Tsui Hark revives China's red classic

Hong Kong filmmaker Tsui Hark (C), producer Huang Jianxin (R) and actor Yang Yiwei (L) shared insight into the making of the new 3D action film "The Taking of Tiger Mountain" at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Dec 19, 2014. [Photo/China.org.cn]

Tsui and his whole crew, more than 1,100-strong at its largest, experienced great hardship during the making of the movie. They even went to north China to film real snow scenes, staying there for two and half months in freezing temperatures of negative 30 degrees Celsius.

"One day, big snow hit, the electrical power line broke, the hotel we stayed in lost heating, water -- our cell phones even lost signals. We were just trapped there," Huang Jianxin, the movie's producer, added.

Huang said he was initially worried about the movie's box office performance but after seeing the final cut, he didn't worry at all. He also offered statistics showing that Chinese people are very familiar with the story: "It was reported that when the novel was adapted into the model Peking opera in the 1960s, the opera was viewed by 370 million people. If you multiply the 30 yuan ticket price by that number of viewers, can you get a hint of the box office results now!"

But Tsui and Huang were not just trying to make a good film and revive a red classic. They aimed for more: making a typical genre movie specifically for the Chinese market. They said they discussed the present and future of Chinese movies, and their conclusion is that the movies which are currently hottest in China are those that can provoke social discussion, debate and interest.

"It is a hidden worry for the Chinese movie industry in the future," Huang said, indicating that the Chinese market is very different from the United States, though Chinese box office revenues may surpass US numbers in eight or ten years.

"There are no genre movies, which are films made purely in a particular movie genre. So we made 'The Taking of Tiger Mountain' to serve as a perfect typical example."

"The Taking of Tiger Mountain" will hit Chinese cinemas on Dec 24, 2014.

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