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Chinese low-budget films confronts Hollywood big boys
China's film industry has had to face stiff opposition from overseas, especially from Hollywood, in its bid to win fame.
Zhang Yimou would be one of the first names on many lips, with his big-budget, star-studded "Hero" (Yingxiong) and "House of Flying Daggers" (Shimian Maifu) pictures. But there are others who are determined to boost the country's film industry in a different way. This week, local movie "The Last Level" (Sheng Dian) is being shown at Huaxing International Multiplex, one of the best cinemas in Beijing and in China. The screening has been hailed a pioneering act - because it is the first time a low-budget movie has been shown at the luxury multiplex. With an investment of only 2 million yuan (US$240,900), "The Last Level" is being touted as the harbinger of low-budget movies in face of the fierce competition. "It is a low-budget production, but it has all elements that completes a movie that attracts audiences. I believe it will at least recoup the investment," director Wang Jing said. Every year China produces about 200 movies, but only those directed by a handful of famous directors such as Zhang Yimou, Feng Xiaogang and Chen Kaige ever reach most movie-goers. Fully driven by profits, cinemas are reluctant to give up screens normally showing Hollywood blockbusters to local films. A few lucky ones are sold to China Central Television's Movie Channel, the only national movie channel in China, and earn a limited access to audiences. Not a few simply end up in the dust with copies sent to the China Film Archive. "It has already been a huge success for 'The Last Level' because it has been admitted by one of the best cinemas in Beijing," Wang said. Directing is only Wang's part-time job. He spends most of his time lecturing at the Beijing Film Academy. Huaxing was reluctant to give his film a showing at first. "For a movie, 2 million yuan is very cheap. Generally speaking, most local movies shown at Chinese cinemas have an investment of at least 10 times that. Imported blockbusters may have a hundred times that, or more," Wang said. Even the 2 million yuan has not been a "real" commercial investment. It came from the Feiyue Group, a sewing machine maker based in East China's Zhejiang Province, which has never set foot in the film industry. Feiyue's boss, Qiu Jibao, has a private relationship with Wang Jing that began a dozen years ago. The money was handed over more as a loan to a friend than a business investment. So far, Huaxing's staff have agreed the film is a good one. It was Hallowe'en night, October 31, that the China Interstellar Movie AD Company, the distributor of "The Last Level," arranged a test screening at Peking University. The response was unexpectedly good. Tickets, at 5 yuan (US$60 cents) each, were soon sold out. Many students wrote reviews, most of them speaking highly of it. This was what prompted Huaxing to give it a go, and it seems they made the right decision. Two showings are scheduled every day between November 5 and 15. Tickets have been selling quickly, with Saturday night a sell-out. Most verdicts have been favourable. "We are now considering arranging showings in more regions after the screening in Huaxing," said Yang Jun, general manager of Interstellar. Yang said this distribution strategy - first select a cinema, then expand to other cinemas and other cities - was a good one. "Because it is a low-budget production, there's not much money for marketing," he said. The 90-minute colour feature tells the story of online computer game addict Qiu Dong. The story happens at an Internet cafe and in Qiu's imagination. In the game he plays, "The Holy Palace" (Shengdian), Qiu is a junior swordsman. The task is to become a 39-level swordsman - the last level - and to avenge the murder of a girl's parents. Both the leading actor, Gao Feng, and actress, Meng Tingyi, are young and virtually unknown even to the movie circle. This was not a film that could afford any big shots. Qiu becomes so obsessed with the game that he believes there is a real girl waiting for his help. He stays at the Internet cafe, practising, for 60 days without leaving for a single minute. The outside world starts meaning less and less to Qiu, who quits his job and breaks up with his girlfriend.
In 2002 he read a newspaper report about a university student in Central China's Hubei Province who died at an Internet cafe after playing online there for 60 consecutive days.
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Yang said he was inspired by a real-life example.
