John and I have done a pretty good job keeping up with top Chinese movies that make it to the West. We have seen a few more since we moved to Shanghai. There are two things we found to be really different about Chinese movies
Observation #1. Romantic love is never requited. Lovers never end up to be happy couples. One or both usually die, or marry someone they don't love, or you name it. Best known examples of this are Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This may not apply to the very silly movies which we stay clear off. The one exception we found so far is Comrades: Almost a Love Story. The search continues...
Observation #2. Movies that start out funny may not be comedies. In fact, they can have very devastating endings. An example is Happy Times. I don't even feel like listing more of them here. I distinctly dislike, rather, cannot stand these movies. I feel so cheated.
Once again, it all has to do with expectations. Since Observation #2 is a rather recent revelation, I have not learned to adjust my expectations. On the other hand, Observation #1 has held true for so long that now I just assume someone dies in the end, so I am not disappointed.
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