Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in Chicago, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
King of Masks (1995)
Director: Wu Tianming
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The first film in ten years from the one-time godfather of China's 'fifth generation' directors is an eloquent and deeply felt protest against greed and inhumanity; any relevance to the state of Chinese society in the 1990s is, of course, purely coincidental. The story centres on an elderly street entertainer in the rural Sichuan of the 1930s (his act involves switching masks with uncanny speed) who realises that he risks dying without an heir to inherit the secrets of his art. He decides to adopt a son, but the boy he buys from a penniless man turns out to be a tomboy who brings him little but grief. The film's allegorical implications are almost as plain as its attacks on sexual inequalities and political misrule, but Wu lets nothing get in the way of very expressive images and a very emotive plot.Author: TR
Cast & crew
Director: Wu Tianming
Producer: Wu Tianming
Cast: Chu Yuk, Chao Yim Yin, Zhao Zhi Gang, Zhang Riu Yang full cast
Duration: 101 mins
Features
Gray's anatomy
James Gray wants to push buttons—again.
The next big thing?
Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.
Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema
So you think you can dance, comrade?
Puppet master
Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.
Socratic method
Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.
Wander woman
Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.
Oscars
Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.
What do you think?
Post your review now