‘Mr Deng’ a lesson in opening doors
Print Edition
As Hollywood’s latest superhero movie “Avengers: Age of Ultron” earns record-breaking sums at the Chinese box office, a more low-key film has shed light on a political milestone that helped open China’s doors to such cultural imports.
“That we can watch ‘Avengers’ in cinemas today is precisely because of Deng Xiaoping’s US visit in 1979,” said Fu Hongxing, referring to his documentary “Mr Deng Goes to Washington,” which opened on Friday.
Deng’s nine-day trip, between January 28 and February 5, 1979, changed the fate of the Chinese people and even the global geopolitical situation, but the story is not well known, Fu said.
Deng was the first Chinese leader to visit the United States after the two countries established diplomatic relations in January 1979.
The then vice premier met American politicians, took part in interviews, and made official visits to the Ford car assembly plant and NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
The trip demonstrated China’s resolve to open up to the world and learn from developed countries in science and technology, education and culture.
To make his movie, Fu trawled through archives, purchased video footage from US television networks — at a cost of US$250 a second — and won the trust and support of Deng’s family.
Key figures interviewed in the film include former US President Jimmy Carter and former US National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, as well as Deng’s bodyguards and secret service agents from the White House.
Retired Chinese basketball player Yao Ming also appears in the movie, explaining how he feels about Deng’s influence.
Though Fu had some success in the 1990s with “Zhou Enlai’s Diplomatic Career,” a film about China’s former premier, he encountered difficulty securing funding and approval for “Mr Deng Goes to Washington,” due to its controversial cartoon images of Deng.
Lyu Muzi, Fu’s wife and the film’s executive producer, said the movie was not a government-backed project and that the couple didn’t apply for papers to guarantee favorable screening arrangements at theaters.
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