The Chinese film industry keeps scaling new heights. The statistics predict that in around ten years the PRC’s market will overtake that of the USA. Recent film production has been driven by overall economic development that, despite the world recession, continues to register extraordinary results. The quantity, quality and variety of films is rising. China is proving itself to be a superpower in the film sector too .
2009 should have been a difficult year. There was the global economic crisis to contend with, of course. But there was also a series of politically delicate anniversaries like the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square tragedy and the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the People’s Republic. Observers speculated that the industry would put its creative juices on hold and wait for less sensitive times. But no - Chinese filmmakers managed to transform a problem into an opportunity. The commercial propaganda colossi they produced appealed to everybody. The year’s statistics are unequivocal. 456 films were produced - that’s 56 more than in 2008. Films took 6 billion RMB - 44% more than the previous year - of which 56% is down to nationally-produced films. 90 new multiplexes opened during the year, adding a total of 386 screens. A dozen or so films broke through the 100 million RMB barrier at the box office, a figure that was previously reached only in exceptional cases .
It is true that the overall shape of the Chinese market remains inferior to that of more mature markets such as the USA. But the rate of development leaves no doubt where the future of the world film industry lies. This fact has been understood by all, from the film industries of the US to Hong Kong, which has now moved, en masse, to producing in continental China. Directors and producers like John Woo, Peter Chan, Tsui Hark, Gordon Chan and many others are working almost exclusively in the country. At the start of the year, Peter Chan and the director Huang Jianxin founded Bona Entertainment together, the Cinema Popular production company which has plans to make 15 films over the next three years with a total budget of US$73 million. Their first production, Bodyguard And Assassins (Shi Yue Wei Cheng) by Teddy Chen cost US$23 million and earned more than US$40 million. Well aware of China’s market potential and, at the same time, the difficulty of placing Chinese films on the international markets, Chan has started production on a series of low-budget films. The money for these can be recouped on the home market.
Even the monetary authorities of the country have realised the potential of the media industry, and have begun to encourage cultural and show business companies to debut on the stock markets. The plan is to create, thanks to capital coming from the stock markets, mega groups that are compatible with the image and growing power of China on the world stage. The Huayi Brothers, a leading private film company which counts stars such as director Feng Xiaogang amongst its shareholders, debuted to great success in October on the ChiNext stock market in Shenzhen, a new market similar in style to the Nasdaq. It is made up of young, independent companies operating in innovative and technologically advanced sectors. In the meantime, the China Film Group is readying itself for the Shanghai stock exchange this year, and the Shanghai Media Group is setting up a private investment fund to collect capital for very ambitious projects. And of course, there’s also Polybona, one of the main film distributors, which will be launched on the US stock markets in 2011. This move will also help bring together foreign capital to a sector which has so far been difficult to penetrate. Another international development saw the USA appeal to the World Trade Organization to protest about the restrictions on the importation of music, film and publications that China imposes. This is despite the agreements signed when China joined the WTO. Another signal of how important the USA sees the Chinese market is the recent announcement that a star of Kevin Spacey’s calibre is taking part in an entirely Chinese production called Inseparable. Directed by Dayang Eng, it will be shot wholly in China .
Even the State Council seems to have finally realised the importance of the film industry as part of the overall picture of economic development in the country. It recently published a strategic ten-point plan which ranged from various financing possibilities to regulations for film distribution on the new media, to copyright protection, to the development of the network of cinemas. Central government still seems to want to play its part, indicating the direction of the complex development of the Chinese film industry. And even if, for the moment, the censorship system is unlikely to change, breaking the distribution monopoly will help the process of liberalising the sector in general and, therefore, censorship itself . The contribution of the Shanghai International Film Festival is also noteworthy. It is the only Category A festival in China, and it is progressively becoming a genuine platform to launch independent movies. It would have previously been unthinkable to have the film The Search by the director Wanma Caidan, a low-budget, auteur picture, competing in this festival. But it was discovered at the 2009 SIFF and bagged the Jury Grand Prix, further proof that the sector is being liberalised.
Indeed, these are golden years for Chinese cinema, a time in which anything is possible and the spirit of initiative is rewarded. It is no coincidence that a star as famous as Zhang Ziyi decided to take to the producer’s chair for the rom-com, Sophie’s Revenge (Fei Chang Wan Mei). She will also star. The film, elegant and entertaining, met with great approval, taking over 100 million at the box-office. Zhang Yimou directed a black comedy which was a remake of a Western film. A Simple Noodle Story (San Qiang Pai An Jing Qi) is a demented comedy version of the film Blood Simple by the Coen brothers .
