— Overview
The notes stay with the credits and the background they record, and with only the short stretch of story they keep, and they stop before a later table of terms.
— Contents and key concepts
A 1999 comedy-drama, and two leads
The notes take up Feng Xiaogang’s Be There or Be Square, a 1999 Chinese film they also list under a Korean title, Wait Until You Come. It is, they write, a drama, and Ge You and Xu Fan appear in it. Ge You is described as an actor’s actor and a representative Chinese actor, and as the winner of a Cannes best-actor award. Xu Fan trained at the Central Academy of Drama, has appeared in many films and broadcasts, and is, they write, the director Feng Xiaogang’s spouse.
Feng himself, they record, was born in Beijing in 1958 and has worked as an actor, a director, and a screenwriter. For Be There or Be Square he handled both the script and the direction.
From an army troupe to the Beijing Television Art Center
After eight years of stage painting in an army theater troupe, he entered the film world in 1985 as an art designer at the Beijing Television Art Center, and also worked on scripts with writers including Zheng Xiaolong and Wang Shuo.
In Korea, they add, he is known for The Banquet (2003) and Aftershock (2010). More recent titles they list are Mr. Six (2015), a 2015 film they list as The Bad Die, and I Am Not Madame Bovary (2016). They also keep a 1991 television series about the lives of Chinese immigrants in America, Beijingers in New York.
A late-1990s wish to leave, and a short stretch of story
The film, they write, was made in the 1990s, when many Chinese people dreamed of emigrating to the United States and elsewhere in search of a better life. Of the plot itself the notes keep only a short stretch. The two protagonists meet again after a long time and are glad to tell each other what has happened; wherever they go they keep being drawn into strange incidents and into awkward situations that are hard to face one after another, and the difficulty of life in a foreign country comes through whole.
The notes leave the subject there, before a later table of terms, and before any fuller telling of the story. The same Korean report, written out more fully, sits on CampusDown.
Sources
- Student notes on Feng Xiaogang’s 1999 film Be There or Be Square, limited to the credits and the short stretch of story the notes keep.
Last updated 15 November 2026
Frequently asked questions
How do the notes identify the film and its leads?
They take up Feng Xiaogang’s Be There or Be Square, a 1999 Chinese drama, also given a Korean title they record as Wait Until You Come. Ge You and Xu Fan appear in it. Ge You, they write, is known as an actor’s actor and as a representative Chinese actor, and as the winner of a Cannes best-actor award. Xu Fan trained at the Central Academy of Drama, has appeared in many films and broadcasts, and is, they write, Feng Xiaogang’s spouse.
What do they record about the director?
He was born in Beijing in 1958, and has worked as an actor, a director, and a screenwriter. For this film he handled both the script and the direction. After eight years of stage painting in an army theater troupe, he entered the film world in 1985 as an art designer at the Beijing Television Art Center, and also worked on scripts with writers including Zheng Xiaolong and Wang Shuo. In Korea, they add, he is known for The Banquet (2003) and Aftershock (2010); more recent titles they list are Mr. Six (2015), a 2015 film they list as The Bad Die, and I Am Not Madame Bovary (2016).
How much of the story and its moment do they keep?
The film, they write, was made in the 1990s, a period when many Chinese people dreamed of emigrating to the United States and elsewhere in search of a better life. They also note a 1991 television series about the lives of Chinese immigrants in America, Beijingers in New York. Of the plot itself they keep only a short stretch: two protagonists who meet again after a long time, glad to tell each other what has happened, keep getting drawn into strange incidents wherever they go, and the difficulty of a foreign country comes through whole. The notes stop before a later table of terms.
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