50
Hard, gleaming images and an oblique storytelling style come to Wang the way the bike comes to Jian -- secondhand.
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What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
70
New Times (L.A.) by Bill Gallo
Shot in the mean streets of a great and compelling city, here's a fascinating vision of societal upheaval that would likely awe De Sica himself.
60
Washington Post by Desson Thomson
Beautifully filmed and very atmospheric in terms of evoking the sights and sounds of modern-day Beijing, this Chinese movie suffers a flat tire about halfway through.
75
New York Daily News by Jack Mathews
The movie is filled with sweetly funny moments, but its exposure of class, income and cultural differences makes it an uneasy charmer right up to its violent denouement.
60
Wang's film offers an interesting look at the rapidly changing face of Beijing.
100
Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas
With this masterful, flawless film, Xiaoshuai emerges in the front ranks of China's now numerous, world-renowned filmmakers.
63
Though beautiful at times, it doesn't reach the level of poetry of either de Sica's "Thief" or Lou's "River."
40
Village Voice by Michael Atkinson
Wang mistakes affectless storytelling and character conception for rigor, and as a result huge portions of Beijing Bicycle are dull and repetitive.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Rick Groen
Beijing Bicycle is a good film that owes a huge debt to a better film. And that, of course, is Vittorio De Sica's "The Bicycle Thief."
83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer by William Arnold
An absorbing slice of the New China and a fascinating duel between two magnificently stubborn antagonists.