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Crouching tiger hidden dragon 312/29/2023 ![]() “The action scenes weren’t as good as the old kung fu movies. Both Chow and Yeoh are used to Cantonese-speaking roles.Īdded to that are action scenes that Chinese moviegoers label as fake and subpar compared with the kung fu mastery displayed in such classics as “Shaolin Temple.” Shanghai audiences hissed at a scene-a fight atop bamboo trees-that has had Western moviegoers gasping in delight. “As long as it’s not totally absurd.”Ĭomplaints also abound about the film’s slow pace, which American critics have called lush and poetic, and unrealistic characters whose grasp of Mandarin Chinese is shaky. Chinese watchers-used to TV period dramas full of anachronisms-were not impressed. critics and moviegoers swooning fell flat with viewers in the world’s biggest potential movie market.Īmerican reviewers praised the film for its historical authenticity, which required the input of experts on everything from furniture styles to wedding customs in the Qing Dynasty. Hollywood studio chiefs, take note: The same elements that had U.S. Once the movie hit the cinemas, most audience and critical reaction in China was dismissive. Yet the situation is not as clear-cut as Dong thinks. A week ago Sunday, it garnered two Golden Globe awards, for best foreign-language film and best director, and it’s an odds-on favorite for Oscar accolades. ![]() “If we had screened the film at the same time as throughout the rest of Asia, in July, I’m sure ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ would have enjoyed the same kind of financial success and renown as it has had in America and Europe,” he said. “It didn’t do as well as we’d hoped,” acknowledged Bill Kong, one of the film’s producers, who is based in Hong Kong.ĭong, Asian Union’s chairman, is convinced that the delay in releasing the film was the coup de grace. Overall, “Crouching Tiger” has brought in a disappointing 10 million yuan across China, or about $1.2 million-half of what its makers expected, if not less. The movie flopped at the Capital Theater, one of Beijing’s best-known cinemas, where 100 showings over 2 1/2 weeks drew a dismal average of 75 people per screening. They took advantage of our publicity,” said Zhang Xun of China Film, which declined to comment on the dispute over distribution rights. Everyone who wanted to see Chow and co-star Michelle Yeoh show off their fighting prowess had already done so at home. In the end, China Film seemed to capitulate over “Crouching Tiger.” It told Asian Union that the film could be released after all-with such short notice that the firm had no time to remarket the movie.īy then, the streets were flooded with pirated DVD and video compact disc copies of the movie, selling for about $2.50 each, or less. Sources close to the film say Dong was under extra pressure from the government because of his association with “Devils on the Doorstep,” a widely admired movie about the Japanese occupation of China that was banned by censors after Dong’s firm sent it to Cannes without official permission. “It was all very vague, things like ‘There’s no good release date available,’ or ‘It can only be shown during such-and-such a period,’ or ‘You have to let some films hit the theaters first in the run-up to National Day. ![]() ![]() “Nobody ever said anything specific,” recalled Dong Ping, chairman of Asian Union. In the meantime, officials pulled the movie from theaters almost immediately after its glitzy premiere in Beijing in July, just as the film was being released across Asia in a regionwide publicity blitz.Īnd there the movie sat, on the shelf, for three crucial months as China Film apparently tried to drive Asian Union to a death by a thousand cuts, with a slew of vague objections to and conditions for screening the film. China Film tried to fire Asian Union, or at least buy out the private company’s majority share, in a move that Asian Union refused to agree to. Government regulations require all foreign films to have a state firm involved in the movie’s release-a provision Hollywood finds grating.įor “Crouching Tiger,” Asian Union put up 80% of the $1-million cost while its government partner invested 20%.īut once China Film got an inkling that the movie might be an international smash-it caused a sensation at Cannes in May-state officials wanted to freeze out Asian Union, industry insiders say. The rights to release the film in China were shared by a private production firm, Asian Union Film & Entertainment, and the China Film Co-Production Co., one of 16 state-run film companies in China. In this case, a squabble with government cadres over profits and distribution rights helped deliver an early body blow to “Crouching Tiger’s” prospects from which the film was unable to recover. ![]()
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