Chûgoku no chôjin (1998) User Reviews

A magical mystery tour

[anhedonia · 8/10 · 15 January 2005]

"The Bird People in China" is one of those films you hear very little about, but that piques your curiosity after reading the synopsis. And then you watch it and realize what a gem it is.

Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike is renowned for his ultra-violent films. This is a delightful departure for him and proves what a tremendously versatile director he is. Yes, there are some snippets of violence, including a rather brutal machete attack. But that's all offset by the film's wonderfully whimsical nature.

The film revolves around a Japanese businessman sent to a remote Chinese village to inspect the jade mines for his company. Along for the ride is a yakuza man to ensure the businessman's company's debt is paid off.

The film not only chronicles their colorful journey - those turtles must be seen to be believed - but then taps into the characters' psyches as they reach the village and suddenly find themselves trapped there. These two disparate men both find themselves enchanted by this magical place.

I won't give away much more of the story because you really should watch this film. Miike injects magical realism into his story and some moments are beautiful in every sense of the word. There's also plenty of humor. The van scene is positively hilarious, especially given the driver's deadpan reaction.

The film's very much about our need to dream. But it also tackles important issues such as the encroachment of civilization and the importance of keeping some places pristine and innocent, no matter how valuable they might be to the rest of the world.

If you like interesting foreign-language films that open a whole new world, then do yourself a favor, see this film. You will not be disappointed.

A love letter to the past

[parien · 8/10 · 3 October 2006]

I got hold of this film simply because I spent some time travelling in Yunnan last year. Seeing it today was magical, so evocative of the people, this lush country, the amazing sense of isolation and belonging. Made me want to throw down this job and go straight back again. This is an enjoyable, thoughtful, well made film; the star really has to be the setting though, that feeling of all the time in the world, being with the aged mountains to watch the days go by. You can really understand what drives Ujiie near the end of the film. The sense of impending loss, as even now China marches its wilderness towards modernity, balanced with the benefits its people hope for. The phenomenon of the global tourist has to now decide how it accepts the replacement of the way of life for the self-determining people they go to visit.

Oddly Familiar...

[bluefish321 · 7/10 · 19 January 2010]

I've just finished watching The Bird People in China and have skimmed the other reviews on IMDb. Like most of the others, I do enjoy Miike's work, though not to the level of unconditional love that seems to be common here. In my limited experience, around nine Miike films so far, none have been a waste of time and several are fairly amazing. Notably Audition, though definitely not for the faint of heart.

This film left me with mixed emotions. It truly has touching moments, but it also suffers from common issues with Miike films... disjointed structure, unmotivated action (particularly from the Yakuza character), a bit of excessive violence, a kitchen sink approach to ideas... every possibility explored, even when simple would have been more effective, and finally a liberal borrowing from other films. In fact I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned in other reviews. Miike clearly took much of the premise and emotional content from the movie Local Hero. A corporate drone begrudgingly travels to a remote village and, to his amazement, is touched by the locals and the lifestyle. There's more to the similarities but I don't want to give away too much. Though I will note that he pays homage to his source material by throwing in a Scottish song as a major motif. I also didn't buy into the ending... it seemed to detract from the more realistic aspects of the film.

All of this aside, the film is worth seeing. The scenery is amazing and fairly unique, the photography handsome (considering the budget), Masahiro Motoki as Wada is quite good (as he was in Okuribito/Departures), many of the secondary characters are wonderfully drawn (another Miike specialty), it's genuine and funny at times, and it takes you on an unusual journey, an actual adventure... rarely a dull moment.

"I have slept over 10,000 times and never dreamt of flying"

[cjlines · 23 February 2004]

I saw my first Miike film, the cinematic suckerpunch of "Audition", about two years ago and, slowly but surely since then, I've been building up my steady little collection of his works as my respect for him grows. Admittedly, as yet, I've barely scratched the surface of his obscenely prolific oevure but with each gem I uncover, it merely reinforces my absolute adoration of unquestionably the most fiercely original filmmaker I've ever encountered. His unflinchingly diverse career is one constant curve ball - I become excited each time I find another film of his because I never have ANY idea what to expect. Not only are two Miike films rarely alike, but the vast majority of his efforts I've seen to date are simply beyond comparison to ANYONE. He ploughs a unique furrow that, rather than imitating the style of his masters, sets new standards in cinema for the rest of the world to, at some stage, catch up with.

