2016: Dark Horses Rise in Chinese Film

By the end of 2016, the atmosphere in Chinese cinemas had changed drastically. It felt like China’s film market and theater-goers had both matured and diversified. Hollywood blockbusters crammed with stunning visual effects no longer dominated the big screens. Some low-budget domestic films deeply moved and pleasantly surprised Chinese spectators, in turn placing greater expectations on domestic movies.

Watching for Nostalgic Sensation

The Monkey King 2, a fantasy, and The Mermaid, a fantasy romantic comedy directed by Stephen Chow, kicked off China’s 2016 movie year on a high note when they hit screens for the Spring Festival in early February. The Monkey King 2, based on China’s classic novel Journey to the West, has proved an all-time favorite across all Chinese demographics, young and old, men and women. It grossed a total of 1.2 billion yuan. The Mermaid broke many box office records for a Chinese-language movie, such as the biggest opening day, the biggest single day gross, and the fastest to gross 1 billion yuan. It soon replaced the 2015 film Monster Hunt as the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time. By February 26, 2016, its box office revenue had exceeded 3.3 billion yuan, making it the first member of the Chinese 3-billion-yuan club.

The Mermaid is a love story with Chow’s unique “nonsense comedy” style and the popular environmental-protection theme, but, technically, it’s far from groundbreaking. Most were drawn to it because of Stephen Chow and nostalgia. Chow was a staple of the 1990s across China and remains one of the most beloved Hong Kong directors and actors. Millennial hunger for nostalgia has sparked a revival for him and his work, as most of them were introduced to Chow through videotapes. For this reason, the film’s promotional campaign stressing that “we owe him a ticket” was particularly effective.

The Mermaid wasn’t alone in profiting on nostalgia. Other hits included Warcraft in June, Big Fish & Begonia in July, Time Raiders in August, A Chinese Odyssey: Part Three in September, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in November. Chinese millennials have created a huge market for “nostalgic” films.However, overall quality still plays a decisive role in terms of the film’s market performance. A prime example of this factor is the unimpressive A Chinese Odyssey: Part Three versus the similar yet wildly successful Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Domestic Dark Horses

In the second half of 2016, Chinese domestic films gained steam and many low-budget hits emerged. In July, Kaili Blues, a film by breakout 26-year-old Chinese director Bi Gan, won massive acclaim soon after its release. Bi swept the Best Emerging Director award at several film festivals. The film follows a rural doctor in Guizhou Province. While searching for his niece, the doctor stops in a mystical town with ghosts of his past, present and future and meets his deceased lover. The dense subtropical forests and brooding mists of mountainous Guizhou, coupled with the poetry recited by the rural doctor, form a complicated yet intriguing mystical realist work. Films like Kaili Blues are rare in contemporary Chinese cinema. Its poetic quality and obscurity leave the audience with wide space for contemplation and self-examination.

In September, another domestic dark horse won acclaim from both critics and audiences: a story of womanhood based on the popular internet novel Soul Mate. Two girls, Qiyue and Ansheng, meet at 13 and become best friends. One is passionate and the other reserved, and their relationship is built on trust until they both fall for the same man. Many domestic coming-of-age films have failed in recent years, so the prospects for this film about the pains of youth didn’t look great at the outset. However, Soul Mate stood out with its vivid and delicate portrayal of young women.Zhou Dongyu and Ma Sichun, leads in the film, shared the 53^rd Taiwan Golden Horse Award for Best Actress.

Several other movies such as crime films Operation Meikong and What’s in the Darkness and sarcastic black humor Cock and Bull, as well as Tharlo, a film about a young Tibetan, were critically deemed highly artistic and heavily applauded by film reviewers, but only Operation Meikong did well at the box office. The other films’ shortcomings have been attributed to disadvantages in publicity and screening schedules.

Much More than the Box Office

From 2003 to 2015, the Chinese film market maintained an average annual growth rate of 35 percent. While total box office revenue hovered at about 44 billion yuan in 2015, analysts predicted early in 2016 that the figure would reach 60 billion yuan by the end of the year. However, in April, July, and September of 2016, the country’s box office revenues sagged compared to the same period of 2015. Films released during normally surefire hit movie periods still performed poorly. To reach the 60-billion-yuan threshold, many Hollywood and domestic blockbusters scheduled releases in November and December, but the strategy didn’t pan out.

In contrast with over-performing domestic low-budget art films were some floundering big-budget movies, both imported and domestic. Many films were abject failures in terms of both box office figures and critical reviews. If less pressure was placed on box office performance, low-budget art films would have greater room to perform and boost the healthy development of China’s film market.

To come in 2017 are fantasy comedy Journey to the West: Demon Chapter and action comedy Buddies in India for the Spring Festival period in January. As similar films did in 2016, we hope these movies will lead to more pleasant surprises throughout the year.