Chinese films are usually known for kung-fu and “wuxia” related movies. Cinematic classics along this genre are Drunken Master and Once Upon A Time in China. They featured proven box office idols such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li, respectively. A well-known movie released in the United States with a heavy Chinese influence is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. These movies are but a drop in the sea of films China has successfully produced.
In spite of its cinematic successes, the country has yet to make a significant impact in the realm of animation. It is, however, taking marked steps towards this direction. At the forefront of the initiative is Big Fish & Begonia which is based on mythological and traditional beliefs that are deeply ingrained
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Jackie Chan is again another trailblazing example in this branch of entertainment. He has already solidified his role as an action star, director, and film producer. The consummate entertainer, however, also counts voice talent animation roles in his resume. Among them are the much loved Kung Fu Panda franchise and last year’s The Lego Ninjago Movie.
Joining him in Ninjago was Constance Wu, an American actress of Chinese descent. She is popularly known in the United States for her role in the sitcom, Fresh Off the Boat. Wu will rejoin Chan for another animated release entitled Wish Dragon. Other actors of Chinese descent lending their voice talents to the film are Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Jimmy Wong, and Bobby Lee. The film is being produced through the partnership of Sony Pictures Animation and Beijing Sparkle Roll Media Animation.
There are more animated projects featuring Chinese influences along the pipeline. These will surely feature more homegrown talents on both sides of the production landscape. Animation fans have much to look forward to as China’s emergence is becoming more distinct in the international
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He understood that animation is not the only method to achieve favorable outcomes worldwide. It may be able to surpass language limitations but there is still much money to be made on big budget films. The risks attached are naturally higher compared to animated features. This is, however, mitigated by the considerable population of the Chinese market.
Much of China’s film releases are still dominated by local studios. They represent about four-fifths of this year’s revenues alone. The rest are estimated to constitute international collaboration, much of which the Chinese clearly have an appetite for. Huayi Brothers CEO James Zhonglei likewise recognizes animation’s great potential for increased business in the country. Cutting edge techniques in animated features can now convert character lip motions to conform to local speech.
More good things to come
Big Fish & Begonia may serve as an inspiration for future Chinese animation releases. Directed by Xuan Liang and Chun Zhang, it is a feature that China can certainly be proud of. Its success can be attributed to its story and its cinematic aspects, for sure. The film however also owes much of its development to an interesting
The film, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, showcases Wu Xia and the imbalance of Yin and Yang. She tells him to make a wish and this connects the story of the young man leaping from the mountain to save his parents (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon). Jen feels by leaping she is granting Lo’s wish (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon). This makes Jen the tragic hero as she is finally free from the imprisonment of her duties as a governor’s daughter as well as her past with the Jade Fox (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon).
As one of the earliest films to come out of communist China’s new film schools in the 1980s, director Chen Kaige’s Yellow Earth reveals much about the Chinese communist party’s interpretation of the years before 1949 (the year of the Communist victory in China). Yellow Earth takes on the appearance of Communist propaganda films as the plot and themes develop. The minimalist mise-en-scene technique effectively illustrates the activities and rituals of daily rural Chinese life throughout the film. Nowhere in the film is the effectiveness of this technique more apparent than in the final scene when Han-Han struggles against the crowd to return to Gu.
Most films captivate the audience’s interest in the main character. This film did just that. Through the main character Li Cunxin, I was able to notice the amount of hard work and dedication which led Li to become a famous ballet dancer known worldwide. The film, based on the autobiography by Li Cunxin, “Mao’s Last Dancer” directed by Bruce Beresford, is about a Chinese boy named Li Cunxin who was born into a large family of 6 boys. At the age of eleven, Li was selected from a poor Chinese village by Madam Mao’s cultural representatives to leave his family and study ballet in Beijing.
Andrew Lam. “Chinese Culture and the Politics of “Kung Fu” Panda’”. One Vietnam. Published June 17, 2011. Accessed November 10, 2013.
