Beijing Bicycle
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Movie Reviews of Beijing Bicycle
Movie Review: Bicycle built for one-shared by two
Summary: 5 Stars
this movie centers on the controversy over ownership of a bicycle
which both owners have paid for. Guei--a poor country boy had legitimately paid for the bike out of his earnings as a courier--and just as he makes the last payment--the bike is stolen by a person who's never revealed--who then sells the bike to a used bicycle store where Jian puchases the same bicycle with money stolen from his father. While Jian's claim seems phony--since he purchased stolen goods--he and his bully friends want to invalidate Guei's claim, by force if necessary. Eventually a compromise is reached--the bicycle will be shared with each having possession on alternate days--a very unfair compromise-due to Guei's authentic claim and purchase as well as the fact that he actually needs the bicycle for his job-while Jian merely wants the bike to cruise with his friends and impress a girl.
This movie may sound banal in description-but it's actually very well done and quite entertaining.
Some reviewers seem to want to impose their own perceptions of propaganda into this story--but anyone who's ever known the poverty of Guei will understand his commitment to finding and keeping his bicycle--it's as simple as that!
An excellent movie--probably fine for all ages--but there is a brief nude scene with Guei--for those who find such things offensive (no frontal nudity!) and there is some violence-though relatively mild by current standards
Subtitled in English
well worth purchasing
Movie Review: Makes you appreciate what you've got!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very entertaining movie that makes you realize how lucky we are to have what we have because so many people don't have much and have to work so hard for something that most in the west would buy and perhaps not even use! and not even care! Take the case of the bicycle in this movie-- one country-boy works his 'dream job' of a bicycle-courier for a month in order to pay for his flashy new bike-- only for it to be stolen (think of someone stealing your new laptop).
A poor student then steals his family's savings to buy a "used" bike (which his family has been promising him for years; think of all your friends who have flashy laptops and think how you'd feel if you didn't even have an old desktop; also, think how poor a family must be that all their savings equal the cost of one used bike...) so he can spend time riding next to a girl from high-school whom he desperately likes (think being able to chat all night on internet/icq/email with a girl you like).
This movie takes you to a simpler time and place, somewhere that we should reflect upon in our own lives more often, especially in the west where we have so much and are still not content!
Movie Review: metaphor and symbolism
Summary: 5 Stars
Unfortunately, most who have seen this movie do not grasp the metaphors and symbolism it contains which were necessary to get past Communist Party censors. The dilemmas, conflicts, confrontations and choices the two main characters struggle through alone and together foreshadow the coming social upheaval the Chinese Coummunist Party leadership created with its One-Child policy: young males will outnumber young females by 60 million in 2020. The bicycle is a metaphor for economic opportunity and upward mobility in a "classless" society. No money, no wife. No wife, no children. No children, no future. Both Gue and Jian fight hard to keep what they believe is rightfully theirs,only perhaps to be outflanked by the third young man who is wealthier, more worldly and can afford leisure: he is the object of the young woman's affection near the story's end. The movie predicts a nothing-to-lose battle where the two young men join sides. What will happen in China if poor farmers, migrant constuction and factory workers and disafected students rise up as almost happened in 1989 Tiennamien?Movie Review: Plucky young man and his beloved bike
Summary: 5 Stars
A 19 year old comes to Beijing to work and finds a job as a bicycle courier. He has to pay for the bike out of his earnings. Once the bike is paid in full, somebody steals it. Through determination and tenacity, he finds his bike. Another young man paid for it with money he stole from his father. It's a battle of wills between the two young men over the bike. I found it hard to watch because I felt for the farm boy.
I recommend this movie for anyone who got attached to something they worked hard for and lost it through misfortune. I had my bike stole several times as a kid. Amazingly, my parents kept buying me another one but sometimes I had to wait awhile.
There is a heartbreaking scene where he tries to wrestle his bike from tough teens. It got me close to tears.
Movie Review: You've never seen stubborn or determined ....
Summary: 5 Stars
until you see this movie. I mean the viewer practically squirms in their setas as they see the main character with dogged determination declare and demand ownership over a bicycle that he had paid for little by little as a messenger in downrown Beijing .... It's not your usual movie fare and any reveiwer that says they've been to this bustling city that wakens slowly every morning and could not idently with our main characters plight, don't know what they are talking about ....
It's a wonderfull and thought provoking film of dogged determination ... something we see so little of today!