Zhou Yu's Train

A film by Sun Zhou

Zhou Yu is an artisan living in Sanming, an industrial town in north-western China. Twice a week, she takes the train to rural Chongyang to visit her lover, a shy, handsome poet named Chen Qing. Inspired by Zhou Yu's beauty, Chen has crafted a series of poems for her, which has only drawn her closer to this quiet, gentle man.

United by their passion, he finds in Zhou Yu the ultimate muse, while she believes Chen to be her ideal soul-mate. Zhou Yu returns to the countryside again and again to sate her restless heart but on one journey to see him, she encounters a friendly young veterinary surgeon, Dr Zhang Qiang, who becomes an eager suitor, younger and much more worldly than the sheltered Chen. Zhou Yu has begun to realise that despite their passion, Chen does not know what kind of future he wants with her.

Although Zhang's intentions are clear, Zhou Yu embraces him as a trusted friend, telling him of her last encounter with Chen who has decided to take a teaching post in Tibet, effectively putting their relationship on hold. But after Chen Qing leaves for Tibet, and like the train she continues to ride twice a week, Zhou Yu is inevitably drawn back to Chongyang to the empty library, her heart frozen as she tries to contemplate her betrayal.

In the mountains of Tibet, a young woman named Xiu arrives. She has fallen in love with Chen Qing through his poems, and has been pursuing him and watching Zhou Yu to understand the inspiration behind the poetry. Chen tells her that Zhou Yu is dead, killed in a bus accident on her way to Tibet. But Xiu isn't convinced – now, she is the one riding the trains in pursuit of her love, and she can see Zhou Yu riding with her.

This beautifully made film is a passionate tale of one woman's search for perfect love. A sensual evocation of distance and time, reality and imagination, where the only thing that's truly real is what's in one's heart.

Trois couleurs: Rouge

A film by Krzysztof Kieślowski

Three Colours: Red is the third part of Kieślowski's trilogy which explores the French Revolutionary ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.

Red is the story of Valentine, a young fashion model living in Geneva. One night in her car she runs over a dog. The accident leads her to a meeting with its owner, a retired judge – cynical, embittered and living in isolation, who eavesdrops on his neighbours' private telephone conversations.

In exploring the theme of fraternity, the film focuses on the relationships between Valentine and the many people whom her life touches. Some who may not be aware of the connection they have with her, or with the old judge; some whose lives parallel situations that have happened before. All these seemingly separate lives are anonymously, yet inextricably linked to Valentine – who, through her altruistic nature and selfless actions, brings compassion, forgiveness and redemption.

In the final scene we discover how Valentine's destiny can also unite these apparently unconnected and coincidental relationships.

Trois couleurs: Blanc

A film by Krzysztof Kieślowski

Three Colours: White is the second part of Kieślowski's trilogy which explores the French Revolutionary ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.

White is the story of Karol, a Polish hairdresser who has won several international awards. He has married a beautiful French model, Dominique, and come to live with her in Paris. Karol loves his beautiful wife to obsession but she is divorcing him for his inability to consummate their marriage.

Dominique humiliates Karol and reduces him to the life of a homeless métro beggar where he meets fellow countryman Mikolaj, who helps him return to Warsaw to start afresh. There Karol begins rebuilding his material life from nothing, whilst fighting to resolve his deep passion for Dominique and plotting his revenge to achieve equality – only to have his final triumph eclipsed in an unexpected way.

Trois couleurs: Bleu

A film by Krzysztof Kieślowski

Three Colours: Blue is the first part of Kieślowski's trilogy which explores the French Revolutionary ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.

Blue is the story of Julie who loses her husband, Patrice, an acclaimed European composer, and her young daughter in a car accident. The film's theme of liberty is manifested in Julie's attempt to start life anew free of personal commitments, belongings, grief and love.

She withdraws from the world to live completely independently, anonymously and in solitude in the Parisian metropolis. Despite her intentions, people from her former and present life intrude with their own needs. However, the reality created by the people who need and care about her, the surprising discovery of her husband's mistress, Sandrine, who is carrying his child, and the music around which the story revolves, heals Julie and irresistibly draws her back to her true self, from where her life can once more move forward.

