2013 Chinese Film Festival in Seoul: China’s movie industry sets sights on South Korea

[rikayla.livejournal.com]

SEOUL – Chinese movies accounted for a tiny percentage of South Korea’s box office last year, but China’s film industry is hoping to change that.

The 2013 Chinese Film Festival in Seoul kicked off Sunday, opening with the first South Korean screening of martial-arts film “The Grandmaster.” Wong Kar-wai, the movie’s director, stepped out onto the red carpet for the event along with its stars, Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi.

Set against the backdrop of tumultuous 1930s China, the film explores the life of martial-arts fighter Ip Man, who famously taught Bruce Lee. The movie is generating buzz in South Korea because popular Korean actress Song Hye-gyo appears in the film as Ip Man’s wife.

“Before working with Song for this film, I only saw her through her Korean TV drama shows,” said Mr. Leung at a press conference prior to the festival’s opening. “She turned out to be very mature and gracious, very much like the film character.”

A total of 11 Chinese films, including “The Grandmaster” and eight others that have never before been shown in South Korea, are being screened during the five-day event. Among the lineup is tearjerker romance “A Wedding Invitation,” the highest-earning Korea-China joint production in terms of box office sales, earning 192.17 million yuan at the box office in China, according to media-research firm EntGroup. The movie, directed by Korean director Oh Ki-hwan, is a remake of his 2001 “The Present” and stars Taiwanese-Canadian actor Eddie Peng and Chinese actress Bai Baihe.

Other notable screenings include Chen Kaige’s “Caught in the Web,” which tells the story of a young woman who becomes mired in controversy after a cell-phone video of her being rude to an elderly person goes viral; Huo Jiangqi’s biopic “Falling Flowers,” about female fiction writer Xiao Hong; and Zhang Yang’s comedy “Full Circle,” which tells the story of an old man who decides to enter a nursing home after suffering in a 20-year dysfunctional relationship with his son.

The Chinese Film Festival, in its fifth edition, is organized by CJ E&M and fellow entertainment company CJ CGV, as well as the Chinese and South Korean governments. It gives Korean viewers a rare opportunity to check out some of China’s biggest-box office hits in their home country, where Chinese films are rarely released in theaters.

According to data provided by the state-run Korean Film Council, only 30 out of 632 films released in South Korea last year were from China, while 175 were homegrown movies, 165 from Hollywood, and 120 from Japan. The 30 movies altogether drew 635,066 viewers, accounting for just a 0.3% share of South Korea’s box office takings last year.

“Chinese films are doing very well in their home country, but they aren’t doing as great overseas,” said Zhang Hongsen, head of the film bureau under the State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of China. “Chinese cinema is still progressing and we are thinking of better ways to promote our films in foreign countries.”

According to Mr. Zhang, Chinese cinema has undergone an “extraordinary development” in recent years. China’s box office grew by 36% to reach 17 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) last year, making it the world’s second-largest movie market after the U.S.

As a long-time filmmaker, Hong Kong director Mr. Wong has witnessed the growth of China’s film industry. At the pre-festival presser, he told reporters that he had wanted to make “The Grandmaster” in 1998 but had to wait another decade before it became possible.

“The Chinese movie market wasn’t big enough to cope with such a big-budget movie back in the late ’90s,” Mr. Wong said. “I think the industry is now capable of giving more opportunities for Chinese filmmakers to fulfill their visions.”

Among the festival films, “The Grandmaster” will open in South Korean theaters in late August, while “A Wedding Invitation” will be released in the country next week.

The 2013 Chinese Film Festival runs from June 16 to 20 at CGV Yeouido in Seoul and CGV Centum City in Busan.


Source: Scene Asia

Great to see. I'd love to see more pan-Asian film collaborations/casts in the future!

Comments

[yukahoo.livejournal.com]

A new Wong Kar-wai? With Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi? Oh man, I'm so far out of loop and it's seriously starting to piss me off. I'm missing out!

Holy fuck, I almost got tears in my eyes just from reading that bit. Some of the most intense years of my life were seemingly centered around his films... They meant so much to me then.

Suddenly not sure I want to see it. What if it's crap? Dammit.

[yukahoo.livejournal.com]

Oh, and also yay for co-op and co-prod, Song Hyekyo is a babe, etc etc.

[blue_ant]

It's not crap, but it's not like Donnie Yen's IP Man films, either. I bought my copy from Yesasia, sight unseen (because it doesn't come out in my country until August) and I loved it. Just be aware that there's almost no Chang Chen (which was the biggest disappointment, though I watched it for Tony). This is a pretty good review of it from a WKW lover and lovehkfilm has a less biased review.

[yukahoo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for these. Watched the trailer, read the reviews. Looked gorgeous but when do his films not? Hesitant but optimistic. I tend to like those films of his that are not not necessarily considered his best so this might be a match for me. But then again, I never really got the magic of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon either so... it might not.

[blue_ant]

Did you watch Ashes of Time? It's has the similar surreal vibe going on, but has a lot more plot. I think what makes it different from Crouching Tiger (and Hero, which I just saw recently) is that there's not as much wirework and the fighting, while still managing to be visually stunning, is also a lot more realistic (not all the time, but most of the time).

I think it's a good movie, but it was recut before release and I believe that there's a far better movie in there, somewhere. I know there's something like two hours of extra footage and I'm hoping that WKW will let that be released because I want to see what this movie could've been.

[yukahoo.livejournal.com]

I've seen the redux version that came out some... 5 years ago? I remember liking it but looking back now, I guess it didn't really leave a lasting impression. I did like Hero though.

I don't mind the wire-works or not, I feel like that's of secondary concern to me. It's the everything else. The is there anything else there that'll sink its hook in me and grab hold of something I never knew I had. Because that is something that has happened to me with WKW films before. There's just something about the way the camera lingers that always gets to me...

Oh and it's tricky about the re-cuts... They say the editing for 2046 was rushed for Cannes and some people blamed that for whatever shortcoming they felt the movie had, but I really seriously love that film. Possibly my fave. Most days it's my fave.

[blue_ant]

I've only seen the redux version, too. I liked it, because it was kind of ridiculous. I didn't like Hero, probably I should've watched that before watching a bunch of other (better) wuxia, but live and learn.

I felt that The Grandmaster had all the elements of a good WKW movie. I liked the pacing and the feel of the movie. And he doesn't disappoint with the camera work, either. I really hope I get to see it in the theater (even if it'll be 10 minutes shorter).

I loved 2046, though my favorite is probably my first (WKW movie, not Tony movie), Chungking Express (sigh, Tony). I understood the problems people had with 2046, but I just didn't care.

[pseudo-shigure.livejournal.com]

I watched it because it's WKW and TONY LEUNG. But story wise it's not that great. It's very visually pretty though. Just watch it if you really like them.

[bettiepepper.livejournal.com]

♥ Tony Leung ♥

[age-ofconsent.livejournal.com]

Wong Kar-wai *_*? Tony Leung *_*? Time to use my Fallen Angels icon <3

[mercury-sound.livejournal.com]

Yay! WKW, Zhang Ziyi and gorgeous Tony hijacking Omona. :)))