Tonight I watched "The Bird People In China" (made in 1998) which is, without question in my mind, the most mindblowing Miike film I've come across so far. "Bird People" is the type of masterpiece that most directors could never possibly hope to achieve, even after years of practice... But to give you an idea of this man's insane work ethic - he also made three other movies that year.

Typically genre-bending, "Bird People" begins as a quirky, gently comic adventure story and gradually morphs into a truly epic exploration of the very nature of human emotion, loaded with rare insight, a deep, true warmth and some utterly unforgettable imagery.

Our strange story begins with Mr Wada (Mashahiro Motoki), a Japanese businessman, being shipped off to China by his company in search of a priceless vein of Jade that can only be found in a small village amongst the unchartered depths of the Yun Nan province. Upon his arrival in the country, he is quickly accosted by Mr Ujiie (Renji Ishibashi), a Yakuza who is owed money by Wada's corporation and intends to collect his debt by following Wada out to the village and usurping some of the Jade. They are to be guided by the perpetually jolly but somewhat seedy Mr Shen, an old Chinese explorer who has been to the Jade Village before.

It's not long until they're way off the map, stuck on a rickety raft that's pulled by turtles and smack-bang in the middle of a Mountain range. Shen, around this point, has a rather embarrassing incident with hallucinogenic toadstools, bumps his head on a tree and loses his memory of how to find the village. This is when things start getting a little strange, as the three mismatched men find themselves on an overwhelming adventure that will inevitably shape their entire lives and change them all forever.

To analyse the film's rabid lust-for-life philosophy and examine the complexities of the script would be a media student's dream come true. Rich in symbolism and wild directorial flair, Miike continually pushes the question of whether technological progress, modern day perceptions of civility and even spoken language itself are adversaries or allies to man's untamed nature and desire to be free.

Yadda-yadda-yadda - I know that, as a subject of discussion, it sounds like old hat (and I'm probably doing little more than making this come across like a glorified road movie) but Miike uses a combination of hugely unpredictable situations, poetic dialogue and some of the most unbelievable, bizarre and downright beautiful imagery I've ever seen. Loaded with breathtaking aerial shots of sumptuous green vistas, the film is shot with such magnificent grace as to make it unrecognisable as more being from the same eye responsible for unleashing the breakneck splatterpunk deathtrip of "Ichi The Killer" upon the world. The crowning jewel, however, is Miike's trademarked humour - self-deprecating, occasionally misanthropic and surreal, but ultimately just very funny indeed. There are many genuine laugh-out-loud moments in amongst the soul-searching and Deep Thoughts (tm), which make the film infinitely more accessible and, well... human.

Of course, I'm of the firm belief that a film is only as good as its ending and (with the possible exception of "The Wicker Man"), I don't think I've seen one that packs as much of a punch as this one. I have no desire to spoil any second of this movie for anyone, so I'll just say that the final few frames of "The Bird People Of China" are some of the most pleasantly surprising and magically filmed images I've EVER seen - it just left me slack-jawed, reeling with joy and wonder.

If you're not sold on how much you need to see this film already, I'm afraid there's no hope for you. This is as good as it's ever going to get. Seriously.

Fantastic dreamworld

[m-vanthof · 10/10 · 20 April 2005]

This is my second comment on a movie on this board. But after finishing this movie yesterday, I just had to write something about this fantastic movie. I have seen about 6 movies from Miike but this one was hard to find. I couldn't rent it anywhere but I really was interested in this piece of cinema because I liked the story and that it was something completely different from other Miike movies (although none of his movies are alike). So I ordered the DVD (artsmagicdvd version).

From the beginning I was really into the movie. And after finishing it, I enjoyed every second of it! It has humor, adventure, a little action and emotion! The scenery in this movie is fantastic and I want to visit these places in the movie If I know where they are! Miike takes you into his dreamworld and you don't want to leave. It is fantasy but believable and not over the top. The story is surrounded by mystery and I wanted to know all about it. I won't tell about the story because you can read that on this site. I just want to recommend this movie to every fan of Miike, well....to everyone who can enjoy a piece of rare cinema with a great story and beautiful scenery. Sometimes a movie is great but the ending is a let down. I think this movie is really completed, from beginning to end. Ohh....and the music is great as well. It is one of those movies you want to see again the moment you finish it. I hope Miike makes a movie like this again in the future; slow, beautiful, mysterious.....

