Beijing Bicycle (2002)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

I really enjoyed watching this film for a second time recently. A story of a young peasant from the outskirts of town (Beijing) struggle against societal oppositions, finding work, keeping bike from preying thieves, and learning survival skills. Beijing is not an easy town to tame! At times very funny! At times very violent, makes you want to turn your head in disgust. The violence is to prove a point. No good comes from it, whatsoever! I think this film is well made. The pace is smooth. The acting is superb. I especially like the acting of the employer who hires the main character as a messenger boy. He is what you would call a prudent business man with heart! Please take some time out of your day and watch this tense movie with moralistic themes: rich versus poor, right versus wrong, bullying versus stubbornness. A winner in my book!

One careful look at maverick sixth generation Chinese film director Wang Xiaoshuai's filmography will easily suggest that "Beijing Bicycle" is one of the best commercial films he has directed in his decade and a half old career.This is a film which has tremendously huge mass appeal as people all over the world prefer bicycles as environmental friendly means of transport.This has perhaps been a reason why this film was banned by Chinese authorities upon its initial release in 2001.A lot has changed in China ever since this film came out but it is still easy to comprehend natural fascination of Chinese people for bicycles.It is a different matter that this craze for bicycles is getting lost into oblivion as world's major car manufacturers are busy eying Chinese automobile market."Beijing Bicycle" has succeeded in revealing behavioral traits of young Chinese boys who are capable of outsmarting their western counterparts as far as bad,irresponsible,illogical behavior is concerned.There is absolutely no point in comparing "Beijing Bicycle" with Italian Neorealist classic "Ladri Di Biciclette" directed by Italian master Vittorio De Sica as both films are set in quite different cultural contexts.It is a mere coincidence that they have a bicycle as a common element.

Having never seen the original Italian movie The Bicycle Thief on which this film is based, I am unsure of how to compare the two, but Beijing Bicycle, remake or not, is very good. Camera-work and images so gorgeous that almost every individual frame is worth hanging on a wall, this movie captures you with its beautiful visual style and exceptional pace. The music adds to the overall beauty of this movie and the acting, though amateur, is nearly flawless. The story of a triangle of thievery and survival is the motif played with here, as a youth confronted with frustration with his own father seeks out a bicycle of his own. The cinematographer plays with his beautiful atmosphere of Beijing to express the characters' emotions and frustrations in a very realistic sense and very often either slight ambient noise or the brilliant original score is heard in the background. A movie that is just as much felt as it is seen, it's a good choice, but I can't speak for fans of the original. Recommended.

"Beijing Bicycle" the interesting Chinese film directed by Xiaoshuai Wang, has been compared with Vittorio DeSica's masterpiece of the Italian cinema, "Bicycle Thief". In fact, we suspect this director is telling a story that seems to mirror the other film, but it's Chinese to the core.Young Guo, who has arrived in Beijing from a rural area, is hired as a messenger for an agency that delivers important packages and mail throughout the city. Part of the deal is a shiny new bicycle that will be paid by the new hires after being in the job for a while. The bicycle for Guo means the improvement of his lot in life, as well as freedom to go everywhere and be his own master.Jian, on the other hand, is a student that is seen hanging out with a rough bunch of school mates. Jian is excelling academically, but in order to fit, he must have a bicycle. The film doesn't make clear if Jian himself steals the bicycle, or as he claims, he bought it at the second hand market, with the money he stole from his father, which seems to be the case. He views the bicycle as a sign of status and of belonging; a means to have been accepted by his peers. Young Guo shows a stubbornness that seems to be a trait with people from the area where he comes from. Instead of accepting the fact that his bicycle has been stolen, he decides to investigate on his own, something that must be a super human task given the millions of bicycles one sees in that city, and a mode of transport for the masses. One can't follow Guo's logic in not going to the police, or when he realizes who has stolen his bicycle, he never challenges the thief. In fact, Jian and his friends show a cruelty for the newly arrived country bumpkin that is scary. In fact, Jian shows a stubbornness himself that is unusual for a city boy that should have known better and who should have realized the plight of Guo."Beijing Bicycle" shows a side of city living in a city that is crowded and can be cruel to anyone trying to make a life in a decent way. We watch at the end a defeated Guo walking with his mangled bicycle on his way back home, perhaps.The film will not disappoint, in spite of some repetitious sequences thanks to the strength of the two principals and the direction by Xiaoshuai Wang.