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'Tiny Times' wins big box office
By Yao Minji |
July 6, 2013, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
The hottest movie in China these days, "Tiny Times," puts the spotlight on the much-criticized "me generation" born after 1990s and the gap between them and everyone else.
The domestic coming-of-age film set in Shanghai even eclipsed the Hollywood blockbuster "Man of Steel," demonstrating that China's young audience prefers homegrown dramas they can relate to.
It also broke the record for first-day box office in China.
"Tiny Times" ("Xiao Shi Dai") has also generated a storm of controversy, with critics calling it trash that glorifies immorality and materialism.
The indifferent storyline with indifferent acting follows four women friends, with very different backgrounds, from high school to university to adulthood.
It's filled with luxury brands of fashion and cars, as well as beautiful people, splendid venues and desirable men who can afford to shower gifts on women. There are plenty of romantic entanglements that strain the women's friendships.
The visuals are beautiful and there's a lot of voiceover in which the women talk about what they want, such as true friendship, love and dream.
Director Guo Jingming, who is also the bestselling novel's author, says it is really a movie about youthhood and one intended to inspire young people to pursue their dreams, like the protagonists, some wealthy, some poor. But many critics blame him for exploiting the word "dream" while they consider the movie's focus the glamorous lifestyle that most young audience can't afford.
Around the country, the audience have been bitterly divided in online generational warfare since the film was released on June 27.
Anyone who likes or praises it is immediately labeled jiu ling hou or post-1990s generation. Uncritical teens who admire the lavish and materialist lifestyle came in for especially harsh criticism.
Critics, including many famous directors and critics, are denounced by young fans. "They are getting too old to understand the beauty of youth and dreams," one person commented on the weibo microblog.
The movie raked in more than 100 million yuan (US$16.3 million) in two days and is now hitting 300 million yuan in little more than a week.
"Man of Steel" has also accumulated about 300 million yuan in China and is in its third week of screening.
"Tiny Times," made with a budget of around 50 million yuan with a finished sequel, is based on Guo's bestselling novel of the same name and was directed by the 30-year-old author himself.
Guo has said he didn't want to direct it at first, "but we looked all over the country and couldn't find anyone fit to direct it," he says.
"We don't really have any movies that target the post-1990s generation, the young people are a major force today. It will be too late if we don't start making movies for them," Guo adds.
Despite the controversy - and because of it - the film has been welcomed by cinema managers who generally designated half the screens nationwide to the film. In some theaters, it's the only film available.
The timing of release is perfect - the target audience are students who are beginning their summer holiday.
According to the China Film Distribution and Exhibition Association, as noted by The Hollywood Reporter, the average age of a Chinese moviegoer has dropped from 25.7 in 2009 to 21.2 in 2012.
The sequel has been completed and will be released next year. Producers are confident about the third and fourth in the series, to start filming at the end of this year.
"Tiny Times" isn't the only film to bomb critically while filmmakers laugh all the way to the bank. "Switch," an intended blockbuster with big stars, action, special effects, romance and comedy, was called perhaps China's worst-ever blockbuster. The film released last month earned nearly 300 million yuan in a month, stunning considering its reputation.
"Everyone was talking about how bad the film ('Tiny Times') was, so I figured I had to watch it to join the conversation," says 27-year-old industrial designer Joyce Liu. "It was even worse than all I have heard and what I expected."
The "Tiny Times" phenomenon revived the cliched discussion about what movies the Chinese audience needs and wants.
China's film market once was dominated by big-budget, historic spectacle movies by famed directors such as Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.
In the last two years, that pattern has been broken and medium- to low-budget films made a big entrance and, to everyone's surprise, topped the box office in 2012.
The small-budget, tacky comedy "Lost in Thailand" was considered a phenomenon, as was "So Young," a small-budget nostalgic film about youth.
Critics have long been saying China needs more small- and medium-budget films that people can relate to.
"An ideal and healthy industrial structure should be pyramid-shaped," says professor Shi Gang, a film expert and critic from Shanghai University.
He tells Shanghai Daily that blockbusters costing more than 100 million yuan should occupy the top 10 percent of the pyramid. Films made for 40-100 million yuan should occupy 40 percent and films costing less than 30 million yuan should form the foundation at 50 percent.
"Over the past 10 years, Chinese film investors have spent most of their resources on blockbusters, especially kung fu movies," Shi says. He says the situation is changing but it will take years to develop a vibrant and diverse domestic film industry that emphasizes good storytelling.
In the long run, films must present more than action and stunning visual effects, experts say.
"The script must be strong and some should cater to the tastes of a global audience," says Philip Lee, producer of "Cloud Atlas," which cast Chinese actress Zhou Xun in a major role and performed well in China.
