WatchingforNostalgicSensation
TheMonkeyKing2,afantasy,andTheMermaid,afantasyromanticcomedydirectedbyStephenChow,kickedoffChina鈥檚2016movieyearonahighnotewhentheyhitscreensfortheSpringFestivalinearlyFebruary.TheMonkeyKing2,basedonChina鈥檚classicnovelJourneytotheWest,hasprovedanall-timefavoriteacrossallChinesedemographics,youngandold,menandwomen.Itgrossedatotalof1.2billionyuan.TheMermaidbrokemanyboxofficerecordsforaChinese-languagemovie,suchasthebiggestopeningday,thebiggestsingledaygross,andthefastesttogross1billionyuan.Itsoonreplacedthe2015filmMonsterHuntasthehighest-grossingChinesefilmofalltime.ByFebruary26,2016,itsboxofficerevenuehadexceeded3.3billionyuan,makingitthefirstmemberoftheChinese3-billion-yuanclub.
TheMermaidisalovestorywithChow鈥檚unique鈥渘onsensecomedy鈥漵tyleandthepopularenvironmental-protectiontheme,but,technically,it鈥檚farfromgroundbreaking.MostweredrawntoitbecauseofStephenChowandnostalgia.Chowwasastapleofthe1990sacrossChinaandremainsoneofthemostbelovedHongKongdirectorsandactors.Millennialhungerfornostalgiahassparkedarevivalforhimandhiswork,asmostofthemwereintroducedtoChowthroughvideotapes.Forthisreason,thefilm鈥檚promotionalcampaignstressingthat鈥渨eowehimaticket鈥漺asparticularlyeffective.
TheMermaidwasn鈥檛aloneinprofitingonnostalgia.OtherhitsincludedWarcraftinJune,BigFish&BegoniainJuly,TimeRaidersinAugust,AChineseOdyssey:PartThreeinSeptember,andFantasticBeastsandWheretoFindTheminNovember.Chinesemillennialshavecreatedahugemarketfor鈥渘ostalgic鈥漟ilms.However,overallqualitystillplaysadecisiveroleintermsofthefilm鈥檚marketperformance.AprimeexampleofthisfactoristheunimpressiveAChineseOdyssey:PartThreeversusthesimilaryetwildlysuccessfulFantasticBeastsandWheretoFindThem.
DomesticDarkHorses
Inthesecondhalfof2016,Chinesedomesticfilmsgainedsteamandmanylow-budgethitsemerged.InJuly,KailiBlues,afilmbybreakout26-year-oldChinesedirectorBiGan,wonmassiveacclaimsoonafteritsrelease.BiswepttheBestEmergingDirectorawardatseveralfilmfestivals.ThefilmfollowsaruraldoctorinGuizhouProvince.Whilesearchingforhisniece,thedoctorstopsinamysticaltownwithghostsofhispast,presentandfutureandmeetshisdeceasedlover.ThedensesubtropicalforestsandbroodingmistsofmountainousGuizhou,coupledwiththepoetryrecitedbytheruraldoctor,formacomplicatedyetintriguingmysticalrealistwork.FilmslikeKailiBluesarerareincontemporaryChinesecinema.Itspoeticqualityandobscurityleavetheaudiencewithwidespaceforcontemplationandself-examination.
InSeptember,anotherdomesticdarkhorsewonacclaimfrombothcriticsandaudiences:astoryofwomanhoodbasedonthepopularinternetnovelSoulMate.Twogirls,QiyueandAnsheng,meetat13andbecomebestfriends.Oneispassionateandtheotherreserved,andtheirrelationshipisbuiltontrustuntiltheybothfallforthesameman.Manydomesticcoming-of-agefilmshavefailedinrecentyears,sotheprospectsforthisfilmaboutthepainsofyouthdidn鈥檛lookgreatattheoutset.However,SoulMatestoodoutwithitsvividanddelicateportrayalofyoungwomen.ZhouDongyuandMaSichun,leadsinthefilm,sharedthe53rdTaiwanGoldenHorseAwardforBestActress.
SeveralothermoviessuchascrimefilmsOperationMeikongandWhat鈥檚intheDarknessandsarcasticblackhumorCockandBull,aswellasTharlo,afilmaboutayoungTibetan,werecriticallydeemedhighlyartisticandheavilyapplaudedbyfilmreviewers,butonlyOperationMeikongdidwellattheboxoffice.Theotherfilms鈥檚hortcomingshavebeenattributedtodisadvantagesinpublicityandscreeningschedules.AstillfromSoulMate.
AstillfromTharlo.MuchMorethantheBoxOffice
From2003to2015,theChinesefilmmarketmaintainedanaverageannualgrowthrateof35percent.Whiletotalboxofficerevenuehoveredatabout44billionyuanin2015,analystspredictedearlyin2016thatthefigurewouldreach60billionyuanbytheendoftheyear.However,inApril,July,andSeptemberof2016,thecountry鈥檚boxofficerevenuessaggedcomparedtothesameperiodof2015.Filmsreleasedduringnormallysurefirehitmovieperiodsstillperformedpoorly.Toreachthe60-billion-yuanthreshold,manyHollywoodanddomesticblockbustersscheduledreleasesinNovemberandDecember,butthestrategydidn鈥檛panout.
Incontrastwithover-performingdomesticlow-budgetartfilmsweresomeflounderingbig-budgetmovies,bothimportedanddomestic.Manyfilmswereabjectfailuresintermsofbothboxofficefiguresandcriticalreviews.Iflesspressurewasplacedonboxofficeperformance,low-budgetartfilmswouldhavegreaterroomtoperformandboostthehealthydevelopmentofChina鈥檚filmmarket.
Tocomein2017arefantasycomedyJourneytotheWest:DemonChapterandactioncomedyBuddiesinIndiafortheSpringFestivalperiodinJanuary.Assimilarfilmsdidin2016,wehopethesemovieswillleadtomorepleasantsurprisesthroughouttheyear.
PosterofTheMonkeyKing2.