Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

GazerRise Fantastic!

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

zheq liu I thought Chan Ho-sun's latest movie, American Dreams in China, would be a more masculine version of Zhao Wei's So Young. But not quite, as it turns out.Although the film depicts a nostalgic campus life full of idealism for the future and the impulses of love, the story is more about starting out after innocent youth has faded.Through the intertwined destinies of the movie's protagonists, the audience witnesses a triangle of friendship, career ambitions and personal dreams seemingly collapse as three best friends desperately try to tie and twist these elements together.That's why Wang Yang (Tong Dawei), one of the three best friends, who start a business together, shares this lesson of life: "Never start a business with your best friends."He may be right. After all, no matter how close they are, differences in their professional and personal aspirations can drive friends apart. Every individual has a distinct outlook on the world and their future, which determines the trajectory of their career and life.Without knowing of Meng Xiaojun's (Deng Chao) struggles in the US and his disillusion toward the country, there's no way Cheng Dongqing (Huang Xiaoming) can understand why Meng is pushing all the agendas so hard. The parting of the invincible trio, to some extent, is predestined.Even so, despite these differences, friendship always prevails. Cheng's difficulties become a podium on which the three friends stand together. It's through the emotional connection they developed over many years that they finally overcome their differences and reform the alliance.What the film tries to convey is the triumph of brotherhood, which dates back to our naive, passionate youth when unconditional bonds of emotion are shaped.So the film was never about business after all.

Crveni Krst Lately, a certain term began to sound very popular around China~ Chinese Dream. As government officials try to explain in their well prepared and yet very dull PR speeches, it's pretty much the same concept as the American Dream back in the 1950s~ work, money, happiness and national pride. However, "American Dreams in China" does not bother with this issue directly. It is only due to strange translation that one may get such an impression. Actually, the literal transliteration would sound something like "Chinese Partner". And indeed, the story is a mix of comedy and drama which revolves about the dreams and careers of 3 good friends, who came to be successful businessmen. You could say that "American Dreams in China" has elements of a Hollywood style rags-to-riches plot, but there's more to it~ For one to understand and like this motion title, one must comprehend what China looked like 30 years a go, and trust me, it had absolutely nothing to do with anything you have today. Back in the early 1980s when the story begins, Chinese society was still a firmly Maoist environment, with little or no personal freedoms. The country only started to open up, but still, the road ahead was long and challenging. Money or any kind of major material possessions were a distant dream for most. Young people had only but two choices~ to study and hope for a city desk job, or settle in the country side and employ in a field or factory. Naturally, many had a problem with the options, which pushed to them find luck in other places of the world, most often in the USA. Some of them succeeded to cross the ocean, but most had to stay in China and search for a different way."American Dreams in China" is a story about 3 college friends with same dreams, and yet, paths that took very different turns. It is a drama (based on a true story as they say) with comic elements~ A Chinese tale which in a humorous, and yet very bold ways speaks of a generation that started the business story which, up till today, made China the economic center of the world. Their work and effort will go along with the changing society, enduring the wild and turbulent tides.So, did I like it? Quite so much~ I even saw the film in a Chinese cinema with no subtitles, which was a unique opportunity for me to polish my Mandarin, haha. "American Dreams in China" is a good and creative substance for all those who like drama, comedy and are willing to get into the social issues of China. Definitely worth watching~

cblhxx I'd like to share some of my own views as a native Chinese who's never been abroad.In the movie, those three guys are graduated in the best university 'PKU Beijing University' in china. They are the real elite, however they can't find a decent job in US as the lack of vocational skills, so they have to work really hard to support themselves. Not all Chinese are cleaver for sure.About the racism, the old teacher is just a symbol of old China. And I believe that Chinese poor student worker not been treated well happens everywhere more or less. It's due to the stereotype and the bad image of China. That's why they're so eager to change the figure in US. In this regard, you can say it's a bit racism.The scene made me uncomfortable is they came back to the diner which is one used to work in, and said something about the lady who he had worked for. Business is not charity, they can't pay you for your ambition. And you can't lower others to heighten yourself.Furthermore, the film is based on real story. There's a language school named 'new oriental school' in China, and the headmaster can really remember the whole dictionary, they did advertisement on lamp-post, had class in deserted factory. In the end of the movie, there're their picture along with some famous business men during the same period.Nowadays however, study abroad is different than before for the wide gap between rich and poor. Those who born with a golden spoon can easily get a visa and find a school, where as others would be blocked while getting the visa.

Alec O Technically I think this movie's made very well, but its message is very nationalistic and panders to the Chinese Communist Party and the masses (which is fair enough I suppose for a commercial film).Especially the film's latter half focuses on the rise of China, and there is a clear message that Chinese people are inherently cleverer, more moral and generally better than stupid Americans who are only economically at the top due to their aggressiveness and luck. There's also a very odd message in the film about racism in the USA, which seems quite irrelevant to the plot of the film and just another way for the film to push home the message that Chinese people are a better people than Americans.If you don't read into the message too much (which is hard considering how hard it's pushed home), it's quite an enjoyable film of three young men's struggle and rise to the top.