Chinese audiovisual productions are getting more and more popular in the last years, especially with C-Dramas (following the popular denomination of K-Dramas for Korea and J-Dramas for Japan). However, the catalog of Chinese movies and series on popular streaming platforms such as Netflix or Prime Video is small and it is needed to rely on specialized platforms such as Rakuten Viki. In addition, sign language in Chinese productions is scarce and in titles that have had little coverage in the West. Let's take a look at some of the best Chinese movies and series with sign language.
You might also be interested in:
- The Best South Korean Films and Series With Sign Language
- The Best Japanese Films and TV Series with Sign Language
- Sign language Also Inspires Bollywood
Silent Love (1986)
This is probably the first commercial production in Hong Kong with a significant amount of sign language dialogue. Given its age, it is very difficult to view it in the West and have detailed information about it, but it is about the experiences of a deaf pickpocket and a hearing ex-convict. You can still find the original trailer on YouTube here:
Breaking the Silence (2000)
This film follows the struggle of Sun Liying, a single mother in contemporary China to provide a better future for her deaf son Zheng Da. After her divorce, Sun Liying works several jobs to support her son's education. It adopts a realistic, almost documentary style to bring the viewer the mother's sacrifice and society's challenges to the inclusion of her deaf son with limited resources.
The film received several awards at major festivals, including best film and best actress, the famous Gong Li, who was part of the cast of Memoirs of a Geisha a few years after the film, which was a worldwide success. The deaf boy is played by Xin Gao, a real-life deaf student at the Guangzhou School for the Deaf, which helped provide an authentic portrayal of the experiences of deaf people in China. Both actress Gong Li and child Gao Xin developed a close relationship during filming, which contributed to the chemistry and emotionality of their scenes together.
The film can be viewed in its entirety on YouTube in low quality and English subtitles, although the video was not uploaded to an official account, so it is expected to disappear eventually:
My Prince (2007)
This series is also extremely difficult to find despite being more recent than the previous ones, it is likely that it has not been broadcast on international television circuits outside the Chinese borders.
However, its mention on this list is very meritorious because one of the main characters is a real-life deaf actor, Song Xiao Bo. The series catapulted Xiao Bo, a native of Shanghai, who has a large group of followers on his Instagram account here, where he occasionally uploads signed reels as well.
The series follows the hilarious adventures of a quirky family. Li Xiu Yun is a money-obsessed mother who dreams of her four attractive sons marrying rich women: the eldest is a serious and responsible man, the second is a womanizing model who always gets into trouble, the third is a reserved wine taster and the youngest, deaf since birth, is the kind-hearted soul of the family. Together, they face conflicts, laughter and romance, showing the value of family love and self-improvement.
Hear Me (2009)
Although this film was made with the intention of promoting the 2009 Deaflympics in Taipei, the fact is that it was a box office success in Taiwan and has received very good reviews from the public. Such was its success that the film was versioned in 2024 Korea (you can watch it here). It tells the story of Tian-Kuo, a food delivery man, and Yang Yang, a young girl who turns her life to supporting her sister by preparing for the Deaflympics. When Tian-Kuo meets Yang Yang at the pool where his sister trains, he becomes fascinated by her and they begin a relationship of ups and downs.
Eddie Peng and Ivy Chen, the film's lead couple, are hearing in real life (for a good reason that cannot be revealed here). Both received intensive training in Taiwanese Sign Language with Deaf teachers and observed the lives of Deaf people to achieve the most accurate sign language representation possible.
The cast included a number of Deaf actors and actresses, the film was positively reviewed by the Taiwanese Deaf community for its social impact on sign language awareness and the Deaf community, but was also criticized for the lack of authentic representation of Deaf people in the Taiwanese film industry.
Drug War (2012)
This film is a twist-filled police thriller that follows the collaboration between an anti-drug police captain and a drug kingpin. Part of the plot are two deaf, low-level mobster brothers, played by Guo Tao and Jing Li, both of whom are hearing people in real life.
Guo Tao, the better-known actor of the two brothers, said that one of the biggest challenges was to convey complex emotions without spoken dialogue, although the signed dialogue is very sparse. The role of the deaf brothers and the sign language interpretation was welcomed by China's deaf community for giving social visibility, but, again, there was also discontent that these roles could have been played by deaf actors.
The Way We Talk (2024)
This film has the particularity of having been produced in Hong Kong, which was a British colony until 1997. Although China has had greater control over Hong Kong since 2020, it should be noted that some social and cultural particularities of British influence persist.
On the other hand, the film deals very directly with vital issues of Deaf people. It explores the lives of three deaf young people in their search for identity and acceptance in hearing society: Zi Xin is from a Deaf family and uses sign language; Su En has been deaf since childhood, has a cochlear implant and uses spoken language; Alan is a close friend of Zi Xin, who has a cochlear implant and uses both sign language and spoken language.
What is strange is that such a specific plot about Deaf people has been played by hearing people in real life: the three characters are two hearing actors and one hearing actress. While the Deaf community seems to recognize the efforts of the interpreters, it is still a clear case that could very well be played by Deaf actors and actresses. As has been pointed out on this website several times, playing the role of a Deaf person is not a representation in which they can simply put themselves in their shoes, in the same way that a white/Caucasian person would currently play the role of another race or ethnicity.
Article 20 (2024)
The most recent of the films is this courtroom drama with comedic overtones in which a middle-aged prosecutor seeks to stabilize his career while facing personal and professional dilemmas. Caught up in the routines of everyday life, he becomes involved in two complex cases that challenge his principles. On the one hand, he must deal with the case of a man who injured a town bully while protecting his deaf wife and, on the other hand, face a personal conflict when his son accused of assaulting the son of his school principal for defending a fellow victim of bullying.
The role of the deaf wife was played by real-life hearing actress Liying Zhao. Her role is small but very dramatic, with a performance that won her the award for Best Supporting Actress at the 37th Hundred Flowers Awards (one of China's most prestigious awards). In the following video you can see a signed message from the actress and a part of her intense performance:
Although China's Deaf community was delighted that a C-Drama star played this role (Liying Zhao has shot more than 40 films and series, and won more than 30 awards in recognition of her work), the award received for her performance in this film could have been an award stolen from a real-life Deaf actress.