I think it is very strange that a lot of crap is put on DVD but a fantastic movie like this is hard to find. I had to import the DVD and I can imagine not everybody likes to do that. So in Holland this gem isn't released. So I hope people just order a copy, just get one anyway you can, you won't regret it! On the DVD there is an interview with Miike, an audio commentary and some extra stuff. There is a trailer of this movie on the disk as well. But I STRONGLY suggest not to watch that before watching the movie. Why? Because the ending is in the trailer!!! I think that is very strange and I am happy I didn't watch it before the movie otherwise it would have spoiled the ending for me.

So you get the idea, I am very enthusiastic and I think you will to after seeing this beautiful film. What are you still doing behind your desk? Go get a copy!

Another Masterpiece from the Indefatigable Miike (Possibly My Favorite of His)

[groucho_de_sade · 10/10 · 7 January 2006]

Takashi Miike is the living definition of the word "indefatigable". In a career that began in the early 1990s, he has directed a staggering number of films in a mind-boggling array of different genres, from horror to family films, even a musical (!); but Miike is probably best known for his Yakuza (Japanese gangster) films. The likes of FUDOH, ICHI, and DEAD OR ALIVE, with their over-the-top violence and surreal (often disgusting) setpieces, are Miike's chief claim to fame. In one respect that's a pity, because every once in a while, Miike will produce a wild card, and BIRD PEOPLE IN CHINA is a film that fits into that latter category. The man character is a young Japanese executive named Mr. Wada (Masahiro Motoki), who is sent by his boss to a remote region in the wilds of China to survey a supposedly rich jade mine. He is joined on his trip by a Yakuza named Ujiie (Renji Ishibashi), who plans on taking the jade as payment for some outstanding debts on the part of Wada's boss. After they are taken as far as the train will go, Wada and Ujiie are met by their guide, the absent-minded Mr. Shen (scene-stealer Mako), who takes them through the rugged, unsettled terrain of rural China, first on foot, and then on a raft pulled by several huge sea turtles. When the three men finally reach their destination, a village left untouched by the ravages of industrialization, Wada and Ujiie have a few epiphanies that will prove to make leaving rather difficult. It sounds like a simple story, and it is, but there's something about this film that makes it great, but that I find hard to articulate. No doubt the startlingly beautiful cinematography by Hideo Yamamoto has a lot to do with the film's hypnotic quality. And then there's the genuinely touching story of two men who discover a whole other side to themselves that they were never previously aware existed. And finally, the film's deft blend of genres is seamless: it shifts gears from a screwball/buddy comedy to a jungle-bound adventure to an existential rumination on identity and civilization, finally ending on a dream-like note of perfect serenity. There is one scene of Yakuza violence that seems inserted to remind us that we're watching a Miike film, but it's fleeting and, compared to some of what can be found elsewhere in his films, it's utterly tame and inoffensive. There's also an ecological message packed into the mix. So, final verdict: for fans of Miike who wonder what else the man is capable of, I highly recommend BIRD PEOPLE IN CHINA, surely the gentlest and most poignant of all the man's movies (at least that I've seen). For the truly open-minded aficionado, there is much to be enjoyed here.

weird but not bad,...just weird

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 16 April 2006]

Despite my thinking one of Miike's other films, HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS, is a great film, my feelings about his subsequent films I have viewed just aren't as positive. While this movie is much better than the extremely disgusting AUDITION, CITY OF LOST SOULS or ICHI THE KILLER, I only mildly liked this film. Is it weird?! Yes,...but not so funny or endearing as KATAKURIS. It just didn't gel for me. I think a lot of it was that the first 1/3 of the film seemed pretty disjoint and uninteresting. Once they made it to the distant land they were seeking, the film improved considerably but not enough to make me especially like it. It's funny, but a friend told me I MUST see this movie because he knew I'd like it, but I just was left pretty flat. Mostly because the main character and the nutty Yakuza guy he accompanied on the trip just weren't particularly people I could care anything about or care what happened to them.

By the way, the film in many ways is reminiscent of LOST HORIZON--not an exact re-make but certainly inspired by it nonetheless.

