Master Cheng

I had never heard of this movie before I watched it, as I stumbled across it by accident while browsing Netflix. The description didn't reveal much about the plot, but I decided to give it a try - and I'm so glad I did.

This is a delightful movie: funny, moving and heartwarming. "Mestari Cheng" is an entertaining feel-good movie, still it has plenty of depth. It will possibly make you tear up once or twice, while causing you to laugh out loud at other parts. The acting performances are solid and the scenery is stunning.

"Mestari Cheng" provides a completely new way of looking at international (Finnish-Chinese) relations and culture clashes. It is not like anything I have ever watched before, yet it is brilliant. This film definitely deserves more recognition. Do yourself a favour and watch it!

I stumbled upon this movie by accident and quite early in the movie I was taken by it. Beautiful scenery, good cast and heartwarming story.

It's worth a watch, bit of old Finnish culture with beautiful nature of Lapland, mixed with Chinese culture.

I lived in Finland briefly, and watching this film made me homesick for my time there. It has an excellent sense of place and effectively evokes both Finnish and Chinese cultures. It's a quiet, thoughtful movie that takes its time. Showing an evolving romance between people from two famously reserved cultures takes special skill, but the tender performances really make it land. There were a couple of places where I felt things could have been heightened a bit, but that may also be because of the culture I'm from. I really enjoyed this, and I'd definitely watch it again.

A quiet story about a budding romance between two loners and the power of food. Nothing special, but charming in its simplicity - this movie doesn't WANT to be special, it just presents the characters (and landscape) in a relaxed, unagitated manner. There's exactly one urgent situation in the film (it concerns the boy) and that gets resolved in about one minute.

Not exactly required viewing, but for a nice evening, you can do worse than give this movie a chance.

I would recommend it to those who seek to see beautiful Finnish landscapes and a delicate, loving story unravel itself. It's quiet and peaceful, full of beauty and kindness!