The hot films in the end of 2009
Posted By admin on December 30, 2009
The country’s movie-making industry is experiencing a boom, with ticket sales increasing and more quality offerings from homegrown talents. Liu Wei reports
Box office takings in China have been rising 20 percent annually for the past five years, and though Hollywood blockbusters such as Transformers 2 and 2012 were the most profitable films this year, local productions were big hits too.
And 2009 was a bumper year for moviegoers with the gross box office surpassing last year’s 4.3 billion yuan ($630 million) to reach 6 billion yuan.
The Cow is almost a one-man show. It signifies the coming-of-age for Huang Bo, the comedian who specializes in playing low-life characters. His nabbing of the Golden Horse - as best actor for this performance - is much deserved.
The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45) is as often filmed in China, as the European theater of WWII is for Western cinema. So it is not easy to squeeze anything fresh out of it. Writer and director Guan Hu adopted a small-scale approach that was ingenious in both concept and execution. The story revolves around a cow, a gift from a European country, and how it has an unexpected impact on different people, including Japanese soldiers.
The flashbacks are seamless. The locale is so intricately integrated into the plot the audience has a strong sense of participation. All characters are richly delineated and not even the Japanese invaders are caricatured. An actor with star power may boost the box office, but Huang Bo brings out the poignancy of the human dilemma in this slightly farcical tale.
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