Soarring high above

[movieman_kev · 9/10 · 29 May 2005]

A businessman is sent to a remote village to investigate a jade mine. He's joined by a debt-collect Yakuza. But what they find is much more valuable. I can't really go into any more detail though. Partly because I don't wish to spoil one single moment of the magic or wander of this great film and partly because even if I were to go into detail my mere words wouldn't do it justice. The is a film you have to watch, nay, experience for yourself. Do NOT go into it expecting over-the-top violence, graphic deviant sexuality, or any of the other ingredients of more well known Takashi Miike films as this is more than that MUCH more. One of, if not THE best film in Miike's quite impressive extensive cannon.

My Grade: A

DVD Extras: Commentary by Miike expert, Tom Mes; Takashi Miike interview; Bio/Filmagraphies; Promotional material; Annie Laurie bio and poem; Theatrical Trailer; Trailers for "Shinjoku Triad Society", "Rainy Dog", and "Ley Lines"

It mostly works

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 7/10 · 26 February 2023]

This is maybe the least Takashi Miike movie of all the Takashi Miike movies I've seen so far. It's a dramedy/adventure film set in China, and overall feels surprisingly sentimental in parts - and not nearly as violent - as his other movies. It's not devoid of his style of humour or his unique trademarks, but it's all toned down in order to tell a fairly straightforward story.

I think at two hours, it runs a little long, and there are points that drag as a result. But it's well-made, features plenty of amazing scenery, and I think it's made me appreciate Takashi Miike as a filmmaker even more, because I didn't imagine there to be any movies like this in his filmography.

Just perfect!!!

[_t_ · 9/10 · 8 August 1999]

I've seen this Japanese movie on the 48th Melbourne International Film Festival. It is such one of the great films I have seen. I think the novel should be a good starting point of this film. It is the story about Japanese business, development, money and high technology to a far far away village in Yunnan, China. Certainly, some people argue that pure nature would be destroy and they can do anything to against the project of development. The researcher team difficultly get there. When they finally are in the village, people there are very nice. The villagers believe that their ancestor could fly. What is the truth that the team discover? Go to watch this movie. You are going to know then.

Anyway, I wouldn't love this film if the end wasn't like this. You need to see this perfect end by yourself. There is no word to explain. As well, you need to go to listen to the theme song. It makes me mad about the sadness of the character.

A deeply poetic film

[danielatala8 · 7/10 · 12 February 2023]

I think it's one of the most common things that we humans experience in our lives, the wish to fly. Haven't we all imagined to have the power to just lift off the ground and leave all the problems that you have behind? I sure have, and this movie taps into that exact feeling- it's not perfect but it sure leaves you thinking.

The Bird People of China follows the trip of salaryman Wada that is tasked to go to a village in China to find a new vein full of precious stones like jade and exploit it for the good of the company which will lead to a modernisation of a village. It doesn't take long when Wada's trip is intercepted by older Yakuza Ujjie who is tasked to follow Wada's trip in order to ensure payment for his clan (that Wada's company is in debt with). Little do both know how this trip will impact them.

Let's start with the positives, I think this movie is very well done- it's beautiful, it has excellent style and somehow manages to balance the difference in tones when it needs to. The drama, the comedy, the absurdity and more. The vistas of China are breathtaking and almost hypnotic. It's almost as if Takashi Miike wanted to show the meaning of a place that is untouched by modernisation. I think this movie shares a bit of a thematic link with another movie by Takeshi Kitano that is called Sonatine, where Yakuza go to Okinawa and experience a sort of purgatory (just like with this movie where the literal road to this village is called "the road of death"). There's also themes of exploitation and the awfulness of our busy modern lives, these are all present throughout the movie and is conveyed in meaningful ways.

The music is also pretty good and thematic to the movie. The actors are pretty great overall. This is really something so different from what I've seen from Takashi Miike and it makes me appreciate his skill in making movies more, he's made so many movies yet he can do them so amazingly and here's another one that shows another facet of his art.

Now to some of the negatives, despite the general beauty and skill in making this movie I feel that it has a few pacing problems at 1hr 58 mins this movie feels a bit too long and some of the mysteries present just don't take the plot anywhere. You could basically make a much tighter film by cutting down 20 mins I think. It can be argued that the pacing is vital to the movie but I feel that it hinders it to feel that it has a drive, even if it's meant to be a bit meditative and serious at the second half.

