Lost a few Stars because...

I'm totally with you, flagday! I loved the cinematography, seeing urban China, and some insight into the Chinese culture, but Beijing Bicycle's script left much to be desired; some parts of it really grated on my nerves.

Guo Liangui was a naive country boy, but not as idiot. If he would have only opened his mouth, he could have easiliy proved the bike was his.

1)The bicycle was first owned by the messenger-delivery service. Surely his employer would still have his bicycle's serial number on file, and surely the police would have gotten his bicycle back from Jian with that proof from his employer.

2) On a lower level, was Jian's questioning gang of bullies too blind to notice that the bicycle model was standard issue for Guo's delivery service, and that Jian just magically got enough money to buy one?

Although, had Guo Liangui reported the bike theft to the police, the movie would have been an hour shorter; however, the lack of common sense took away from my overall movie enjoyment. Having said that, I'd still rather watch something like Beijing Bicycle over most of the garbage that comes out of Hollywood nowadays.

‘Beijing Bicycle’ was filmed in 2001, I don’t think any of you can even begin to imagine how different China was just four years ago.

‘Are there any cops in Beijing?’
yes, but the boys were mainly fighting in the ‘Hu Tongs’ in Beijing – the residential areas of ‘Old Beijing’ where the police don’t patrol usually.

‘If there are, do people in China just stand and stare at a kid getting beaten up, or do they call the police?’
why would the little old ladies and old men who see them fight want to get involved?! They probably all live in the same ‘Hu Tong’ and probably knew the boys, if they interfered, the boys would make their lives hell.
They boys who were causing the trouble looked richer than the main character, his family was probably high up in the communist society. Anyone who reported their son to the police was not only going to get trouble from the boys, but more seriously their fathers, who were probably high officials who could stop the reporters income, turn them out of their homes etc.
Now would you call the police?!

‘if it's a representation of life in Beijing as a teenager’
yes it is, frequently live is like this for the poorer classes

‘Guo Liangui was a naive country boy, but not as idiot. If he would have only opened his mouth, he could have easiliy proved the bike was his.’
How? He was is not educated like the bully, who looked like he went to a public school and looked affluent.
Guo Liangui cannot express himself very well, and everyone would believe Jian. Even if people believed him, they would not support him. Its better to makes friends with the rich, popular kid than the poor country kid, otherwise you’ll be treated like him too.

‘The bicycle was first owned by the messenger-delivery service. Surely his employer would still have his bicycle's serial number on file, and surely the police would have gotten his bicycle back from Jian with that proof from his employer.’
Do the police have nothing else to do than chase after stolen bike cases in a country of more than 6 billion people?! People’s bikes get stolen every few hours in Beijing! Who would care especially if it’s a poor country kid?!

You might be all sentimental and say ‘but the police are there to help people, is he not human just because he is from the countryside?’
People in China, and the Police are no exception, work for money, status and a quiet life. They cannot afford to work for a sense of justice.

To understand the film. Imagine living in a country with the largest population in the world.

I have lived in Beijing, so i thought i would respond to the post. In my experience, this film was extremely accurate in capturing beijing life. it is the best movie i have seen to get a real sense of the city - how diverse and active it is and the different ways people live.

to your specific questions:

1) selling stolen goods is so common in china that it would be hard to do anything about it. i'm sure that the second hand dealer, if he could be located, would just say that he got it from someone else and he didn't know it was stolen.

2) not many. its weird, because you hear so much about china being a police state, but if you are in an out of the way area it feels like you can do anything. in general they do a really good job guarding banks and government buildings, and occasionally venture into commercial districts, but are rarely seen in poor residential areas like the hukous in this movie.

3) people wouldn't call the police, but they might intervene. however, chinese people are often wary of stepping into other people's business. kids fighting might not be seen as a big deal. (another thing to keep in mind is that some violence, for instance the earlier scene of the father hitting his son, is far more normal and accepted than we would be used to.)


i think you are right to say that this isn't a lifestyle that you would want to have. the wonderful thing about this film is that it is a lifestyle that many people have, and this is the first time their story has been told.

I had some of the very same problems you did with this otherwise billiant film.

Hahah I know I am about a year late for this reply, but I just saw the movie on free-to-air TV in Australia. I've thought of a couple of answers to your questions (?)

1. It does make sense to go after the douchebag who stole Gui's bike and sold it onto the kid. However, there are a couple of alternative explanations for this. The kid and friends do not care about the 2nd hand seller, but they only want to get the bike back, as anything less would make them look 'soft' (they say so when they seeminly pressure the kid into going after Gui again). Also, it's simply easier for them to beat up a country bumpkin to take the bicycle rather than to have to deal with a professional thief. The weak, uneducated is exploited throughout this movie and I felt that this movie was so tragic and sad for Gui...

The movie was not entirely clear, I believe on purpose, whether or not the kid actually bought the bike from an illegal source or stole it outright himself. He simply could have spent 500 yuan by wasting on the good looking school girl, going to arcades and so on. He threw away money to impress the girl (evidenced by the scene where he pays for the public phone and seems to not care about how much it costs), he says he 'already spent a lot of money' when his friends ask him for change at the arcade and he overreacts (in a guilty way) when his friend jokes that he had stolen the bike. Also, there is no evidence of the kid purchasing the bike from a 3rd person, apart from his words which do not seem all that credible (he already stole money from his parents and lied about it upon being questioned so he is a thief and a liar).

2. The question of existence or effectiveness of legal authority in China isn't something that is really addressed in the movie. Gui does have a couple of brushes with the law, once at the spa with two security guards and another when he was caught sneaking around the bike lockers. In the latter case, he escapes any punishment because the manager of the courier company comes to save the day. If it weren't for him, he could very well have been in jail for intention to steal or trespassing, but it is something that really depends on Chinese criminal codes which I am not too familiar with.

In any case, I seriously doubt that a minor dispute between 'kids' over a 500 yuan bicycle would be worth being looked into by the police in a city of millions... As for the fights, they do get pretty serious (I mean.. hitting someone's head with bricks?) but I think by showing such brutality and dangers in the characters' actions, the film is highlighting their desperation. Again, what is tragic about this, is that situations like are mass group chases, potential violent assaults (a kid stalking a couple with a brick in his hand) largely go ignored by the people in the background. They seem completely at peace despite all the commotion around them. Perhaps this is a social commentary at how the government trivialises and hides various social problems at a mass scale - but I could be overreading here.

Also, Gui can't really do anything about being beaten up - he has no money for lawyers nor does he have any friends or witnesses that he can rely on. He is almost completely alone (apart from the grocery shop owner but he seems pretty useless) in a huge city and cops would be way too busy to help him out with such 'petty' issues.