchant, wooing Pan Chin Lien, the beautiful wife of one of the townspeople.
Moods of Love
6.5/10
Two stories are included in this erotic/romantic anthology. In the first, a Sung-Dynasty (10th-13th century) Buddhist monk is tricked into sexual relations with an unscrupulous female adventurer. He dies soon after with his misdeed on his conscience. In the second, the daughter of a woman who died in a brothel discovers that her mother died an unnatural death and seeks revenge.
Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre II
5.9/10
The thrills continue in this second part of this cherished adventure, created by the renowned director Chu Yuan and ingenious novelist Chin Yung. Only the union of the title weapons can save the six remaining martial arts sects who are vying for mastery. So just sit back and enjoy the movie event which spawned a legacy that continues even today with a long-running, internationally loved television series, a role-playing game, and even collectible replicas of the Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre themselves!
Pushing Hands
7.2/10
Mr. Chu is an elderly widower who teaches tai chi chuan in Beijing. He moves to America to live with his son's family, but finds the cultural adjustment difficult. Since his daughter-in-law is a white woman who does not speak Chinese, Mr. Chu's son, Alex, must mediate.
Hong Kong Emmanuelle
4.4/10
Fei-Fei, young and pretty, nearly breaks up a marriage but loses out to the wife in the end.
Legend of the Bat
6.5/10
Following "Clans Of Intrigue"'s success, director Chu Yuan, novelist Ku Lung, and superstar Ti Lung re-teamed for another adventure featuring sexy knight Chu Liu-Hsiang. This time, he travels to the mysterious Island Of The Bats, where he encounters treacherous monks, beautiful women, and a strange Prince. The movie is also a significant milestone in the amount of female flesh revealed on screen, proving that Shaw movies can balance the yin of cheesecake with the yang of beefcake.
Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre
5.8/10
Director Chu Yuan's titanic teaming with respected, inspired author Chin Yung created this unforgettable saga. Set during the Yuan Dynasty, it tells the fascinating story of the "Sacred Fire" sect, the Wu Tang swordsmanship clan, the disciples of the O Mei group, The Book of Chu Yang (which can make the reader immortal), and the destruction of Shaolin -- complete with a killer cliffhanger. And that's just the start of the fascinating intrigues and ingratiating characters found here.
Beauty Escort
5.1/10
This blood tale of a feud between two sword fighting clans is full of betrayal and intrigue, will most probably please the fans of samurai sword fighting.
The Dream of the Red Chamber
6.7/10
Li Han-Hsiang's adaptation of the classic Qing Dynasty novel will take viewers to the heightened pleasures of love and the despairing depths of betrayal. Timeless beauty Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia appears as Chia Pao-yu in her first attempt at a gender-bending role, an art she will wield complete mastery over in later films. Pao-yu is in love with his cousin, Lin Tai-yu (Sylvia Chang), but his family has other marital plans for him that will leave both broken-hearted.
Island of Loves
7.3/10
This film depicts the life of the 19th-century Portuguese writer Wenceslau De Moraes by means of nine ancient ballads from China. The writer married a Chinese woman after he left his wife and family to go live in Macao. Later, he moved to Japan where he fell in love with a Japanese woman, staying in Japan for the rest of his life. Mixed in with the career and loves of Moraes is the history of Portugal at home and in its colonies.
The King Fa Fairy
A Chinese fantasy drama
Iron Bones
Iron Bones, about a young lad that learns a secret Tai Chi type of style called the Wind Palm, where you can kill with chi blows. Sure, it's a little crazy, but the acting is a big cut above most martial arts movies and the sword fights are pretty good. And Sam the Seed shows up, sans wig, as a dirtbag Shaolin monk after the book. Han Ying Chieh, the big boss, is one of the thugs in the background.
Emperor Chien Lung and the Beauty
6.5/10
The year is 1756 and the Emperor journeys to Soochow, where he encounters a famous courtesan and gets involved with in all sorts of un-emperor-like activities.
Illicit Desire
7.2/10
Tang Dynasty emperors, Ming Dynasty scholars, assorted fortunetellers, and several Buddhist monks figure in a trio of erotic and mystical Chinese legends.
The Secret
6.6/10
A real murder case which was complicated by the ménage à trois relationship the victim had with the main suspects. As different witnesses narrated their conflicting stories, the case seemed set to lead to nowhere; especially when the real identity of the dead person was finally discovered.
Immortal Warriors
5.8/10
Immortal Warriors is a Taiwanese Martial Arts movie.
Fairy, Ghost, Vixen
6.6/10
FAIRY, GHOST, VIXEN (1965) consists of three fanciful tales that may be loosely classified as ghost stories, but they're presented and designed more along the lines of traditional fairy tales. They're beautifully staged and photographed and have a timeless quality about them with a moral at the end of each.
Passing Flickers
6.7/10
The main characters - the arrogant, harassed director, the sexy starlet, or naïve actors are familiar enough stereotypes. Along the way however, there is some fun to be had as more humorous incidents occur on the sound stage, together with dashes of nudity. Some of the events are presumably inspired by real life experiences, others have a distinct air of wishful fabrication. The over-the-top Kung Fu star, deserted by director and crew as he goes through his pointless extended routine, for instance. Or the action heroes, sweating in furs while they dutifully munch through their meal scene, 'snow' falling outside in studio land.
Back Alley Princess
6.8/10
Polly Shang Kwan and Sam Hui are con artists who befriend a family of street venders and entertainers. The group constantly faces financial problems as they are ripped off by thugs, their rent is raised and car breaks down. Polly Kuan (who portrays a man for the entire film) lies, cheats, and steals to come up with the cash that everyone needs. Things get more serious when triad thugs kidnap the daughter of the family, and sell her to a triad boss, killing Carter Wong in the process.
The Lost Generation
4.1/10
The plot follows a group of women who struggle in Hong Kong, most of them illegal immigrants from mainland China.