(Xu Wei contributed to this article.)
The domestic coming-of-age film set in Shanghai even eclipsed the Hollywood blockbuster "Man of Steel," demonstrating that China's young audience prefers homegrown dramas they can relate to.
It also broke the record for first-day box office in China.
"Tiny Times" ("Xiao Shi Dai") has also generated a storm of controversy, with critics calling it trash that glorifies immorality and materialism.
The indifferent storyline with indifferent acting follows four women friends, with very different backgrounds, from high school to university to adulthood.
It's filled with luxury brands of fashion and cars, as well as beautiful people, splendid venues and desirable men who can afford to shower gifts on women. There are plenty of romantic entanglements that strain the women's friendships.
The visuals are beautiful and there's a lot of voiceover in which the women talk about what they want, such as true friendship, love and dream.
Director Guo Jingming, who is also the bestselling novel's author, says it is really a movie about youthhood and one intended to inspire young people to pursue their dreams, like the protagonists, some wealthy, some poor. But many critics blame him for exploiting the word "dream" while they consider the movie's focus the glamorous lifestyle that most young audience can't afford.
Around the country, the audience have been bitterly divided in online generational warfare since the film was released on June 27.
Anyone who likes or praises it is immediately labeled jiu ling hou or post-1990s generation. Uncritical teens who admire the lavish and materialist lifestyle came in for especially harsh criticism.
Critics, including many famous directors and critics, are denounced by young fans. "They are getting too old to understand the beauty of youth and dreams," one person commented on the weibo microblog.
The movie raked in more than 100 million yuan (US$16.3 million) in two days and is now hitting 300 million yuan in little more than a week.
"Man of Steel" has also accumulated about 300 million yuan in China and is in its third week of screening.
"Tiny Times," made with a budget of around 50 million yuan with a finished sequel, is based on Guo's bestselling novel of the same name and was directed by the 30-year-old author himself.
Guo has said he didn't want to direct it at first, "but we looked all over the country and couldn't find anyone fit to direct it," he says.
"We don't really have any movies that target the post-1990s generation, the young people are a major force today. It will be too late if we don't start making movies for them," Guo adds.
Despite the controversy - and because of it - the film has been welcomed by cinema managers who generally designated half the screens nationwide to the film. In some theaters, it's the only film available.
The timing of release is perfect - the target audience are students who are beginning their summer holiday.
According to the China Film Distribution and Exhibition Association, as noted by The Hollywood Reporter, the average age of a Chinese moviegoer has dropped from 25.7 in 2009 to 21.2 in 2012.
The sequel has been completed and will be released next year. Producers are confident about the third and fourth in the series, to start filming at the end of this year.
"Tiny Times" isn't the only film to bomb critically while filmmakers laugh all the way to the bank. "Switch," an intended blockbuster with big stars, action, special effects, romance and comedy, was called perhaps China's worst-ever blockbuster. The film released last month earned nearly 300 million yuan in a month, stunning considering its reputation.
"Everyone was talking about how bad the film ('Tiny Times') was, so I figured I had to watch it to join the conversation," says 27-year-old industrial designer Joyce Liu. "It was even worse than all I have heard and what I expected."
The "Tiny Times" phenomenon revived the cliched discussion about what movies the Chinese audience needs and wants.
China's film market once was dominated by big-budget, historic spectacle movies by famed directors such as Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.
In the last two years, that pattern has been broken and medium- to low-budget films made a big entrance and, to everyone's surprise, topped the box office in 2012.
The small-budget, tacky comedy "Lost in Thailand" was considered a phenomenon, as was "So Young," a small-budget nostalgic film about youth.
Critics have long been saying China needs more small- and medium-budget films that people can relate to.
"An ideal and healthy industrial structure should be pyramid-shaped," says professor Shi Gang, a film expert and critic from Shanghai University.
He tells Shanghai Daily that blockbusters costing more than 100 million yuan should occupy the top 10 percent of the pyramid. Films made for 40-100 million yuan should occupy 40 percent and films costing less than 30 million yuan should form the foundation at 50 percent.
"Over the past 10 years, Chinese film investors have spent most of their resources on blockbusters, especially kung fu movies," Shi says. He says the situation is changing but it will take years to develop a vibrant and diverse domestic film industry that emphasizes good storytelling.
In the long run, films must present more than action and stunning visual effects, experts say.
"The script must be strong and some should cater to the tastes of a global audience," says Philip Lee, producer of "Cloud Atlas," which cast Chinese actress Zhou Xun in a major role and performed well in China.
(Xu Wei contributed to this article.)
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