Arriving on Netflix in February are three movies that each have their unique charm. Starring Hu Ge, Liao Fan and Gwei Lun-mei, The Wild Goose Lake is a neo-noir crime thriller that shows a hide-and-seek between a wanted gang leader and his rival gang, the police, his associate and his estranged wife. Directed by Diao Yinan, the movie competed for the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.

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Similarly, 2015’s Mountains May Depart was another Palme d’Or nominee at Cannes. Directed by Jia Zhangke, a leading figure of the “Sixth Generation” filmmakers, the story is a three-part account of how globalism and capitalism play out in modern China – and the sentiments between mother and son as they are separated by culture and distance.

Elsewhere, I am not Madame Bovary by Feng Xiaogang sets itself apart visually as most of the film is presented in a round frame. The comedy stars Fan Bingbing, who plays a villager being swindled by her ex-husband, as she tries to seek justice through the legal system. The film received the International Critics’ Award at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

Older Chinese movies already available on Netflix are also worth checking out.

Zhang Yimou’s The Flowers of War is pretty well-known in the Western world thanks to its nomination in the 2012 Golden Globe Awards. Having Christian Bale playing the lead role in this historical drama set in the Second Sino-Japanese War doesn’t hurt either.

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Zhang’s Under the Hawthorn Tree is another piece of stunning work by the director, and it was shown in the 61st Berlin International Film Festival in the New Generation category. The film is an adaptation of the novel Hawthorn Tree Forever, with its author Ai Mi claiming the touching love tale during the end of China’s Cultural Revolution was based on her friend’s real life story.

Taking the Silver Bear for outstanding artistic contribution at the 64th Berlinale in 2014, Blind Massage focuses on the struggles, joys, desires and sorrows of a group of visually impaired massage therapists. Director Lou Ye’s skilful use of cinematography and musical arrangements presents the world of the blind to his audience

Wang Xiaoshuai’s So Long, My Son recounts the stories of two families over three decades from the 1980s, with tragedy and China’s one-child policy haunting one of them. The film competed for the Golden Bear award at the 69th Berlinale in 2019, with Wang Jingchun and Yong Mei winning the Silver Bear awards for best actor and best actress respectively.

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Slightly different than the other films, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles is co-directed by Zhang Yimou and Japanese director Yasuo Furuhata. It stars Ken Takakura as a Japanese father who tries to reconcile with his terminally ill son by visiting China for a quest to fulfil his boy’s dying wish.

The film won the best foreign language film at the San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 2006 while Takakura won the best actor award for his stellar performance.