Films Vie for Holiday Numbers

China's New Year season, running from around late December to late January or early February, has always been a golden time for domestic film releases.

This year, a collection of so-called Happy-New-Year films are vying for prestigious top holiday box office slot.

Among them are "Happy Times (Xingfu Shiguang)" directed by Zhang Yimou, "Stories of Zhang Damin (Meili de Jia)" by An Zhanjun, "Amateur Soccer Players (Fangshou Fanji)" by Liang Tian, "Storm in a Teacup (Dajing Xiaoguai)" by Ding Sheng and "Family Tie (Kaoshi Yijiaqin)" by Liu Xiaoguang.

The concept of the "Happy-New-Year film" arose in the early 1990s, with the release of Hong Kong film star Jackie Chan's "Rumbling in the Bronx," which captivated audiences and scored well at the box office around the New Year holidays.

Beijing-based director Feng Xiaogang has, in the past few years, produced a number of New Year season smash hits.

In 1997, Feng's first Happy-New-Year movie, the first of its kind on Chinese mainland, "Dreams Come True (Jiafang Yifang)," was warmly received across the country.

The film earned at least 36 million yuan (US$4.34 million) in box-office revenues nationwide, a comparatively huge box office gain in the still fledgling Chinese commercial film marketplace.

Feng's success encouraged a string of investors to test the film waters. The next year, a dozen Happy-New-Year films emerged.

Despite the increase in numbers, however, most were flops. The majority of end-of-December releases didn't even make enough money to pay for the cost of their own production.

Only Feng's second December film, "Be There or Be Square (Bujian Busan)" scored with crowds, racking up 40 million yuan (US$4.82 million) in receipts across the country.

And Feng's third December film "Sorry, Baby (Meiwan Meiliao)" grossed 20 million yuan (US$2.4 million) at box offices nationwide after its release on Christmas Eve in 1999.

In Beijing alone, "Sorry, Baby" raked in 8.5 million yuan (US$1.024 million) to overtake Hollywood blockbuster "Enemy of the State," which grossed 4.3 million yuan (US$518,000).

The secret to Feng Xiaogang's success lies in his ability to manipulate humorous lines and comic scenes, which are familiar mostly to northern Chinese audiences.

Lines from his festive films have become a part of fashionable discourse among young people in cities such as Beijing and Tianjin.

Unfortunately for moviegoers, Feng has decided to take this New Year off in order to concentrate on an "art house movie" - "Burial of A Tycoon."

The box office void will be filled by films from Zhang Yimou and others, who are hoping to cash in on Feng's absence.

Zhang's "Happy Times," starring prestigious comedian Zhao Benshan, popular actor Li Xuejian and first-time film actress Dong Jie from the Guangzhou PLA Area Command Soldiers' Song and Dance Ensemble, was initially expected to take the top spot in theaters but has so far received mixed responses from Christmas Eve audiences in Guangzhou, Dalian and Beijing.

Some who caught the film during its first-run said it was "funny in a unique way" while some others criticized it as an unexpectedly shallow showing from one of China's best directors.

Still others said that the film is further evidence that Zhang is more at home in rural, rather than urban, landscapes. Films like "Judou," "Qiuju" and "Red Sorghum" - all set in the countryside - have won worldwide popular and critical acclaim, while Zhang's city pics have received only luke warm responses.

Comedian Liang Tian's directorial debut, "Amateur Soccer Players" is an attempt to weave together two equally popular, but also equally fickle, subjects - love and soccer.

To increase his film's box office draw, Liang cast well-known veteran Hong Kong comic actor Zeng Zhiwei and popular TV game show hostess Li Xiang to play the leading roles.

"Storm in a Teacup" by Ding Sheng, a director virtually unknown to Chinese moviegoers, has been presented as a film rich with alluring tropical scenes and interesting animals, twisting storylines and exotic customs.The film was shot mainly in Malaysia over the summer.

In an attempt to bridge the north-south cultural and audience divide, "Family Tie" director Liu Xiaoguang decided to use actors from both Beijing and Shanghai. Song Dandan and Fu Biao, popular in China's north, have teamed up with southern favourites Cao Lei and Xiao Bo to provide audiences with some regional variety.

Meanwhile, An Zhanjun presents a sequel to the well-received TV serial "The Happy Life of Garrulous Zhang Damin" in "Stories of Zhang Damin." The film stars Liang Guanhua and Zhu Yuanyuan.

With backing from the Hairun Advertising International and Beijing Forbidden City Film Co, Ltd, "Stories of Zhang Damin" is based on the script by Liu Heng, who also wrote "Judou" and "Qiuju," in addition to Sun Zhou's "Breaking the Silence," which stared Gong Li as the mother of a deaf child.

Of the few who have seen the film already, some have said it is touching but does not go as far as the TV serial in its explorations of characters' inner worlds. Others claimed the film was primarily a sad story underneath its cozy and up-beat surface.

Taken together, the five Happy-New-year pictures have reportedly raked in more than 3 million yuan in box office earnings in Beijing so far.

At the moment, there seems to be no clear front runner in the New Year competition. With Feng opting out, the race may go down to the wire.

(www.chinadaily.com.cn)






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