Fugui is forced to burn his shadow puppets, because they represent traditional China. Fengxia, who is the daughter of Fugui, gets married and has a baby. During the birth of her child, Fengxia dies. The nurses did not know what to do and this costed Fengxia her life. The movie concludes with what is left of Fugui’s family sitting down to eat. The plot of the movie showed the rise of the communist party and included two of Mao Zedong’s reforms. The movie does a good job of including historical events into the plot, while not taking away from the movie quality. In fact, the historical events portrayed helped enhance the plot. The connection of Fengxia’s death and the Cultural Revolution were perfectly linked in the plot. Interested in the movie, I did further research. After reading about the year it was filmed and the awards it won, I discovered that the movie is banned in China. This made me question whether the Chinese government should censor the movie. Looking at the movie from the view of Communist China, I understand why the movie is
Most films captivate the audience’s interest through the main character. This film did just that. Through the main character Li Cunxin, I was able to notice the amount of hard work and dedication which lead Li to become a famous ballet dancer known worldwide. The film, based on the autobiography by Li Cunxin, “Mao’s Last Dancer” directed by Bruce Beresford is about a Chinese boy named Li Cunxin who’s born into a large family of 6 boys. At the age of eleven, Li got chosen from a poverty-stricken Chinese village by Madam Mao’s cultural representatives to leave his family and study ballet in Beijing. This film focussed on his eventual departure from China to U.S.A after being selected by a world leading choreographer, Ben Stevenson including the
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a martial arts chivalry film released in 2000. It was directed by Ang Lee, who also directed films such as “Broke Back Mountain and “Life of Pi.” The film focuses on the three main characters Li Mu Bai, Shu Lien and Jen. Li Mu Bai stays on a Taoist monastery, and is an expert in sword fighting; famous for his Kung Fu. Unlike Li Mu Bai, Shu Lien is a Confucianist who runs a security company and has deceased fiancé. Another important character, Jen, is from a wealthy family and is taught by Jade Fox, who disguises as a nanny, how to fight. Jen is egoistic and contradicts the rules of both Confucianism and Taoism. Lo, also known as the “Dark Cloud” is a bandit who falls in love with Jen. The film mainly tackled on the importance of Confucianism and Taoism in one’s life and how these two are alike to each other when they are put together. In the film, we will see how they influence the character’s lives having Confucianism and Taoism beliefs performed together. We all know that these two philosophies are different from each other. Confucianism emphasizes morality, familial piety and respect for authorities to create peace and harmony among people. On the other hand, Taoism focuses on the harmony of yin and yang, detachment from worldly things, oneness with the nature and to go with the flow.
The quest for identity quickly finds its place in the construction of the notion of ‘Hong Kong-ness’ in films. The local cinema has remained as a powerful cultural institution, both reflecting and intervening in the discourses of alterities and selfhood. It is therefore not surprising that in local films, the cinematic representations of Hong Kong have been seen as inextricably interwoven with the triangular relationship between the British coloniser, the Chinese motherland, and Hong Kong itself. Since its inception in the 1910s, the Hong Kong film industry has enjoyed much independence from colonial control, yet simultaneously much association with Western culture. Many films openly deal with the theme of ‘East meets West’ in which ‘Hong Kongese’ identity is often expressed in "transnational settings" against the existence of a Western Other, in particular through the portrayal of Westerners visiting Asia, and vice versa. After the handover, "Hong Kong" as a geopolitical en...
Modernization in the 1980s paved the way for the Hong Kong New Wave, as the studio system set up in the 1950s was dismantled, the film industry experienced more freedom. Since decolonization was heavily present 75% of Hong Kong’s box office revenue were home grown movies, while the meager 15% was left for the foreign market. As one can see the political context of Ho...
The film Hero depicts one of the most culturally rich and diverse country, China. China is one of the largest countries in the world with the long profound history. It is also the most diverse country in terms of language, religion, rituals, traditions, and beliefs. The film Hero has an unusual movie theme, it repeats similar events through flashbacks and with different outcomes. The tale is about the nameless warrior and the triumph of Qin’s idea of unifying China. The king invites the warrior to honor him for defeating his three most dangerous enemies, who are often proclaimed as the unbeatable warriors. The film is a cultural description of Chinese traditions. It has expanded my understanding of Chinese culture by portraying the spectacular
There is a saying that Chinese actors use that helps us to understand the ...
Fu, Poshek, and David Desser, eds. The Cinema of Hong Kong. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
As time and people are continually changing, so is knowledge and information; and in the film industry there are inevitable technological advances necessary to keep the attraction of the public. It is through graphic effects, sounds and visual recordings that all individuals see how we have evolved to present day digital technology; and it is because of the efforts and ideas of the first and latest great innovators of the twentieth century that we have advanced in film and computers.
Kung Fu Panda is an animated family, comedy, action-adventure film directed by Mark Osbourne and John Stevenson. Released in 2008, it stars Jack Black as the voice of the protagonist, Po, an enormous but lovable panda. Before Po’s journey, Po is a very different panda than the one we admire by the end. Lazy, socially awkward, and ridiculed for his size, he often breaks plates and sleeps in while working as a waiter at his father’s restaurant in the Valley of Peace. Knowing he doesn’t fit in, Po indulges himself in a dream world where he is a kung fu warrior working alongside his heroes, the Furious Five. After he is “accidentally” chosen to become the “Dragon Warrior,” completes long months of training, and is victorious in an epic battle, Po finally defeats the antagonist Tai Lung. He then becomes respected and revered by the villagers, including his father. Po’s Hero’s Journey transforms him from an idle dreamer into an assertive, capable warrior.
...y conceivable scene can be computer generated if resources are committed to achieve the desired goal. Technology is set to continue to revolutionise the film industry for many years to come (Huang 2004).