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Amazon.co.uk Review
Beijing Bicycle kicks off like an updated Chinese reworking of the 1948 Italian neo-realist classic Bicycle Thieves: a worker, dependent on his bike for his job, has it stolen and doggedly sets out to get it back. But pretty soon Wang Xiaoshuai's film mutates into something more elemental: a battle of wills between peasant lad Guei, original owner of the bike, and Jian, a surly urban schoolkid who claims to have bought it second-hand. For both the bike is status: for Guei it secures him his job as a courier, while for Jian it lets him keep up with his peers and chat up the girl he fancies. Each sees himself as the rightful owner and neither will give way, so the bike swaps hands back and forth, stolen and re-stolen, as the duel waxes increasingly personal.

There's a diverting subplot about a beautiful, stylishly dressed girl glimpsed by Guei who turns out be something other than she seems, but essentially the battle over the bike is the meat of the film. The fascination of Beijing Bicycle--perhaps especially for non-Chinese viewers--is its portrait of present-day Beijing as a buzzing, high-pressure, neo-capitalist boomtown, impersonal and seemingly as lawless as any Wild West frontier burg. At no point, in all the thefts and counter-thefts and mounting violence, does anyone think to call the police--everyone is left to fight his own battles. Wang, one can't help suspecting, is slipping in a hint of social criticism in this vision of an uncaring society where possessions are all that matter.

On the DVD: Beijing Bicycle on disc has the original theatrical trailer (the French version, oddly enough), filmographies for the director and four of his lead actors, notes on the film by Nick Bradshaw and trailers for other Metro Tartan foreign-language DVD releases. The transfer's in the full anamorphic widescreen of the original, with good Dolby Digital sound. --Philip Kemp

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5 Reviews 5 star:  (1) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:  (1) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review (5 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: great cinema, 2 Dec 2004 By A Customer This review is from: Beijing Bicycle [2002] (DVD) This is a very well made, insightful film. Although not without some flaws, this easily outshines some better known films from this region. Well-paced, great photography, pure cinema.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   13 of 16 people found the following review helpful: the most promising film to come out of the PRC for a while., 22 May 2003 By  "taizu_cjc" - See all my reviews This review is from: Beijing Bicycle [2002] (DVD) Beijing Bicycle is one of the finest films to come out of mainland China for a while. Maybe its not as technically and artistically flawless as many 5th generation films, like 'red lantern' or 'farewell my concubine', but its an undeniably charming and beautiful fairytale, with deep-rooted moral grounding, that will enchant everyone. Zhou Xun is fantastic, as always, and newcomer Li Bin gives an extraordinary performance. Beijing Bicycle proves that there's a bright future for the 6th generation, who thankfully refrain from directing everything at critisising the government and concentrate on pure cinema, and it will be a flagship of its genre.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   3 of 5 people found the following review helpful: Hard to fathom, a little dull, 22 Jan 2006 By  J. A. Garlick "jeremyanddasha" (Manchester, UK) - See all my reviews    This review is from: Beijing Bicycle [2002] (DVD) Although an admirer of Asian cinema (particularly Korean), to be honest I didn't really understand this film. Perhaps the symbolism of the bicycle simply doesn't translate for a westerner, but it simply seemed like a couple of pig-headed guys fighting over a bicycle while failing to communicate with the women in their lives (the fact that the women barely spoke didn't help matters). The film had some good comic moments (at least I thought they were comic), but the ending was oddly depressing rather than moving. At least the whole thing was bizarre enough to be memorable, which is always a plus-point in my book. I hope I'm not being too rude if I suggest that the movie could safely be renamed "Two Stubborn Fatheads And A Mountain Bike" ...  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) › See all 5 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews A DEEP HUMAN ODDYSSEY Beijing Bicycle by Sixth Generation director Wang Xiaoshuai is an unsettling look at modern China in transition that depicts the relationship between two young men of different... Read more Published 6 months ago by stuart Almost too painful to watch !!! I really hope that this film doesn't represent Chinese society at the moment. We are presented with too many uncaring folks who sit by and watch as teenagers are beyond cruel and... Read more Published 12 months ago by J. Collins Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 5 customer reviews...