Living in a foreign country brings its challenges of course. One way to develop cultural understanding is by watching Chinese films. A look at the Time Out Guide of the 100 best mainland titles reveals a wide range from historical epic/martial arts fantasy/adventure/cartoon, to Hollywood glamour, and even gritty small town realism. What should you choose and how far is Chinese cinema influenced by western culture as opposed to internal change?
Chinese cinema started, as did the USAs, in the early 20th century. Not with Chaplinesque comedy, but with the rather more sedate and ear splitting Peking Opera. It entered its first so called ‘Golden Age” in the 30s with films such as “The Goddess”, “The Big Road” and “Spring Silkworms”. These featured ordinary people in situations involving class struggle and/or confronting the Japanese aggressors, in line with the Nationalist/Communist clashes of the time. This period ended with the much acclaimed (and remade in 2002) “Spring in a Small Town”, featuring a copycat Humphrey Bogart character complete with gabardine and trilby hat, plus a romantic love triangle reminiscent of Hollywood’s “Casablanca”. As Yu Dong, the boss of Bona Film Groups, one of today’s independent studios says, “Everything we learned, we learned from Hollywood.”
Post cultural revolution, Chinese cinema found a new voice and exported it westwards. The wonderful “Yellow Earth” (1984) provides a nuanced view of the scars of the past with the two main characters - a government song collector on fieldwork, and a young local girl - changing their political minds as the film progresses. Chinese cinema in the ‘90s then produced its first international star like a rabbit out of a hat - Gong Li (still featured on advertising boards all over Nanjing) in a range of award winning films popular in both China and in Western arthouse cinemas. These were “Farewell My Concubine”, “Raise the Red Lantern”, “Red Sorghum” and “The Story of Qui Ju” - historical epics incorporating the big Chinese themes of honour and warmongering. In complete contrast, director Jia Zhangke got down in the gutter with his “Hometown Trilogy” – Pickpocket, Platform and Unknown Pleasures, based around the monumental changes of the last 30 years; stories of small town China, disaffected youth and displaced lives going forward into a different world.
From slow cinema to the fast moving fantasy world of martial arts; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) changed everything. It provided an introduction to Chinese language cinema and especially wuxia (the genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in historic China) for many and increased the popularity of many earlier Chinese films. To date “Crouching Tiger” remains the most commercially successful foreign-language film in U.S. history. Director Ang Lee’s multinational production and international “Best Picture” winner was not however as much of a blockbuster in China because it was not wuxia enough. More recent Chinese films have not travelled well to the West as they are too often adaptations of Hollywood hits, such as “Finding Mr Right” which echoes Sleeping in Seattle.
In 2012 China overtook Japan to become the second largest film market after the USA, with box office returns of over 17 billion yuan, and is heading to become the worlds biggest in 5 years time. Films, whether watched online or on an IMAX screen have become central for young consumers and part of their courtship rituals. Online short ‘microfilms’ are gaining ground too. As of November 2015, 6 of the top 10 highest-grossing films in China were domestic productions (Entgroup's China Boxoffice; CBO), marking a stratospheric increase in receipts. These successes certainly reflect Western influences in their production, tone and titles. Lost in Thailand/Hong Kong mine the screwball comedy theme. Fantasy Adventures such as Monster Hunt rework the “acceptance of difference” themes of Shrek plus the style of Jurassic Park. With modifications, “Hunger Games” has (amazingly) been screened in Chinese cinemas despite its dark themes. To gain a foothold in China, Hollywood studios are helping finance films or co-producing them. This year’s’ “Gone with the Bullets”, set in 1920s Shanghai, had a budget of around $50million with a Broadway choreographer and American dancers. Backed by Sony, Hollywood’s DreamWorks created an offshoot company, Oriental DreamWorks, to produce it in a joint venture with Shanghai Media Group. Xi Jinping attended the ceremony in Los Angeles. So is it Back to the Future for the Chinese Film Industry?
First published in the Nanjinger Magazine December 2015
Chinese cinema started, as did the USAs, in the early 20th century. Not with Chaplinesque comedy, but with the rather more sedate and ear splitting Peking Opera. It entered its first so called ‘Golden Age” in the 30s with films such as “The Goddess”, “The Big Road” and “Spring Silkworms”. These featured ordinary people in situations involving class struggle and/or confronting the Japanese aggressors, in line with the Nationalist/Communist clashes of the time. This period ended with the much acclaimed (and remade in 2002) “Spring in a Small Town”, featuring a copycat Humphrey Bogart character complete with gabardine and trilby hat, plus a romantic love triangle reminiscent of Hollywood’s “Casablanca”. As Yu Dong, the boss of Bona Film Groups, one of today’s independent studios says, “Everything we learned, we learned from Hollywood.”
Post cultural revolution, Chinese cinema found a new voice and exported it westwards. The wonderful “Yellow Earth” (1984) provides a nuanced view of the scars of the past with the two main characters - a government song collector on fieldwork, and a young local girl - changing their political minds as the film progresses. Chinese cinema in the ‘90s then produced its first international star like a rabbit out of a hat - Gong Li (still featured on advertising boards all over Nanjing) in a range of award winning films popular in both China and in Western arthouse cinemas. These were “Farewell My Concubine”, “Raise the Red Lantern”, “Red Sorghum” and “The Story of Qui Ju” - historical epics incorporating the big Chinese themes of honour and warmongering. In complete contrast, director Jia Zhangke got down in the gutter with his “Hometown Trilogy” – Pickpocket, Platform and Unknown Pleasures, based around the monumental changes of the last 30 years; stories of small town China, disaffected youth and displaced lives going forward into a different world.
From slow cinema to the fast moving fantasy world of martial arts; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) changed everything. It provided an introduction to Chinese language cinema and especially wuxia (the genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in historic China) for many and increased the popularity of many earlier Chinese films. To date “Crouching Tiger” remains the most commercially successful foreign-language film in U.S. history. Director Ang Lee’s multinational production and international “Best Picture” winner was not however as much of a blockbuster in China because it was not wuxia enough. More recent Chinese films have not travelled well to the West as they are too often adaptations of Hollywood hits, such as “Finding Mr Right” which echoes Sleeping in Seattle.
In 2012 China overtook Japan to become the second largest film market after the USA, with box office returns of over 17 billion yuan, and is heading to become the worlds biggest in 5 years time. Films, whether watched online or on an IMAX screen have become central for young consumers and part of their courtship rituals. Online short ‘microfilms’ are gaining ground too. As of November 2015, 6 of the top 10 highest-grossing films in China were domestic productions (Entgroup's China Boxoffice; CBO), marking a stratospheric increase in receipts. These successes certainly reflect Western influences in their production, tone and titles. Lost in Thailand/Hong Kong mine the screwball comedy theme. Fantasy Adventures such as Monster Hunt rework the “acceptance of difference” themes of Shrek plus the style of Jurassic Park. With modifications, “Hunger Games” has (amazingly) been screened in Chinese cinemas despite its dark themes. To gain a foothold in China, Hollywood studios are helping finance films or co-producing them. This year’s’ “Gone with the Bullets”, set in 1920s Shanghai, had a budget of around $50million with a Broadway choreographer and American dancers. Backed by Sony, Hollywood’s DreamWorks created an offshoot company, Oriental DreamWorks, to produce it in a joint venture with Shanghai Media Group. Xi Jinping attended the ceremony in Los Angeles. So is it Back to the Future for the Chinese Film Industry?
First published in the Nanjinger Magazine December 2015