At the end of 2002, Hero, the lavish historical
production shot by famed director Zhang Yimou, made people realize
the great potential of the domestic film market during the holiday
season. It created the biggest buzz since holiday season films were
first popularly introduced, attracting numerous young lovers, film
critics, as well as Zhang's fans to see the film. With praise and
criticism sticking to their own viewpoints, a heated argument on
Hero began in the print media and on the Internet. Was it
just expensive, slick garbage? Was it clearly more than that? As a
result, the popular film continued to attract bigger audiences.
According to some, and although a little cynical, developing an
opinion of the film was one of the pleasures of seeing it.
However, not all films during the holiday season were quite as
popular as Hero. Several films were attended with generous
appreciation but generally the season was a sobering experience for
filmmakers that depend on seasonal box office successes. There was
a kind of recovery with Cell Phone (Feng Xiaogang), that
lead popularity in the new year of 2004, as well as films like
Jade Goddess of Mercy (Hong Kong-based director Ann Hui
On-Wah), and Sound of Colors (co-produced by Wong Kar Wai
and director Ma Weihao) creating the lift the season needed.
Celebration films vs. holiday season
In 2000, film producers increasingly realized the likely success
of holiday season films and soon began to promote it as a special
time for cinema. It was taken for granted that a formulaic seasonal
film could be made easily and be certain of box office success.
Screen producers and writers racked their brains for a term for the
seasonal "feel good", often comedy, film. Eventually they called
them the sentimental "New Year celebration films" in Chinese. The
audience was thus given a somewhat misleading impression of what
this referred to and became more confused about what "celebration
films" actually offered.
The tradition of holiday season films find precedence in the
Hollywood holiday film season, where blockbuster love story
classics and Christian morality tales from the 1930s and 1940s are
shown on TV and the cinemas market "feel good" films that
incorporate Christmas or New Year into their storyline. Hollywood
films commonly associated with this season are black and white and
period classics such as, White Christmas (1954), It's
A Wonderful Life (1947), and Holiday Inn (1942).
In China, which movies deserve the title of holiday season
films? Generally, the holiday season starts mid-December and ends
with the close of the Chinese lunar New Year, or Spring Festival,
in late January, or early February, depending on the year.
Whether or not films shown in China in the period should have a
particular theme or flavor, opposing thoughts do exist on the
subject.
Feng Xiaogang -- all films are "holiday season"
films
The concept of holiday season films gained popularity in China
thanks to director Feng Xiaogang's The Dream Factory
(1997). Feng says that "any movie can be called a holiday season
film as long as it is shown during the holiday season."
According to Feng, the term for holiday season film in Chinese,
"New Year celebration film" was created by the media and film
producers in order to hype and promote the needs of the Chinese
film industry at that time, even though the average Chinese person
was generally unconcerned about film genre. As for his own films,
Feng says that none of his films are comedies except for Sorry
Baby (1999). Instead of comedy, he takes Funeral of the
Famous Star (2001) as bitter irony. And Cell Phone
(2003) that is currently hitting cinemas across the country does
not fall easily into a genre, Feng says, as it includes both
laughter and tears. He is however confident the film is capable of
touching the audience.
Zhang Yimou -- comedies that make people
happy
Director Zhang Yimou holds a different view. He believes that
holiday season films have a particular meaning. An atmosphere of
rejoicing and festivity should be seen in films featured in the
holiday season.
Zhang's Happy Times (2000) was once regarded as a
holiday season film, but he says that it was actually just a film
shown at the end of the year, instead of a deliberately marketed
"celebration" movie. Apart from a number of films shown at the
close of the year, he added, genuine holiday season films are quite
rare.
Expert opinion
Professor Zhou Qingshan, from School of Journalism and
Communication of Peking University thinks that people usually feel
pressure at the year's end and comedies bring a relaxing and happy
feeling to welcome in and enter the New Year.
Professor Yin Hong from Tsinghua University thinks otherwise.
Standing by director Feng Xiaogang, he believes holiday season
celebration films have nothing to do with the genre of a film, but
films shown over a particular period, namely the Chinese New Year
holiday season. Accordingly, there is no limitation for whether the
films should be comedies or tragedies.
Professor Yin says that while watching films, people often
pursue a festive feeling. So as is common practice, many films give
priority to comedy. Except for filmic pathos, most films conclude
with a bright ending so filmgoers can feel content at its end.
Yin Hong noted that holiday season films have recently
encountered setbacks. Like the whole film market in China, it is
still in a disorderly state with many poor quality films on
show.
In his opinion, currently filmmakers in China are in dire need
of film industry organization and support. In many other countries,
film production companies make thorough investigation of the actual
conditions for showing a film including audience rating figures,
realistic showing times, seasonal popularity surveys etc. They
select stories and actors in line with seasonal marketing and can
usually expect good results in return. In China, this aspect of the
industry is still in its infancy, other than the good planning
technique of the likes of Feng Xiaogang, who masters the holiday
season box office.
(China.org.cn by Li Xiao and Daragh Moller, January 18,
2004)