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Human nature key to good film

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-05 07:49

It's time for Chinese films to do their best to depict human nature, says an article on the website www.gmw.cn. Following is an excerpt:

Not long ago, Forever Enthralled, the film directed by Chen Kaige, failed to win the Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival. Featuring a mediocre love story, and questionable artistic performance, this was not hard to understand.

The debacles of Chinese films at international film festivals, from Hero directed by Zhang Yimou years ago to this latest flop, have demonstrated their distinct lack of reflection on human nature, which turns judges off.

In recent years, Chinese blockbusters have mainly depended upon gimmicks like commercial hype and star-studded casts to attract audiences. Well-worn themes like rural China, traditional customs and Kungfu legends seem to be shortcuts to the hearts of foreign film critics and judges, but unfortunately, none of them succeeded.

It has left Chinese people with a clear understanding that homemake films are still not as good as first-rate ones made abroad, especially in the artistic demonstration of human nature.

(China Daily 03/05/2009 page9)