*With the participation of the film crew
Chinese; Turkish and English Subtitles
Director/Director
Wang Xiaoshuai
Screenplay/Screenplay
Peggy Chiao, Hsiao-Ming Hsu, Danian Tang, Xiaoshuai Wang
Director of Photography/Cinematography
Jie Liu
Editing/Editing
Ju-kuan Hsiao, Hongyu Yang
Cast/Cast
Cui Lin, Li Bin, Zhou Xun, Gao Yuanyuan, Zhao Yiwei, Pang Yan, Zhou Fangfei, Xie Jian, Ma Yuhong, Liu Guancheng, Li Mengnan
Producer/Producer
Peggy Chiao, Han Sanping, Hsu Hsiao-Ming
Production/Production
Arc Light Films, Pyramide Productions
World Rights/World Sales
Pyramide
Synopsis:
Vittorio de Sica's 1948 Bicycle Thieves is a classic of Italian Neorealism that continues to influence filmmakers. In 2002, Wang Xiaoshuai's Beijing Bicycles, which won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, also takes its plot from this classic. The film's protagonist, 17-year-old Guei, wins a mountain bike prize offered by the company where he works as a courier in Beijing, where he migrated from the countryside. When the bicycle, which is his livelihood and the reward for his labor, is stolen, Guei goes in search of it and comes face to face with Jian, who bought the bicycle with the money he stole from his parents, and his friends who protect him. For Jian, who comes from an urban family and goes to a good school, this bicycle is a status symbol and he has no intention of giving it up... The class struggle of the two children on the streets of Beijing, where modernity and the future intersect, subtly depicts the process of socio-economic change where value judgments become blurred. The place of women in society, contradictions in architecture and the development of motorized transportation are all explored against the backdrop of Beijing Bicycles.
Vittorio de Sica's 1948 film, Bicycle Thieves, is a classic of Italian neorealism that continues to influence filmmakers. Beijing Bicycles, which won Wang Xiaoshuai the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2002, also draws its plot from this classic. The film's protagonist, 17-year-old Guei, has migrated to Beijing from the countryside, winning a mountain bike awarded by the company he works for as a courier. When the bike, which has proven his standing in the big city, served as a reward for his labor and his livelihood, is stolen, Guei begins searching for it. He encounters Jian, who bought the bike with money he stole from his parents, and his friends who are protecting him. For Jian, who comes from a wealthy family and attends a good school, the bike is a status symbol, and he has no intention of giving it up. The class struggle between two children on the streets of Beijing, where modernity and the future intersect, delicately depicts a period of socio-economic change where values become blurred. Many elements, from the place of women in society to the contradictions in architecture and the development of motorized transportation, are discussed in the context of Beijing Bicycles.
