List of Chinese films of the 1980s

Last updated July 25, 2024

This is a list of films produced in mainland China ordered by year of release in the 1980s. For an alphabetical listing of Chinese films see Category:Chinese films

1980

Title	Chinese Title	Director	Actors	Genre	Notability
Evening Rain	巴山夜雨	Wu Yonggang, Wu Yigong		Drama	Co-winner of the first Golden Rooster for best picture in 1981
Kith and Kin	亲缘	Teng Wenji Wu Tianming	Li Weixin, Liu Dong	Drama
Legend of Tianyun Mountain	天云山传奇	Xie Jin		Drama	Co-winner of the first Golden Rooster for best picture in 1981
Romance on Lushan Mountain	庐山恋	Huang Zumu		Drama

1981

Title	Chinese Title	Director	Actors	Genre	Notability
Awakening	苏醒	Teng Wenji	Joan Chen, Xu Huanshan	Romance	Also known as 'Revival'
A Deer of Nine Colors	九色鹿			Animated short	Shanghai Animation Film Studio
Drive to Win	沙鸥	Zhang Nuanxin		Drama	Title literally means 'sand gull' and is the name of the lead character
Longing for My Native Country	乡情	Hu Bingliu, Wang Jin	Huang Jinchang, Ren Yexiang	Drama	Entered into the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival
Neighbors	邻居	Zheng Dongtian, Xu Guming		Drama
Regret for the Past	伤逝	Shui Hua	Wang Xingang, Huang Zhongluo	Drama
Ren Shen Guo	人參果			Animation	Shanghai Animation Film Studio
The True Story of Ah Q	阿Q正传	Fan Cen	Yan Shunkai	Drama	Entered into the 1982 Cannes Film Festival

1982

Title	Chinese Title	Director	Actors	Genre	Notability
Countering Lights	逆光	Ding Yinnan	Guo Kaimin, Wu Yuhua	Romance
The Deer's Bell	鹿铃	Wu Qiang, Tang Cheng		Animated short	Winner of the third Golden Rooster for Best Animation in 1983. Shanghai Animation Film Studio
The Herdsman	牧马人	Xie Jin	Zhu Shimao, Liu Qiong	Drama	Screened at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival
My Memories of Old Beijing	城南旧事	Wu Yigong	Shen Jia, Zhang Fengyi, Zheng Zhenyao	Drama	Winner of the third Golden Rooster for Best Director, Best Music and Best Supporting Actress in 1983
Red Elephant	红象	Tian Zhuangzhuang, Zhang Jianya, Xie Xiaojing	Yan Jiao, Zi Ge	Children/Family
Rickshaw Boy	骆驼祥子	Ling Zifeng	Siqin Gaowa, Zhang Fengyi	Drama	Golden Rooster for Best Film in 1983
Strange Friends	陌生的朋友	Lei Xu	Li Ling, Zhang Chao		Entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival

1983

Title	Chinese Title	Director	Actors	Genre	Notability
The Candidate	候补队员	Wu Ziniu	Jiang Shuo, Liu Weiping	Drama
One and Eight	一个和八个	Zhang Junzhao	Tao Zeru, Chen Daoming, Lu Xiaoyan	War	One of the first "Fifth Generation" films, cinematography by Zhang Yimou
River Without Buoys	没有航标的河流	Wu Tianming	Li Wei, Song Baosen, Tao Yuling	Drama
Thunderstorm	雷雨	Sun Daolin	Sun Daolin, Gu Yongfei	Drama	Based on the play Thunderstorm

1984

Title	Director	Actors	Genre	Notability
Blue Flowers	Shui Hua, Ma Bingyu	Guo Kaimin	Drama
The Border Town	Ling Zifeng	Feng Hanyuan	Drama	Golden Rooster Award for Best Director
September	Tian Zhuangzhuang		Drama
Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain	Xie Jin		War
Yellow Earth	Chen Kaige	Wang Xueqi	Drama	Chen Kaige's directorial debut

1985

Title	Director	Actors	Genre	Notability
Army Nurse	Hu Mei, Li Xiaojun		Romance
The Black Cannon Incident	Huang Jianxin		Black comedy	Screened at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival
Dove Tree	Wu Ziniu		War	First Fifth Generation film to be banned
Liangjia funu	Huang Jianzhong		Drama
Monkey King Conquers the Demon
Mountain's Daughter	Chen Shengli	Ge You	Drama
On the Hunting Ground	Tian Zhuangzhuang		Drama
Sacrifice of Youth	Zhang Nuanxin	Li Fengxu	Drama
Stories of the Voyage	Liu Miaomiao		Drama