La double vie de Véronique

A film by Krzysztof Kieślowski

Véronique and Weronika are two young women leading totally separate lives in France and Poland, yet each strangely aware of the other's presence. Despite their different backgrounds, the two share not only many of the same likes, foibles and prodigious musical talents, but also the same wisdom, inspiring one to unconsciously avoid making the same mistakes in life as the other.

Weronika embraces each aspect of her life with zeal. She has many friendships, sexual and platonic, and a variety of interests. A serious heart ailment, however, debilitates her periodically, but she refuses to let it hold her back. On her way to a singing contest, she sees a woman who is her physical double. Weronika tries to catch the look-alike's attention, but fails.

The second woman, Véronique, is also a gifted singer yet she rejects this talent to teach at a primary school. Eventually she, too, senses the presence of another force in her life, but it isn't until Alexandre, a writer and puppeteer, appears that she finally recognises this for certain.

A transcendent, lyrical and enigmatic tale of duality and yearning.

The Cave of the Yellow Dog

A film by Byambasuren Davaa

A Mongolian nomad family find themselves in disagreement when the eldest daughter, Nansal, befriends a dog and brings it home. Believing that it is responsible for attacking his sheep, her father refuses to allow her to keep it. When it's time for the family to move on, Nansal must decide whether to defy her father and take her new friend with them.

Directed by Byambasuren Davaa, herself of Mongolian birth, the film also documents a land and its people in change – the ongoing topic of urbanisation and the existential changes that the nomads are facing. It follows the fascinating life of the self-sufficient nomad family with its animal herds, and in particular deals with their great spirituality and Buddhist belief, both of which have an influence on their harmonious connection with nature and the belief in reincarnation. In making the film Byambasuren shows authentic details of the everyday life of a nomad family, placing particular value on showing the dismantling of a nomad yurt in detail, and the integration of children's games in the story.

The Cave of the Yellow Dog is a thought-provoking mix of documentary and drama that tells the story of the age-old bond between man and dog, a bond which experiences a new twist through the eternal cycle of reincarnation in Mongolia.

Les filles du botaniste

A film by Dai Sijie

In 1980s China many taboos still remain, despite the death of Mao Zedong. Li Min, a young Chinese-Russian orphan, leaves to study with a renowned botanist. A secretive man and an authoritarian father, the professor lives on an island that he has turned into a luxuriant botanical garden. Forced to lead a solitary existence and treated much like a servant, his daughter Cheng An gladly welcomes the arrival of the new student. Soon the two young women find their friendship developing into an attraction that is compelling, sensual and forbidden. Incapable of separation, An and Min then discover they have created a dangerous situation in order that they may continue to spend their lives together.

A very beautiful, romantic and poignant film, made with a sensitivity that captures the essence of forbidden love. The story contrasts the innocence of a desire for happiness which harms no other, with the prejudices and disapproval of a society which fears non-conformity. The filming locations in Vietnam (unfortunately Dai was refused permission to shoot in China) provide the most stunning visuals, whilst the cinematography is just breathtaking and the musical score hypnotic.

The Red Violin

A film by François Girard

Nicolo Bussotti is a 17th century master craftsman who creates the perfect violin for his unborn child. A tarot reading given for Anna, his pregnant wife, predicts not the future of her own life, as is at first understood, but instead that of the violin in which her spirit resides. When both the child and his mother die during childbirth Bussotti is obsessively compelled to finish making the instrument.

The story begins in present-day Montréal where the violin is to be auctioned. The sale has attracted the attention of musicians and collectors worldwide, and as the bidding commences, the history of this unique instrument is gradually revealed to us. Beginning its life in Cremona, Italy in 1681, the violin travels across continents, cultures and centuries – to Vienna, Oxford, Shanghai and finally to Canada – inspiring love, passion, obsession, betrayal and sacrifice in every life it touches.

Girard's episodic technique of using different periods and cultures does not result in just a chain of separate stories, but allows for a larger frame of reference, making the film's message resonate more widely. What becomes more important is not the differences between the episodes, but the similarities, the recurring motifs and themes which bind the varying strands together. What emerges is a film about survival in adversity; it is a tribute to the universal and enduring pleasure that music provides when all around is destruction and pain. A beautifully told tale of romance, adventure and intrigue.