Reeling Back the Years: Development of a Film Industry in China

Around Gongti Lu in downtown Beijing July 10, crowds of people struggle through the downpour and the traffic chaos of a Saturday evening, and make their way to the Worker's Stadium. Searchlights move across a darkening sky. A huge digital screen plays music videos to an excited but patient crowd that moves slowly inside the grounds of the arena. And the occasion for all this fuss? The House of Flying Daggers.

On the eve of China's film industry centenary celebrations (1905-2005) and a fitting moment for its film industry to take stock of its achievements, one of the biggest films ever produced in China premiered in Beijing.

Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers (Shi Mian Mai Fu) starring Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhang Ziyi is a wuxia pian or swordplay film that is set to delight audiences with elaborate martial arts displays and a romantic storyline and break all box-office records, wowing audiences around the globe.

It is the culmination of a remarkable story that began in Europe over one hundred years ago.

Film history begins in Paris 1895, with the first films seen by the paying public exhibited by the Lumière Brothers at the Grand Café on December 28. They were Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory and The Train Pulls into the Station and the showing is considered the official birth of cinema.

From this humble beginning, the enthusiasm for cinematography or "filmmaking" quickly spread around the globe. One year later and far from Paris, a foreign film was shown on August 11 at Youyicun Xiyuan, Shanghai, marking the introduction of film in China.

In 1897, films made by the American inventor Thomas A. Edison were shown in Shanghai. In 1898, Edison sent photographers to China and made the documentary China Honor Guard. In January 1902, "movies" were introduced to Beijing and in 1903, an overseas Chinese student named Lin Zhusan returned to China laden with film and players and the curtain went up on the first chapter of movie showing by the Chinese.

China's first attempt at filmmaking began in earnest with Conquering Jun Mountain (Ding Jun Shan) in 1905, but the Chinese "film industry" didn't begin until 1913 when Zheng Zhengqiu and Zhang Shichuan shot the first definitive Chinese movie The Difficult Couple (1913). The 1920s was a time of learning for the fledgling industry, and film technicians from the United States trained Chinese technicians in Shanghai, an early film-making centre. American influence continued to be felt there for the next two decades. China's first "talkie" -- a film with sound -- was The Songstress, Red Peony (1931), which was played by the then "film queen" Butterfly Hu (Hu Die) and produced by the Star Studio, Shanghai's largest film producer.

Before the 1930s, films made in China lacked creativity and had little or no impact on its history. Since then the dominant subjects of China's films echo the nation's social and political history, dealing first with the people's revolutionary existence before 1949 including the War of Resistance against Japan (1937-1945) and the civil war, and on to the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Lately, economic development and challenges to the status quo after WTO entry dominate the screens.

But in those early days, between 1933 and 1935, a left-wing film-making movement that promoted resistance against imperialism and feudalism was introduced to Shanghai and flourished. Torrents (Kuang Liu, 1933), directed by Xia Yan and Cheng Bugao and produced by the Star Studio, was the first film of the genre. The movement produced many talented directors who made important and exciting contributions to early film such as Yuan Muzhi's Street Angel (Ma Lu Tian Shi, 1937) and Shen Xiling's Crossroad (Shi Zi Jie Tou, 1937). They brought the darker, seamier side of society to light and expressed the dreams held by many to rebel against imperialism and feudalism. A great variety of artistic images were born and a number of acclaimed actors and actresses emerged. Butterfly Hu, Zhao Dan, Zhou Xuan and Shu Xiuwen were among them.

In the 1940s, on the eve of China's liberation, filmmaking was in a chaotic state. Profiteers made "blue" films and horror movies of little credibility. Some wonderful films were still being made by conscientious filmmakers. With such classics as Spring River Flows Eastward (Yi Jiang Chun Shui Xiang Dong Liu, 1947)) by Cai Chusheng and Zheng Junli, Crow and Sparrow (Wu Ya Yu Mai Que, 1949) by Chen Baichen and Zheng Junli and Light of Million Hopes (1948) by Shen Fu Chinese filmmaking developed more than it had in the 1930s.

In the 43 years from 1905 to 1948, China changed from a place where only foreign-made films were screened to a place confident of making its own films and from using foreign funds to filming independently. Family and society were the subjects most in vogue before China's liberation and these films often based their stories on the ordinary city dwellers from lower social strata. They showed love affairs and marriages, discussed moral problems in detail and fictionalized the cut and thrust of domestic life. These films on social issues courageously exposed the most grim and pressing problems confronting Chinese society.