1986

Title	Director	Actors	Genre	Notability
The Big Parade	Chen Kaige	Wang Xueqi	Drama
Dislocation	Huang Jianxin	Liu Zifeng	Comedy/Science fiction
A Girl from Hunan	Xie Fei	Naren Hua	Drama	Screened at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival
A Great Wall	Peter Wang
Hibiscus Town	Xie Jin	Liu Xiaoqing, Jiang Wen	Drama
The Horse Thief	Tian Zhuangzhuang		Drama	Named by Martin Scorsese as his favorite film of the 1980s
The Last Day of Winter	Wu Ziniu
Old Well	Wu Tianming	Zhang Yimou	Drama
Trapped in a Frozen River	Zhang Jianya		Drama/Thriller	Also known as Ice River
The Tribulations of an Old Master	Wu Yigong, Zhang Jianya	Rosalind Chao, Chen Peisi	Drama

1987

Title	Director	Actors	Genre	Notability
Death Visits the Living	Huang Jianzhong		Drama
Desperation	Zhou Xiaowen, Shi Chengfeng		Thriller	Also known as The Last Frenzy
Far From War	Hu Mei
In Their Prime	Zhou Xiaowen, Guo Fangfang		Drama
King of the Children	Chen Kaige	Chen Shaohua	Drama	Entered into the 1988 Cannes Film Festival
Red Sorghum	Zhang Yimou	Gong Li	Drama/War	Early Zhang Yimou effort, Golden Bear winner at Berlin
Street Players	Tian Zhuangzhuang		Drama	Also known as Drum Singers
Sun Yatsen	Ding Yinnan		Biographical
Women on the Long March	Liu Miaomiao		War

1988

Title	Director	Actors	Genre	Notability
Between Life and Death	Wu Ziniu		Drama
The Boxer	Liu Miaomiao	Liu Shangxian	Drama
Evening Bell	Wu Ziniu	Chong Peipei, Tao Zeru, Ge Yaming	War	Silver Bear-Jury Grand Prix winner at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival
Feeling from Mountain and Water	Te Wei		Animated short
The Filmmakers	Ding Yinnan	Siqin Gaowa	Drama
Joyous Heroes	Wu Ziniu		Drama
Kidnapping Karajan	Zhang Jianya		Comedy
King of Chess	Teng Wenji		Drama
Mutiny	He Qun		War
Obsession	Zhou Xiaowen		Drama	Also known as The Price of Frenzy
Rock 'n' Roll Kids	Tian Zhuangzhuang		Drama	Also known as Rock Kids
Samsara	Huang Jianxin	Jia Hongsheng
Savage Land	Ling Zifeng	Liu Xiaoqing	Drama
The Troubleshooters	Mi Jiashan	Zhang Guoli, Ge You	Comedy
We Are the World	He Ping		Drama
Widow Village	Wang Jin	Hao Jialing, Tao Zeru	Drama	Also known as The Village of Widows
A Woman For Two	Ling Zifeng	Liu Xiaoqing	Drama

1989

Title	Director	Actors	Genre	Notability
Ballad of the Yellow River	Teng Wenji	Ge You	Drama
Codename Cougar	Zhang Yimou, Yang Fengliang	Gong Li, Ge You	Action/Thriller
Kawashima Yoshiko	He Ping		Biographical
The Shining Arc	Zhang Junzhao			Entered into the 16th Moscow International Film Festival
Unforgettable Life	Tian Zhuangzhuang		Drama	Also known as Special Operating Room and Illegal Lives
Westbound Convict Train	He Qun		Action/Thriller

Mainland Chinese Film Production Totals

Year	Total Films^[1]
1980	83
1981	105
1982	114
1983	127
1984	143
1985	127
1986	125
1987	146
1988	158
1989	136

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References

↑ Donald, Stephanie; Keane, Michael; Yin, Hong, eds. (2002). Media in China : Consumption, Content and Crisis. London: Routledge. p. 50. ISBN 0415406277.

External links

IMDb list of Chinese films

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[1] Donald, Stephanie; Keane, Michael; Yin, Hong, eds. (2002). Media in China : Consumption, Content and Crisis. London: Routledge. p. 50. ISBN 0415406277.

[1]