Eulogy to Chinese Arthouse Films

Eulogy to Chinese Arthouse FilmsTwo very different films were re-leased simultaneouslyin China on May 6，2016.The first was Song of the Phoenix，released after the death of its director，Wu Tianming，aleading figure of Chinas fourth-generation film directors.Alongside it came the Marvel superhero movie Captain America：Civil War.That weekend，Song of the Phoenix showed onfewer than 2 percent of available screens.In one week，Phoenix earned only 3.6 million yuan，compared to an excessof 800 million yuan for Captain America.The evening of May 12，Fang Li，producer of Song of thePhoenix，used Weibo（Chinas microblogging site）to postan image of himself kneeling to beg more people to see his film.In the weeks that followed，the films screen coveragegrew to 7.2 percent，and by June 20，it had earned 86.25million yuan.Such a dramatic shift in improvement inperformance is unprecedented.The film transformed into a sortof cultural event because it inspired passionate debate of manytopics including the Chinese movie market and traditionalChinese culture.Feelings Vs.MasterpiecesSong of the Phoenix depicts the stories of two generationsof suona horn（a woodwind instrument）players fromWushuang Town in Xiuwen County，Guizhou Province，whostrived to preserve and promote the traditional Chinese musicalinstrument despite the cultural shock of the modern era thatemerged in the 1980s and 90s.The title of the film pays homage to a suona solomasterpiece of the same name featuring cheerful melodiessimilar to singing birds.Not only does the piece require masteryof the musical instrument，but it follows a code of conduct intraditional China：“Only those of noble character and highprestige are worthy to partake.”So，it is fitting that suchplayers arehailed as“highly-esteemed.”Nevertheless，Western instruments have graduallysqueezed traditional Chinese musical instruments out alongsideChinas dramatic changes during its reform and opening up.The final performance in the movie is cut short by a fightbetween villagers and the band，and all the musical instru-ments are destroyed.The film ends with the death of Jiao Sanye，a highly respected suona player，after a battle with illness.Song of the Phoenix is realistic yet poetic.In realisticrealms，it depicts the changing destinies of suona players inrural China as well as their ideologies and devotion.The moviecontemplates a major dilemma of that era：Individuals coulddo nothing to slow the decline of traditional culture.Song of the Phoenix was not the first Chinese movie to kindlesuch widespread discussions.In the 1980s，China experienceda tidal wave of literature and art searching for the root ofculture.Many pieces aimed to trace the footprints of traditionalChinese culture from perspectives of macro history anddetermine the culprit to blame for the decay of traditionalculture.Song of the Phoenix，however，didnt dig as deep asmany works of the 1980s.As time passes，each player of thesuona，an icon of traditional Chinese culture，must find his orher own way to survive a transitional era.Bottlenecks are notfixed by maintenance and defense.Audiences have beentouched by the passion of the movie，but passion alone doesnot make a masterpiece.The film was the final project of director Wu Tianming，who was hailed by many as a leading director of the fourthgeneration after he had been honored with myriad awards atforeign and domestic film festivals for movies including Life，Old Well，and The King of Masks.As fifth-generation directorssuch as Zhang Yimou，Chen Kaige and Tian Zhuangzhuangwere making their names known，Wu was an inspirationalfigure to many，which let to him being dubbed“godfather”ofthe fifth generation.The script of Song of the Phoenix was floating around filmcircles for many years before Wu finally picked it up.In February2014，he shot the last scene，and a month later，hesuccumbed to illness.Wus death only made the depiction ofJiao Sanyes passing even more poignant，and the filmbecame an elegy to filmmakers of a past era as much as totraditional culture.The DilemmaIn 2014，Black Coal，Thin Ice directed by Diao Yinan，asixth-generation Chinese director，won the Golden Bear andthe Silver Bear for Best Actor at Berlin Film Festival，andearned more than 100 million yuan at the box office.But thatfilm enjoyed advantages that most art films only dream of，such as state support and a marketing budget of more than 20million yuan.Song of the Phoenix performed surprisingly well at the boxoffice while many Chinese art films struggle to attract anyone topurchase a ticket.Investment in arthouse films has grown steadily in recentyears due to jaw-dropping numbers of the Chinese film marketoverall.However，the double-edged sword has broughtnegative impacts alongside opportunities for artistic filmproduction in China.As illustrated by veteran Chinese film critic Mei Xuefeng，China has seen an obvious drop in the general quality of moviesover the past few years because the capital markets seek onlyto“make more money.”“Everyone wants to make a quickb