All in all I think this is a good movie from Takashi Miike that I think more should experience, even if the pacing and story structure poses a few problems I still think that it has something meaningful to say about our lives in modern civilisation and how we're drawn to it despite the hurt that it gives us. A wonderful effort that should be considered as one of the best movies in the Takashi Miike oeuvre.

Miike's best, hands down (no pun)

[djores · 10/10 · 7 December 2005]

If you are going to see one Miike movie (just to see what the hell all the fuss is about), make it this one.

"Heart of Darkness" (aka 'Apocalypse Now') fades as a Euro-centric teen angst tale in comparison to this delicate gem, which has it all: mystery, search, innocence, innocence lost, passion, crime, sacrifice, sacrilege, comedy, drama, tragedy, and best of all - everything is carried by myths and dreams.

In the words of Miike himself (from an interview in the 'extras' section of the DVD): "...cinema not just for entertainment" However, if you feel like venturing further into Miike territory, be cautioned, it's a treacherous zone and takes some stunt-level adaptation.

A good but mediocre try

[AndreiPavlov · 5/10 · 27 October 2014]

Not boring to me and not empty, but disappointing. Why?

1) Flashing images of Yakuza "dream sequence" - it spoils the atmosphere and is simply tense and harmful for the eyes of the viewer. Come on, Miike, it's not "Koroshiya 1". 2) Violence that takes place from time to time - it's out of place. In "Rainy Dog" it's fine, but not here. 3) Unfunny funny stuff. A van falling apart is something too hackneyed (cf. Takeshi Kitano comedies, American cinema & cartoons) to be funny, while it's often mentioned as the "peak" of this comedy. 4) Too little of actual flying. If it's supposed that the kids can fly in that distant area, show some footage, at least from distance (if you have a very limited budget). Not just a few seconds of that before the final credits. 5) The connection with the real world (the poem-ballad taken from the history and the war plane that had crashed into the pond) is destroying the eerie feel of the production - would prefer the verse created specifically for this movie and the connection to the wild nature (why not actual birds?), not to the downed plane of the WWI or WWII times.

It's got to be tweaked to become an excellent movie: more nature, less quirky violence, more funny and natural jokes, and more actual flying. To my view, Japanese "Dreams" & "Dolls" and Russian "Stalker" surpass this one in every aspect, while dealing with similar topics.

A 5 out of 10 - a good but mediocre try. Thanks for attention.

Hurrah for Miike!

[jtourbro · 9/10 · 23 October 2003]

This mans versatility is overwhelming. "Bird People of China" is nothing less than a humanistic drama filled with humor and warmth, from the man who brought us such violence-masterpieces as Ichi and Fudoh. I have no idea how he does it, but apparently this guy can make all types of movies equally well. Whats more is that the more of his films you see, the more recognisable they become, even though they're all totally different. In this film he really uses his (great) sense of humor, and allows for his characters to grow on you, and the result is a fantastic movie, and actually feels very chinese in style and theme. Greatly recommended for fans who think they know Miike...

9/10

Purity, Song, Jade

[tedg · 28 March 2010]

Miike has a pretty solid pattern. He makes films for a distinctly Japanese audience, teasing out some issue or two that seems culturally rooted. This is his context. He shifts it into a magical, cinematic world and imagines scenes as episodes within this containing structure.

So we get impressed by the big idea — moreso if Japanese — and also impressed by some of the episodes, those that work. Oddly, the general audience thinks that Miike prefers violence but I think he will simply do anything that has cinematic power that fits his large-small vision.

Japanese have a strange relationship with the mainland. They know they (the main "race" on the islands) originated in Korea. The urge is to project back beyond that and posit a people who came as a group from some magical location deeper in the mainland. This story in the large hangs on the myth that the race came from a remote mountainous region in China, Yunnan. It isn't quite China, with the people and traditions being a melange of China, Tibet and Indochina.

A dear Japanese wise man explained to me that the indigenous people on the islands came from Polynesia and had a "horizontal" cosmology, while the later migration from the mainland — being mountain people — had a vertical cosmology. This subtle insight advises all sorts of things: architecture for one, cinematic composition for another. In this case, it includes the myth that the proto-Japanese could fly.

Here we have two stereotypical characters (plus one who appears briefly) on a quest to find this magical source. The film is clearly in two halves. The first half is reality-based and full of jokes. Then in the midst of a flood after crossing mountains, the thing takes a shift into magic. They are transported the final leg by harnessed turtles, itself referencing an ancient story.

