Cinema Round Up: February 2008

For Chinese cinema, 2007 was a year characterized by two things: triumphs on the international festival circuit and scores of controversy. If the events of the first months of 2008 are anything to go by, we can expect more of the same.

Director Li Yu woke up in 2008 to find that her movie Lost in Beijing had had its screening license suspended by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), meaning the film is now effectively banned in China. SARFT claimed that scenes that had been edited out of the movie to make it suitable for release were being illegally distributed over the Internet and on DVD. It’s a sad end for the film that spent most of last year waiting for a theatrical release to build on the favorable critical reaction it received at the Berlin International Film Festival. In other directives recently announced by SARFT, films containing “rape, prostitution and explicit sex” will be not be considered for competition in festivals. How this will affect the new breed of Chinese filmmakers – many of whom prefer not to shy away from the grittier side of contemporary life in China – remains to be seen.

Hoping to receive the same acclaim as Lost in Beijing (but none of the controversy), is director Wang Xiaoshuai. His new movie, In Love We Trust, is in competition at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival later this month. The story focuses on a distraught mother who goes to unusual lengths to try and save her child who is suffering from cancer. The film will face tough competition from Paul Thomas Anderson’s already critically acclaimed There Will Be Blood, but it would be great to see the director go one better than his movie Beijing Bicycle did, which won the Silver Bear at the same festival back in 2000.

It’s been around two months since Variety claimed (only for the Chinese government to deny) that there would be a three-month “blackout” of US movies from Chinese cinemas. With no sign of I Am Legend or any other big Hollywood releases, it does make you wonder when we’ll next be able to see some American produce on the big screen. Still, Peter Chan isn’t complaining. With no American blockbusters to compete with, heroic action flick The Warlords was able to rake in a hefty RMB 260 million (USD 35.7 million) in ticket sales from December to early January, making it the highest grossing Chinese film for 2007.

Another homegrown talent looking to make a pretty penny at the box office is Stephen Chow. The Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer actor-director is set to release his latest film, CJ7, over the Spring Festival period. The film is a departure from Chow’s usual cinematic fare, with trademark kung fu-slapstick style being replaced with a sci-fi flavor, to tell the tale of a down-on-his-luck dad who discovers a strange toy from another planet ... Expect big laughs, and huge box office takings from Chow’s homage to Stephen Spielberg. Simon Fowler