THE few mainland Chinese films released here seem to be either leaden historical epics of communist history, second rate imitations of Hongkong action pictures or more personal portraits of diverse aspects of contemporary life.
Stand Up, Don't Bend Over belongs in the third category.
This Xi'an Film Studio production is a droll, insightful look at various strata of society battling it out in the rough-and-tumble 1990s.
The protagonists are three neighbours - an intellectual, a party cadre and a hooligan-turned-entrepreneur. Huang Xin's screenplay sketches a perceptive and witty picture of the trio and their families.
Businessman Zhang (Niu Zhenhua) is a coarse lout, a bully with no regard for anything but his financial gain. But by the end, you cannot help having a grudging admiration for the way he manages to meet each crisis and adapt to changing circumstances.
Cadre Liu (Da Shichang) is neither the caricatured functionary of Hongkong movies nor the upright revolutionary seen in countless mainland productions. He is a mild-mannered ''company man''. The trouble is, his company no longer enjoys the prestige it once had.