Released during New Year, it was the second highest locally-produced earner (232 million RMB). First place went to The Founding Of A Republic, which took 420 million RMB to become the highest earning film in the history of Chinese cinema.
As for comedy, a genre which lends itself to representing China during these years of frenetic development, one of the most entertaining releases of 2009 was One Night In The Supermarket (Ye Dian). This was the debut film of Yang Qing, and starred Xu Zheng who, along with Ge You and Huang Bo, has become one of the most popular actors of recent years. The story revolves around an anti-hero who finds himself in over his head. He resolves the issues despite his many failings .
Meanwhile, the low-budget urban comedy genre is showing signs of waning. Ning Hao, who launched the genre, has abandoned it to direct No Man’s Land (Wu Ren Qu). This is a road-movie which, while preserving the distinctive breakneck rhythm of the director, is dramatic with scenes of violence. It has yet to be approved by the censor.
PROPAGANDA FILMS
The film scene in 2009 was dominated by historical films. Films whose subject matters have no relation to contemporary China were produced and distributed with unprecedented force. Box office results were superlative and equalled those of popular escapist comedies. With magniloquent titles such as The Founding Of A Republic (Jian Guo Da Ye), these films garnered almost unanimous acclaim, marrying political propaganda with popular film. Huge changes in China have seen the country distance itself from ideological fervour. But this has not affected the fascination of old-style cinema which reflects an idealistic image of the country rather than a realistic one. Propaganda films, also known as Main Theme films, played an important role in the history of cinema in Communist China. With no solid narrative structure and packed with stereotypes, Main Theme films have gradually fallen from favour with today’s audiences who are less political and more sophisticated. But a sense of national pride has developed alongside China’s economic development. This has led to films that reflect what Chinese society has achieved with a modern sensibility. It’s the rebel directors of yore who have found the right formula to cross the new “national identity” of contemporary China with the artistic standards the public now demands. Huang Jianxin’s intelligent directing style was the fundamental reason for the extraordinary success of the commemorative film par excellence, The Founding Of A Republic. In the 1980s, Fifth Generation directors such as Huang and Zhang Yimou broke ranks with traditional cinema, provoking tough criticism from the country’s censors. These directors have changed sides but not roles: once again they are at work to modernise the country’s cinema, but this time in collaboration with “the system”, which has practically given them carte blanche to win over the cinema-going public with films that are politically correct, but stylistically avant-garde. The China which emerges from these films is a country which is gradually combating its fear to ask about its past and to recognise its errors. It’s one that shows respect for its adversaries and looks to the future with optimism, fully aware of the increasingly important role it plays on the world stage .
Generally speaking, historical films were the dominant feature of 2009. The most politically controversial was City Of Life And Death (Nanjing! Nanjing!) by Lu Chuan, a director who is still young but who was entrusted with the task of bringing the Nanking massacre the big screen. One of the most dramatic episodes in contemporary China’s history, which retains a strong hold on the collective Chinese conscience, Lu Chuan’s representation has been made in a way that renders it acceptable to today’s public. The film, which ran into trouble with the censors, was finally distributed, meeting with massive success with public and critics alike .
The Message (Feng Sheng) by Chen Kuofu and Gao Qunshu, a thriller set during the war against Japan, and Qiu Xi by Sun Zhou, a thriller set during the civil war, were both outstanding. The history/fantasy picture Wheat (Mai Tian) by He Ping, used unexpected verve to tell a dramatic story of two deserters from the Qin army. Confucius (Kong Zi), the biopic of the Chinese philosopher directed by Hu Mei, was distributed with the most copies (2,500) in the history of Chinese cinema on a wave of nationalistic sentiment. But it was a victim of bad marketing. It was released almost simultaneously with Avatar, which in China, like the rest of the world, smashed all previous box-office records. The Film Bureau decided to recall all the 2D copies of the US movie, leaving only the 3D versions - of which there were far fewer copies - to be screened. The Film Bureau’s decision provoked a great deal of controversy and alienated a huge chunk of potential viewers who boycotted Confucius, despite the charismatic presence of Chow Yun-fat in the title role. It was one of the few cases in which the public did not come down on the side of protectionism, and instead launched a clear signal of intolerance towards the State’s interference in the cultural life of the country. This is in line with the growing awareness of individual rights that is accompanying the economic growth in China .
2009 was one of the most profitable years for Chinese cinema. The only worry is that the frenzy of unprecedented growth in the film industry will wear-out its creativity
Maria Barbieri