Watching Chinese films helps me learn

I have always enjoyed watching good foreign films. As part of my learning I try to watch Chinese films fairly regularly. Recently I watched 2046 and Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress.
 
2046 is best described as drama, sci-fi, romance. A quote from the film is "All who go to 2046 never come back, except one." What was interesting to me is that one character speaks Mandarin while another speaks Cantonese, in the same conversation. Apparently this is not uncommon in real life. There is also some Japanese speaking, which I found very interesting.  So have a look at 2046.

 

Another film that I really enjoy (can watch it over and over) is Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress.  The story is about two young men sent for a Maoist "re-education" in the mountains fall in love with the village tailor's granddaughter. I find the setting for this movie very beautiful.  Life is hard for the villagers, but the place looks like a mountain I would like to live on. The village and surrounding countryside makes me think of Shangri-La or other earthly paradise. Have a look at Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress.

 

At this stage of my learning I do not understand  very much. 我听不懂。However, I am able to pick up words and phrases.  I couldn’t watch the films without subtitles, but still find this a very pleasurable way to enhance my learning. I often watch these films a couple of times just to see if I can pick up more Mandarin the next time I watch.