It's time for China's film industry to get 'reel'

So the unprecedented turnout across the nation's cinemas turned out to be good news for film exhibitors, like those movie chains, but terrible news for most filmmakers.

Now it's time to play the blame game.

I must say the public is more mature about the state of affairs this time. Few have pointed their fingers and called it a “foreign invasion.” Also, government intervention was limited to pulling Avatar from 2-D screens. Had it pulled the runaway hit from all screening venues, it could have triggered a major backlash.

Some people endured a five-hour ride to get to the nearest 3-D theater with 3-D or IMAX facility, and once there, put up with an eight-hour wait in shivering cold. These people must not be crossed. The only person who did not seem to understand this was the director of “Confucius,” who tried to talk up her own movie at the expense of “Avatar” and ended up accruing a mountain of ill will.

A little over a decade ago, Feng Xiaogang pioneered the “holiday movie season,” or at least borrowed the idea from Hong Kong. Now, the pie is expanding and every filmmaker wants a slice. Simple arithmetic should have warned them that the more players in the game, the less they'll get. As many as 50 movies were originally slated for the season, but about 20 dropped out — a wise move in hindsight.

There is a rationale for the rush. A string of holidays not only tend to sweep people into the right mood, but movie coupons that employers give out as small perks usually expire at the year-end. But what kind of movies are fit for the holiday season?

The North American market usually reserves art movies and family movies for Thanksgiving-to-Christmas. Here, moviegoers demand action! — action movies, that is. It was proved several years ago that art flicks by auteurs wouldn't sell to the holiday crowd. What sells? Big names. Stellar casts. Non-stop fighting. Even Confucius, who is known for his cerebral stamina, is portrayed as possessing Robin Hood-caliber archery skills and kungfu muscles.

Obviously, too many Chinese filmmakers have equated action-packed, art-deficient blockbusters with a hack job. Most of the flops — and even some of the hits — were designed as get-rich-quick schemes. “A Simple Noodle Story,” unspooled by Zhang Yimou, did not even try to merge comedy with suspense. Zhang let someone else direct the comedy parts, probably figuring that it was not his forte. A filmmaker of his undoubted stature is welcome to try comedy, but should not be so profit-oriented as to disregard everything else.

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