China's film industry was to experience some hardships and setbacks after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. There was a brilliant beginning with many fine movies showing on the screen. Most of these told stories about the War of Resistance against Japan and the Chinese Civil War, like Dong Cunrui (1955) by Guo Wei and The Red Detachment of Women (1961) by Xie Jin. While the movies made the roles seem fresh and lively and the plots new and interesting, there was a shortage of talent in the industry and many of the films lacked individual artistic character or photographic style. Artistic rules were usually neglected and in this respect, films made in the 1950s are thought inferior to those earlier films. In the 17 years between the establishment of the People's Republic of China and the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), a colossal 603 feature films and 8,342 reels of documentary and news were produced. Wide-screen film first appeared in 1960.

Filmmaking fell on "hard times" during the cultural revolution, and no film was shot in the period 1966-72. Films made in 1973-76 were strongly affected by revolutionary thinking and became propaganda tools of the Gang of Four, leaders of the politically dominant thought of the time. Films made at this time, more or less, reflected the real situation of China during the cultural revolution.

In the years immediately following the cultural revolution, film-makers began to experiment with the medium and film again flourished as popular entertainment. Animated film using the folk art of paper cutting, shadow plays, puppetry and traditional painting became popular with children.

In the 1980s, China's filmmakers extended the range of cinematic subjects and began to include previously unacceptable issues such as the good and evil of the cultural revolution. These proved popular and increasingly "socially realistic" films reflecting a society in transformation were produced.

Early in 1984, One and Eight (1984) shocked China's film industry. The film, made by graduates of the Beijing Film Academy, together with Chen Kaige's Yellow Earth (Huang Tu Di, 1984), announced the arrival of the "fifth generation" of filmmakers, including Wu Ziniu, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Huang Jianxin and He Ping. This fresh, sobering and innovative work not only shocked domestic audiences who were genuinely tired of revolutionary romanticism and revolutionary realism, but caught the attention of audiences around the globe. One of this group, Zhang Yimou, won international acclaim for Red Sorghum (Hong Gao Liang, 1987). Unlike the then middle-aged "fourth generation," they broke with traditional filmmaking in screenplay and film structure as well as narrative.

In January 1986, film industry control was transferred from the Ministry of Culture to the newly formed Ministry of Radio, Film and Television with "stricter control and management…to strengthen supervision over production."

Shortly afterwards the film industry became commercial. Previously, the government covered production costs and no special effort was needed to address audience satisfaction or demand. With commercialization, the box office directly determined the financial state of a film studio forcing films to become market driven.

By the 1990s, China's film industry was experiencing prosperity, and beginning in 1995, a more relaxed policy perspective allowed foreign movies to be shown. China's films, such as Ju Dou (1990) and To Live (1994) by Zhang Yimou, Farewell My Concubine (Ba Wang Bie Ji, 1993) by Chen Kaige, Blush (Hong Fen, 1994) by Li Shaohong, and Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker (Pao Da Shuang Deng, 1993) by He Ping won international awards and acclaim. Despite their popularity, the films were criticized for their stylized form and neglect of audience responses. Critics argued that they lacked a sense of the "spiritual bewilderment" of a people in transformation.

In the mean time, a group of spirited and young filmmakers began casting off the stylistic cinematic veneer and facing reality. They were the "sixth generation": Zhang Yuan, East Palace, West Palace Dong Gong Xi Gong, 1996), Wang Xiaoshuai, Beijing Bicycle (Zi Xing Che, 2000), Jia Zhangke, Unknown Pleasure (Ren Xiao Yao, 2002), Jiang Wen, Devils on the Doorstep (1999), Lu Xuechang, The Making of Steel (1996) and many others. Filmmaking became a tool for personally felt expression. Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini, Vittorio De Sica, and Yasujiro Ozu were a source of inspiration. Their work focused on the changing nature of country life, being young in large, modern Chinese cities and ethnic minority families. The serious attitude they brought to their craft gave new life to China's film industry at the start of the new millennium.

Holiday season films gained popularity in China thanks to director Feng Xiaogang's The Dream Factory (1997) that announced themed movie entertainment in China. Film producers increasingly realized the likely success of holiday season films and began promoting seasonally popular films as a marketing tool.

By the end of 2002, Hero (Ying Xiong), a lavish historical drama by Zhang Yimou, heralded in a new age for China's film industry by becoming China's record box office earner and a smash hit across Asia. Following this Warriors Of Heaven And Earth (Tian Di Ying Xiong, 2003) and House of Flying Daggers, now opening in cinemas across Beijing, continue a period of high-earning blockbuster films that characterize a confident new China.

Next year, the centenary of Chinese film, will provide an opportunity to reflect on a national history that has been marked by an extraordinary catalogue of political upheavals, social transformations and courageous renewals celebrated in film as much as in all the liberal arts in China.