Into this they carry all sorts of things associated with Japan (by modern Japanese), and little of it makes sense in this new place. A simple view will see a simple ecological message, but that is not the case here. It is about what is pure; its attractions and curse. The final scene is very nice, but what matters is the narration of our "reporter" right before that. The longing is pure.

Li Li Wang, plays the woman at the center of this place. She is amazing.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Heartwarming and quirky

[IndustriousAngel · 9/10 · 17 September 2019]

A young Japanese emplyoee embarks on a business journey into the heart of China, where he's completely out of his water in every conceivable way. In the end he will have found something completely different from what he set out to find in the beginning. An excellent movie despite lacking many of the ingredients we expect from a Miike production. It's a bit like Lynch's "Straight Story" in that respect, and also in the fact that the plot itself is rather thin; it's the locations and people and little events by the road that make it so engrossing. (Another good comparison would be "Local Hero", thematically very similar and with a near identical hero, though anchored in a wholly different culture) Highly recommended! The only little drawback which prevented me from rating it 10/10 was the Yakuza character; he's important but rather obnoxious; you could easily cut five minutes or more of his more annoying scenes without losing his pivotal role.

A fabulous, engrossing art-film/yazuka story

[poikkeus · 10/10 · 29 December 2001]

Chûgoku no chôjin (AKA The Bird People of China) represents versatile director Miike Takashi's foray into novel territory. This isn't a thrill-ride like Dead or Alive; it's more like a boat ride through all sorts of wonders, the director showing a subtler hand. A salaryman is assigned to visit deepest China to track down a rumored lode of high-quality jade. Accompanied by a small group of explorers (including a grizzled yazuka), they have difficulties finding the jade, but instead find a tribe of "bird people." The children, according to recent legend, had the ability to float among the nearby peaks on light wooden wings, but even the oldest of the children -- a blue-eyed Chinese girl -- carries the wings only as a symbol. They seem to have long since forgotten how to fly, if indeed they ever had. But now it seems, for various reasons, they may never leave this forgotten paradise. This Japanese/Chinese co-production may take some aggressive work to find, but its rewards are many. If you're not delighted by the turtles, then wait for the awe-inspiring conclusion.

Rare journey

[mikpii · 8/10 · 1 October 2007]

A mixture of adventure, fantasy and a bit of comedy with the signature Miike touch, The Bird People in China follows a junior salaryman and a yakuza send to a remote village in China to study a Jade discovery. In a major (and rare) departure from his usual violent and bizarre stories (though it does have a few scenes of violence), Miike depicts a fascinating journey of discovery of things both without and within.

The comic moments are truly hilarious and had me laughing out loud.

Miike's direction is confident and the cinematography beautiful, showing the beauty of the scenery of the remote China the film was shot in. The actors deliver good performances and the soundtrack is good too.

Falls Way Short Of Expectations

[bigverybadtom · 2/10 · 7 May 2013]

Looking at the box, I got the impression that this was going to be some wonderful, fascinating movie with great wonders and visions. I checked it out of the library, expecting fascinating viewing. After a half hour of disappointment, I gave up and turned it off.

The movie starts off showing a Japanese salaryman having to take the place of a colleague who had fallen sick to go to China to check out a precious stone mining operation. Never having been to that country, he first rides a train, then is taken in a decrepit van, which stops when a yakuza joins. The yakuza roughs up and threatens the salaryman over money that his employer failed to pay him, but upon realizing the salaryman's mission, opts to join him on the journey.

Unfortunately the movie fails to make us interested or excited. We don't care about any of the characters, and the ugly scenery got too boring. Maybe everything would have redeemed itself later, but by then it was too late.

Miike's fascinating foray into magical realism

[jdquinn-1 · 5 November 2004]

Another gorgeous film from Miike (is it the filters, film stock, or the Chinese landscape that makes it all so visually engrossing?) that trades in incessant, sensationalistic violence for light-hearted (relatively speaking) fantasy. Which is not to say that Chûgoku no chôjin avoids heavy social topics while maintaining its calm demeanor: the inevitable encroachment of civilization, and the assimilation/annihilation of traditional rituals and beliefs in the sweep of modern culture are issues thoughtfully explored along with arresting images of unspoiled Chinese vistas by frequent Miike collaborator Hideo Yamamoto. An unusually pensive yet rewarding experiment from Miike, and one that continues to prove there is much to his oeuvre besides global destruction, excruciating torture scenes, and zombie dance numbers.

