For Fun

1993, Ning Ying, 97 minutes, Mandarin

Old Han retires from his gatekeeper job at a local opera house and begins to organize an elderly amateur Beijing Opera troupe in his residential community. Depicting the economic reforms of late 1980s and the ensuing energy and anxiety, Ning Ying’s beautifully observed comedy turns its lens upon the older generation of Beijing locals. Opening with a long tracking shot of a now demolished street near Qianmen, Beijing-born Ning lovingly preserves her city on film.