Commentary

China Watch

Forum Digests

Columnists

Letters

Money can't buy brilliance

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-03 07:42

Big bucks neither guarantee a film the love of audiences nor prestigious gongs at film festivals, says an article on the website www.qianlong.com. Following is an excerpt:

Paper Boat, a short movie on children left behind in the western part of Hunan province, produced by Li Juncheng, a student from Changsha University of Science and Technology, won an excellence award at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

It's amazing for a film which cost only 1,765 yuan to win an international award.

It actually bucks the trend of producing large-investment blockbusters in China.

From Hero (2002) to Red Cliff (2008), domestically produced blockbusters have become a hallmark of China's film industry.

They boast big production budgets, professional promotion, and all eye fat box office earnings.

Star-studded casts, high tech special effects and thrilling stunts are a mandatory part of these blockbusters.

Commercialization has overshadowed artistic pursuit and formality has dwarfed content.

As a result, audiences have gradually grown bored of these blockbusters.

What audiences care most about is not large investment, but the human factor behind a film, such as the quality of a script, the talents of a director and the choice of actors.

The human factor finally decides whether a film becomes a masterpiece and earns the respect of audiences.

As renowned writer Zhang Xianliang said, unlike manufacturing industries, the cultural industry is different in the sense that large investment doesn't guarantee high quality and yields.

However, it's quite possible for some independent films with small investment to be excellent.

(China Daily 04/03/2009 page8)