An all-time favorite

[QuackQuackHere · 10/10 · 14 August 2007]

This past year I've been watching lots and lots (and lots) of foreign films. This one is top-notch. I have the same question as many others: why isn't this film better known?

Strangely enough, I happened to find this film at the library and was enchanted by the cover. Everything about this film is magical.

I would urge everyone: contact your local library (if they have the capacity to offer films). Tell them to please order this film - it's important :-)

Honestly, I found this film by accident at the public library. Wouldn't it be great if all libraries had a copy?

merci beaucoup!

Very Beautiful

[gothic_a666 · 9/10 · 29 September 2010]

Every now and then Miike will depart from the hyper violent aesthetics for which he is know and produce something that is both sweet and moving. 'The Bird People in China' is one of these gems that attest to the director's great versatility. Which is not to say that Miike's staples are not present here, they are merely reinterpreted. After all one of the mains is a spastic yakuza but his character undergoes severe transformations as the movie progresses deep into dreamy landscapes of endless green mountains. The other main character is less typical in Miike's filmography but is a very Japanese trademark of the jaded young salaryman.

The combination of these two characters begins as a comedy and the initial stages of the movie border on adventure. Citizens used to the frantic life of Tokyo are flung into rural China and forced to match completely opposite personalities as the journey becomes more and more insane. The cultural gap is evident and very interesting in that it is within Asia. All too often there is a tendency for missing the fact that there are profound differences within the Asian continent.

China here is not only a real country but it is a land of dream. The imagery and the theme of people flying is reminiscent to Taoist concepts of inner landscapes of the soul and the movie corroborates this. But the wealth of influences that went into creating this work of art were manifold, so that it is not all that surprising that it should echo the Heart of Darkness in later moments. And yet it remains a solid unit in which a sense of prevailing ethereal beauty harmonizes everything.

For all the dreamy atmosphere that is so dominant the ending is realistic. Idealism is sobered by realism. Life lessons are learned in a place akin to paradise but to remain there may be counterproductive. Or perhaps it is simply a different choice. It is up to the viewer to decide and to enjoy this wonderful experience of beautiful film making.

Fairly bloodless Miike

[vogonify · 8/10 · 16 February 2014]

One of Takashi Miike's best works, The Bird People in China is also one of his lesser known films. A strange concoction of the real and the imaginary, of travel and adventure, of beliefs and morals, of civilization and memories, this is a tight-rope act which could have fallen flat in the hands of an inferior filmmaker. The story is of two Japanese, a wide-eyed young man and a battle-scarred yakuza, who go in search of a precious stone in China. They are guided by Shen, a Chinese interpreter who very quickly makes this a trio in adventure. What follows is a quirky mix of comedy, fantasy and a fascinating touch of sadness. This film, more than any other, demonstrates the value of Miike to modern film history.

"The way to Death..."

[poe426 · 10/10 · 6 March 2014]

THE BIRD PEOPLE IN CHINA boasts some of the most spectacular scenery in cinema history, from unbelievable mountain ranges to raging rivers whose thundering power is palpable. Led by Shen (Mako), young Japanese businessman Wada and yakuza Ujiie venture into the Chinese countryside of Yu Nan in search of jade, which leads them in a roundabout way to the mysterious "Bird people." At times an oddball odyssey (at one point, the three indulge in some toadstools that cause hallucinations, which results in Shen losing his memory), at others THE BIRD PEOPLE IN CHINA recalls Werner Herzog's epic, AGUIRRE: THE WRATH OF GOD. That's NOT an exaggeration. Ujiie falls for the village of the "Bird people," while Wada contemplates "the birth of the Earth." They watch local children being given "flying lessons" that consist of flapping homemade wings. "This place," Wada wonders: "Where could this be...?" "This planet is finished," Ujiie states, matter-of-factly. The two travelers decide to give the act of flight an attempt, to prove that there's magic of a sort still left in the world. "If we fly," Wada says, "they'll be convinced." Wada and Ujiie, makeshift wings attached to their shoulders, then proceed to run at breakneck speed toward the edge of a cliff, screaming as they go. It's a beautiful scene, and the climax is bittersweet. Highly recommended.