Debate: Chinese film

Peng Kan

Balance between culture and story

Beginning of the Great Revival is creating waves at the box office as the nation celebrates the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Perhaps the timing of the historical films release - just before the 90th anniversary of the CPC - has something to do with its success. A success it is, nevertheless.

A rumor doing the rounds suggests the film's producers "monopolized" the distribution channel using administrative power to ensure that the movie was a commercial success, which, if true, is a step backward after the marketization reform of the Chinese film industry.

Irrespective of the reasons for its success, there is no denying that Beginning of the Great Revival is a breakthrough in filmmaking. For example, directors Han Sanping and Huang Jianxin invited many young stars instead of typecast actors to play the roles of historical characters. That has helped present a more vivid image of the characters in their youth.

The directors have made some innovations in some of the story. For example, the film is perhaps the first to show a young Mao Zedong encountering his first love. The film tries to look into the minds of some notorious historical characters, too, instead of presenting them simply as villains.

Despite all this, it's very difficult for other filmmakers to copy the success formula of Beginning of the Great Revival. Simply put, too many factors have combined to make it success. Instead, a film like Kung Fu Panda 2 can teach Chinese filmmakers a lot.

Of late, Hollywood filmmakers have used many Chinese elements or Chinese actors, actress and other performers in their productions. But their films usually portray a stiff Chinese image, and use Chinese symbols and/or characters as ornaments.

The Kung Fu Panda films are an exception, for they blend Chinese elements with Hollywood narrative mores. They use pure Chinese visual and audio elements. Except for the language of the characters, Chinese traditional elements are omnipresent in the films. The Chinese elements include ink and wash paintings as the background landscape, ordinary Chinese community life in Peace Valley and Phoenix City, acrobatic fighting used in Chinese opera or dance, and even the melodious sound of the erhu in the background music.

Moreover, the movie can be regarded as world-class publicity for the pandas' hometown of Chengdu in Sichuan province. Thanks to the efforts of the local government, the filmmakers have integrated some local characteristics into the movie.

In a bid to support the reconstruction of Sichuan province after the May 2008 earthquake, the movie even uses the Qingcheng Mountain, and Sichuan-style food such as noodles and hotpot as part of the setting.

But many Chinese filmmakers see the Kung Fu Panda films as a threat. With the audience considering some foreign films native enough to be international propaganda vehicles for Chinese culture or a Chinese city, the advantage Chinese films used to enjoy seems to be disappearing gradually.

Kung Fu Panda 2 has already grossed more than $100 million at the box office, while Kung Fu Panda 1, released in 2008, has earned about $630 million worldwide, more than all the Chinese films could make that year. And Kung Fu Panda 3 is already in production, suggesting that panda and kungfu have become big money-spinners in Hollywood.

This seems ironic to many Chinese filmmakers. Some critics have even urged the Chinese people to boycott the Kung Fu Panda films, which is ridiculous in this era of globalization and will in no way help China's film industry in the long run.

For the last six years in a row, the share of domestic movies at the box office in China has been more than that of imported films.

But the success has been achieved with the help of the quota system, which allows only 20 new foreign films and some outdated movies to be screened in China in a year.

It is precisely because of the quota system that the United States moved the World Trade Organization (WTO) against China in 2007. In 2009, the WTO condemned China's policy and asked it to allow more foreign films to be screened in the country. This means that in the near future, more Hollywood movies could enter the Chinese market posing a greater challenge to domestic productions.

The question: Can Chinese movies take on the challenge of Hollywood productions at home, create a niche in overseas markets, triumph at international competitions and promote China's soft power.

Beginning of the Great Revival is not a good example in this case, because not all Chinese movies can attract as much capital and resources. And even if some of them manage to do so, the end product may not be as good as the Kung Fu Panda films in attract- ing viewers across the globe.

Traditional Chinese elements remain a competitive advantage, though. Some Chinese filmmakers used to make the best use of these elements to come up with fascinating and trend-setting films like Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Period films complete with swordsman and kungfu can attract viewers across the world but that novelty factor won't last long.

Taking a leaf out of the Kung Fu Panda films, Chinese filmmakers have to strike a balance between traditional culture and narrative methods to integrate history into commerce.

The author is a research scholar with the Film Academy of Hong Kong Baptist University.

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