The genius of Chinese films

In the past year or so, I've taken a strong liking to Asian films. Chinese, to be exact. I've branched out to Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, and films from Thailand in that time, but Chinese films are pretty much my focus. With branching out, I've come across some perhaps important, or perhaps not so important observations about what formula each Asian country uses in its films, and I find that I favor Chinese over others. Of course, my observations are watered down and amateurish, but they are observations, nonetheless, that have made me a huge fan of films that are unfortunately and oftentimes overlooked. Here's what I love about Chinese films... Chinese films, with the exception of a few, generally use large chunks of silence to tell a story, where there's no dialogue, there's just the landscape and the sounds that come with it, facial expressions and actions, and barely any dialogue. I feel this makes the viewer feel more in touch with the experience the character is having in the film. One film that comes to mind is The Road Home, directed by Zhang Yimou. I've seen a lot of his movies, and he probably sets the example for other Chinese directors, because I see the same chunks of silence instead of dialogue in other films. In the Mood for Love is also a good example for silence ruling over dialogue, but it is also a demonstration of letting the viewer use his or her imagination. In the Mood for Love is directed by Wong Kar Wai, a Hong Kong director, also very famous in China, but uses Cantonese dialect as opposed to Zhang Yimou, who uses Mandarin Chinese. In the Mood for Love is a very intelligent film that is rich in texture, sound and depth. It is the story of two people, neighbors, who find out that their spouses have been cheating on them with the other person's spouse. As they uncover the truth, they begin to fall in love. What makes this film so interesting and amazing, in my opinion is the director's ability to create this affair between these two people without even a kiss. The couple touch each other maybe once or twice throughout the whole movie, yet we know that they're up to more than that. That's what makes it genius.