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Plot:
Guei has left his village behind and has come to the city with great expectations. He finds himself a job as a bicycle courier, earning ten yuan for each trip. Should he manage to collect six hundred ...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:April 25, 2008Guei (Cui Lin) is a young, new arrival to Beijing from the countryside, simple-minded but stubborn and strong-willed, taking on a job with a courier service that provides him with a bike in addition to pay--a bike that he must, nevertheless, earn with his job. He happily makes his way around performing his job, at nights discussing the approaching ownership of the bike with his friend and housemate Mantis (Liu Lei). He is happy with this job, even though it only pays 20% until he earns the bike (thereafter earning 50% of the delivery fees), but remains as simple as he began--when he attempts to deliver one letter, he is misdirected by hotel staff into going through a shower, eventually having to argue his way out of paying for it, which he is less than good at--simply repeating his occupation and saying he didn't intend to use it until he was directed, thankfully saved by the hotel's manager--intended recipient of his letter--who pities him and sends him on his way. Unfortunately, his way has been stolen--in the hundreds of thousands of bikes in Beijing, his was stolen at this time, which leaves him searching endlessly and dejected. He returns to his manager (Xie Jian) and begs to keep his job. Of course, his job is impossible without a bike, and he was caught up in his distress over that loss and nearly forgot to deliver his last message for the day. Consequently his manager, of course, fires him--but the simplistic Guei suggests that if he can find his bike--obviously a ridiculous condition--he should be able to return to his job. The manager chuckles a bit at this absurd idea, but says, effectively, "Why not?" and that if he indeed can find it, the job is his.
Meanwhile, student Jian (Li Bin) is seen with his friends practicing freestyle bicycling* in a building under construction, they commenting on his new bike, asking if his father had indeed finally bought him one. Indeed, though, this is not the object of his new bicycle ownership--Xiao (Yuanyuan Gao) is the pretty schoolgirl he wants to impress, and being able to ride a bike with her seems like the best way to do it. When we see him ride off, it is with a sense of final freedom, as if he is feeling something he has never felt or experienced before. Xiao does indeed ride with him and even goes with him to sit in the woods. Unfortunately, Mantis has noticed Jian in passing, and unbeknownst to the two lovebirds, Guei has snuck up and discovered that it is indeed his bike, complete with the marks he made on the back above the wheel. He makes off with it, but Jian manages to catch him doing so and chases him down.
Now it becomes a contest between the two to prove who rightfully owns the bike, with Jian having the backing of his friends, and Guei having only his negligble--often miserably underused, even as lame as they are--debating skills.
I almost hated this movie. The treatment Jian's friends give to Guei, the sense of entitlement Jian has offended me pretty violently--but in retrospect that came to be a positive, as the story unfolded and showed me the error of my perceptions and went in unexpected directions. Suddenly Jian and Guei were both understandable and sympathetic characters--though some actions by Jian remained indefensible in my mind. But, as I've found with much of eastern "literate" cinema (as opposed to the action variety) there is a tendency toward an observant eye in the camera, rather than a judgmental one (or perhaps the judgment is better seen through an Eastern cultured eye, I can't be sure of that) and I struggled to stop judging the film for the nature of one of its characters, but the treatment of Guei despite his intentions and limited social--or more importantly, societal--skills were heartbreaking. But this just speaks to the skill and emotion built so firmly into the film, with beautifully detached cinematography and a wonderful soundtrack that manages to encompass both ambient music and completely rhythm-oriented music, a fascinating dichotomy to represent the opposing moods of complacence and violent conflict.
A fascinating and interesting movie with a very strong and interesting message about class and materialist status symbols, but a difficult one to watch, I found.
*Honestly, this has got to be one of the dumbest looking sports I've ever seen. -
MCT:April 24, 2008
East Asian films (the drama ones) just don't got a lot of dialogue in them. For some, this may bore them. To tell you the truth, I get bored myself sometimes, but I could definitely watch through it if it were worth it.
This one is. Simple story of 2 boys sharing the same bicycle, in an unconventional way really. But, damn it, I got hooked to it emotionally. That last scene, even if I sped it up a bit (which I usually do, if I find the pace too slow, or I'm pressed for time.) really really got me depressed! gaah!
I pitied guei too much, I wanted to punch him myself and scream at him to stop being a pushover! but he has his naive country boy charms. -
MCT:November 3, 2007
Slow moving and not a whole lot of action. It's basically daily life of two boys and the dramas they experience, the only connection a bike. I'll still watch it despite the slowness of the movie.
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MCT:September 16, 2007This movie is labeled as starring Zhou Xun, but she is such a minor character that I would not even call her a supporting actress really. The story is heartbreaking and interesting but like many Chinese films just ends with no positive resolution at the end. Very sad.
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MCT:June 5, 2007
simple tale in the tradition of Zhang Yimou - nicely directed, well acted. warning: slow indie film. don't expect much in the way of entertainment - that is not the reason this was made.
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MCT:May 7, 2007In Beijing the bicycle is everything. This sad movie focuses on one bike and the part it plays in the lives of two young characters - one trying to make a living, the other trying to gain respect amongst his peers.
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MCT:March 15, 2007
Beijing: young men in packs, machismo, class divisions, violence, and indifference. Guei arrives from the country: toothbrushes, hotel foyers, and Qin, a rich neighbor in high heels, dazzle him. He gets a job as a messenger. The company issues him a bike, which he must pay for out of his wages. When it is stolen, Guei hunts for it. A student, Jian, has it; for him, it's the key to teen society - with his pals and with Xiao, a girl he fancies. Guei finds the bike and stubbornly tries to reclaim it in the face of great odds. But for Jian to lose the bike would mean humiliation. The two young men - and the people around them - are swept up in the youths' desperation.
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MCT:December 26, 2006
A good story, but the violence destroys the feeling after awhile, but even though its a good film, but not good enough for me wanting to see it again.
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MCT:November 16, 2006This movie was so hard to watch. Another one that requires your total emotional investment. Lets talk about strength of will.
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MCT:November 12, 2006it was hard to feel sympathetic for the main character when he was, well, stupid. the acting was good but the story was a bit irritating and extremely slow. the way the characters talked less and less added to the boredom as well.
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MCT:October 29, 2006
Recuerdo cuando me robaron una bicicleta, fue como un dardo en el corazon. Asi que entiendo perfectamente a este chico obsesionado con la suya. Una historia de amistad muy original, con buenas actuaciones y una cara de Beijing que no vemos con frecuencia, la de las calles, los barrios, su gente.
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MCT:October 28, 2006
A very simple story that keep me totally interested. I cried at the end because the boy's dreams of a better life were destroyed by the selfish higher class boy.
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MCT:July 17, 2006
As much a study of adolescent rivalry as it is a loose comment on the fervent disputing and disruption within China itself. The cinematography often captures the modern skyscrapers of China's quickly changing landscapes since its vast economic growth, contrasting with the grotty back-allies evoking China's widespread poverty. The vicious fighting revolving around ownership of the eponymous bicycle is a metaphor for hanging onto China's identity in such a revolutionary period. Cui Lin's performance as the down-trodden country boy is especially poigniant, and Wang Xiaoshuai honestly presents his characters with all their nuances and candidly juxtaposes the battle between traditional and contemporary China.
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MCT:May 27, 2006
A story compelling enough for it's theme of a tenacious struggle to succeed, yet magnified by the director's eye for revealing the story.
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