Chinese movies
Icy Wang Icy Wang, LLL Answered Jan 19, 2017 Originally Answered: What are some of the best historical Chinese movies about any period of ancient China made in recent years (2000 onward)? Warning：long answer
Not sure of your Chinese level. Most of the sources don’t have English versions, and the ones related to history are very very difficult to translate or for foreigners to understand. So I try to recommend the ones which have English captions.
Here they are:
《霸王别姬》1993
This one does not exactly meet your needs, but I just can’t help recommending. Though the age is old, it is indeed quite classic. (still attractive for me, an 18-year old teenager)
English name: Farewell My Concubine
Background: the Cultural Revolution in China
---one of the most legendary and famous Hong Kong actors—Zhang Guorong(Leslie Cheung)
---the element of Beijing Opera
---love tragedy
---homoerotism
《大话西游之月光宝盒》1994 (first run in Hong Kong, and showed in mainland China in 2014 )
English name: A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandoras Box
《大话西游之大圣娶亲》1995
English name: A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderalla
Background: adapted from a novel called ‘Journey to the West’(one of the top 4 Chinese chefdoeuvre among thousands of years, written in Ming dynasty (16th century))
---comedy with deep sorrows
---ancient Chinese style myth
---love & philosophy
《英雄》2002
English name: Hero
Background: Warring States period
---three assassins’ legend
---the vicissitudes of life
《十面埋伏》2004
English name: House of Flying Daggers
Background: Tang dynasty
---reactionary forces
---martial arts
---the beauty embodied in sound, form and sense
---a love story between two 捕快（who are constable for catching criminals）and a geisha.
《无极》2005
English name: Master of the Crimson Armor
---a love story between princess, duke, general and a slave.
---witch and curse
---destiny
---beautiful blues
《墨攻》2006
English name: Battle of Wits
Background: Warring States period
---Mohism, much more influential than Confucianism at that period.
---battles
---ancient techniques which are recorded.
---self and state values
《夜宴》2006
English name: The Banquet
Background: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907-960)
---love
---death
---power
---royal
《投名状》2007
English name: The Warlords
Background: Qing dynasty
---wars
---bromance
---human nature
《狄仁杰之通天帝国》2010
English name: Detective D
Background: Tang dynasty (around 7th century)
---the only female emperor in Chinese history (武则天)
---the legendary and admirable detective 狄仁杰（really exist in history）
---homicide cases with mysterious force
《锦衣卫》2010
English name: 14 Blades
Background: Ming dynasty
---martial arts
---Secret authority
---a bid for power
Regarding Four Arts in China (琴棋书画)
《大国手之天下无敌》2010（棋）
This series has eight movies
No English captions
Background: Qing dynasty ( 17th – 20th century )
---Namesis Go Master (the game of go can date back to 7th century BC)
---monarchy of authority
---philosophy of competing
《画圣》2012（画）
English name: The Painter, Wu Tao-tzu
Background: Tang dynasty, after An-Shi Disturbances (around 8th century )
---one of the most famous painter in Chinese history
---Taoism, liberal philosophy
---struggle for wealth or for truths
---self identification
《鸿门宴传奇》2011
English name: White Vengea
Background: the fall of Chu and the rise of Han (around third century BC)
---action and war
---real history story
---a bid for power
《画皮》2012
English name: Painted Skin
Background: adapted from an ironic novel called《聊斋志异》（written by 蒲松龄 in Qing dynasty）
---a love story between princess, General and goblin.
---the meaning of real beautify
---the reveal of human nature
《大明劫》2013
English name: Fall of Ming
Background: the end of Ming empire (around 16th century)
---begin with a plague
---nation calamity and personal wandering
---an epoch of great social changes
《侠僧探案传奇之大夜叉》2014
This series has ten moives
No English captions
Background: Song dynasty(10th -13th century)
---martial arts, Shaolin Kung Fu
---Suspense film, different cases
《刺客聂隐娘》2015
English name: The Assassin
Background: An-Shi, adapted from novel called 《传奇》(written by 裴钘 in Tang dynasty)
---martial arts
---female assassin
---revenge
---classical beauty and classical philosophy
---profound meaning, very difficult to fully understand
《鬼吹灯之九层妖塔》2015
English name: chronicles of the ghostly tribe
《鬼吹灯之寻龙诀》2016
Background: adapted from a popular online novel called 《鬼吹灯》
---ghost fantasy
---supernatural
---adventures
---1980s
If you are interested in ancient Chinese culture, the best choice is watching documentary films.
Since nowadays the movie market is kind of so-called westernized. And the movies don’t reveal the real history because they use artistic language.
Some wonderful documentary films:
《复活的军团》2004
English name: An Army Reborn
Background: Warring state period (770BC-221BC)
---Qin dynasty
---unification of China
---Terra Cotta Warriors
《圆明园》2006
English name: The Old Summer Palace
Background: siege of the International Legations
---wars
---the most magnificent palace in China (to some extent, it’s more splendid than The Forbidden City )
---memory of the humiliation
---the turning point of the vast empire
《超越轮回》2007
English name: Surpass Samsara
---Chinese Buddhism
---philosophy of life and kindness
《大明宫》2009
English name: Daming Palace
Background: Tang dynasty
---prosperity and decline, rise and fall, the sweet and the bitter
---the peak of architecture
《本草中国》2016
English name: The Tale Of Chinese Medicine
---Chinese Medicine
---Chinese philosophy
A lot of people own prejudice to Chinese Medicine, taking it as a sort of superstition. However, you need to understand that if something has been existing for over thousands of years and it’s still flourishing, there must be reasons. (after all Chinese are not fools :)
《功夫少林》2016
English name: Shaolin Kung Fu
---martial arts
---the dilemma and development
---qualities and spirits
And there are so many wonderful TV series while they don’t have English versions. such a pity.
Tips for ones who want to learn Chinese by watching movies that sort of original materials :
ask help from native speakers.
It is very likely that you know every word in a sentence but you can't understand it at all or you don't get the deep meanings (especially under certain situations like a particular scene in movies )
And don’t bother with some proper names. Most of them can’t be translated into certain English with same sophisticated meanings.