Getting educated by Chinese film classics

Six rare Chinese films will be shown on the big screen this week, some for the first time in years, as the Celluloid China Film Festival gets underway at the Broadway Cinematheque MOMA theater.

The event will be showcasing films from over the past 30 years while offering Chinese film buffs the chance to interact with some of the country's most prolific directors.

The six-film series, hand-selected by Simon Fowler, author of the book 101 Essential Chinese Movies, will highlight some of Beijing Film Academy's best pupils over the last 60 years.

"(Celluloid China) started with me coming up with a wish-list of films from directors I would have loved to see in the cinema but never had a chance to," said Fowler.

The Beijing Film Academy, which is China's only school to offer a degree in cinematography according to their website, recently celebrated its 60th anniversary. Several of the school's graduates have played a crucial role in the development of the Chinese film industry.

"We knew October would be a big month for films, so we wanted to give credit to the Beijing Film Academy without getting too directly involved in their celebrations," he said.

The event has so far drawn sell-out crowds, with expats and Chinese alike eager to feast their eyes on hard-to-find Chinese cinematic classics on the big screen.

"The usual DVD stores where you get your movies from don't sell Chinese contemporary movies like these," said Hannah Oussedik, marketing and events director at Time Out Beijing, a sponsor of the event. "There is the whole thrill of going to the cinema and watching the films on the big screen."

The festival kicked off on Oct 23 with the showing of the rare 1990 Chinese film Black Snow, which tells the story of an ex-convict, played by Chinese actor Jiang Wen, as he tries to fly straight in society while facing pressure from old criminal contacts.

Beijing Film Academy alumni Xie Fei, who was at the showing offering commentary, directed the film. Black Snow will be shown again on Oct 30 at 4 pm.

"Directors like Xie Fei came from a school that was very strict in how things are done," Fowler said.

"When they first started out, they just wanted to do something completely different, something that was the opposite of Hollywood."

He said though the curriculum has since changed, the legacy from 1980s Chinese movies has had a lasting influence on how things are done today.

"Before the 1980s, Chinese films were mostly introspective," he said. "Then in the 1980s you had a huge explosion of films that were still somewhat introspective, but had massive global appeal."

French participant Even Guichaoua, who attended both the opening ceremony and the showing of Crazy Stone on Monday evening, said watching Chinese classics has allowed him to compare what movies are like now with those of 10 to 20 years ago.

"Chinese films are now being more influenced by Western styles," he said. "But for me, the older movies are more interesting because you can see parts of China's history."

The Celluloid China Film Festival may be celebrating the roots of Chinese film, but China's overall movie industry has been setting records with a staggering 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) in ticket sales reported so far in 2010, up 1.7 billion yuan from 2009 figures.

Thankfully, tickets for the event only cost 40 yuan for regular seats, 30 yuan for students and seniors and 25 yuan for BC MOMA members.

China Daily

(China Daily 10/27/2010)