8 must-watch Chinese films on Netflix, from Fan Bingbing’s I am not Madame Bovary to new film The Wild Goose Lake, a Cannes Film Festival nominee starring Hu Ge

Feb 10 , 2022

Fan Bingbing in a still from I am not Madame Bovary. Photo: Handout

The streaming giant is packed with internationally acclaimed films from China, with several making waves at global film festivals such as Cannes and Berlin

Neo-noir thriller The Wild Goose Lake is new to Netflix in February, but there are plenty of classics by big name directors like Jia Zhangke and Zhang Yimou to catch up on

With going to the cinema seeming impossible in Hong Kong in the near future, film fans can still treat themselves thanks to online streaming platforms.

While Netflix is more well known for its original content – ranging from drama series to dating shows – the streaming platform’s offering of Chinese films is actually richer than expected, even featuring internationally acclaimed, award-winning contemporary releases.

Hu Ge in a still from The Wild Goose Lake. Photo: handout

Arriving on Netflix in February are three movies that each have their unique charm. Starring Hu Ge, Liao Fan and Gwei Lun-mei, The Wild Goose Lake is a neo-noir crime thriller that shows a hide-and-seek between a wanted gang leader and his rival gang, the police, his associate and his estranged wife. Directed by Diao Yinan, the movie competed for the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.

Similarly, 2015’s Mountains May Depart was another Palme d’Or nominee at Cannes. Directed by Jia Zhangke, a leading figure of the “Sixth Generation” filmmakers, the story is a three-part account of how globalism and capitalism play out in modern China – and the sentiments between mother and son as they are separated by culture and distance.

Elsewhere, I am not Madame Bovary by Feng Xiaogang sets itself apart visually as most of the film is presented in a round frame. The comedy stars Fan Bingbing, who plays a villager being swindled by her ex-husband, as she tries to seek justice through the legal system. The film received the International Critics’ Award at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

Fan Bingbing in I am not Madame Bovary. Photo: handout

Older Chinese movies already available on Netflix are also worth checking out.

Zhang Yimou’s The Flowers of War is pretty well-known in the Western world thanks to its nomination in the 2012 Golden Globe Awards. Having Christian Bale playing the lead role in this historical drama set in the Second Sino-Japanese War doesn’t hurt either.