"Actor: Zhao Rui"

• Cirque Du Soleil - Dralion | DVD | (28/01/2002) from £3.97   |  Saving you £16.02 (403.53%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The work of the Canadian circus troupe Cirque Du Soleil, Dralion is a show which has toured worldwide. It features elements of Chinese circus tradition interspersed with the troupe's own pan-cultural sense of stage spectacle. It's a combination of music, dance, clowning and acrobatics lavishly bathed in dry ice, strobe lights and a colourful array of oriental finery, elaborate costumes and props. Here you'l find Chinese women finding the strength from somewhere in their tiny bodies to balance by their hands atop 10-foot poles which are wheeled around gracefully; and young boys tumbling rapidly through revolving golden hoops; and bronzed dancers swinging through the air in balletic arcs from lengths of blue ribbon. What one could do without, though, is the She-Goddess' New Age babble throughout the proceedings, as well as the soundtrack, which is a queasy fusion of world music marinated in bass. There's also an over-indulgence of costume and choreography, presumably the work of the "avant garde" Cirque Du Soleil, though much here is distinctly apres-garde, reminding the viewer irresistibly of the musical extravaganza that was the daily centrepiece of the ill-fated Millennium Dome. All of this at times smothers and distracts from the impressive physical feats of the Chinese performers. Still, for the three million people who have witnessed this show worldwide this will certainly provide a worthy memento.On the DVD: a number of extra features include a featurette about the five-month deadline the troupe had to meet in putting together the show, splendid for those who thrill to the spectacle of tents being erected and dancers being winched carefully into the rafters of giant hangars. There's also a facility for viewing the performances from different angles. The show is presented in 1.78:1 aspect ratio, and is generally pristine in both colour and definition. --David Stubbs

• Little Red Flowers | DVD | (21/05/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Based on the semi-autobiographical novel Could be Beautiful by Wang Shuo the best-selling 'bad boy' of contemporary Chinese literature Little Red Flowers is a poignant and touching drama. Directed by independent producer and award winning director Zhang Yuan (Beijing Bastards Seventeen Years) Little Red Flowers tells the story of Qiang (Dong Bowen) a four-year-old little rebel... a clever child with sparkly eyes and a precociously indomitable will. His father deposits him at a well-appointed residential kindergarten in post-1949 Beijing since his parents are often away. Life at the kindergarten appears rich and colourful made up of a variety of cheerfully sunny rituals and games meant to train these children to be good members of society. But it's not so easy for Qiang to adapt to this kind of carefully organized minutely scrutinized collective life. A fierce individualist in miniature he tries but fails to conform to the model his teachers enforce. Yet he still craves the reward that the other students win: the little red flowers awarded each day as tokens for good behaviour. But Qiang doesn't win any flowers: he can't yet dress himself and doesn't play together with the other kids. He even dares to talk back to the strict Teacher Li (Zhao Rui) and Principal Kong when they try to impose some discipline on him. Gradually his charisma and bravado start to win over his classmates: their stealthy little rebellions gain steam when he succeeds in convincing everyone that Teacher Li is a child-eating monster in disguise. When their attempt to capture her is thwarted Qiang's resistance develops a more disturbing dimension and he is forcibly ostracized from his companions. Will he succumb to the adult-enforced conformity around him or will he insist on growing up his own way by his own rules?