Chinese cinephiles can take a time-erasing trip down memory lane as 30 years after Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks and Robin Wright reunite with director Robert Zemeckis in his new movie made using technology that allows them to "magically "appear as their younger selves on-screen.The director debuted the film Here in the coastal city of Xiamen, Fujian province, on Nov 15. While it is not a sequel to the Oscar-winning Forrest Gump, it tells a touching tale of love, loss, laughter and life.
▲ Directors Chen Kaige (right) and Robert Zemeckis (center) during a dialogue session held as part of the 2024 China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Nov 16. [Photo by Zhang Jixuan/For China Daily
The premiere was part of the recently concluded 2024 China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, and provided the audience with a nostalgic mix of the past with cutting-edge technology, while also highlighting the long-standing tradition of cinematic exchange between China and the United States.Masterful conversation"We will always remember that line, 'Run, Forrest, run,' in Forrest Gump. I think it's fair to say the director created an epic of the era," said acclaimed filmmaker Chen Kaige, who won this year's Golden Rooster Best Director award. Chen made the remarks as part of a conversation with Zemeckis during a film festival seminar.Both films share stories with universal themes that transcend time and location. After attending the premiere on Nov 15, 27-year-old Wang Yanglin, an avid fan of Zemeckis, said, "Forrest's optimism has always inspired me through the tough times in my life, and today's new film touches on a similar theme — chasing dreams fearlessly because time truly flies."At the seminar, Zemeckis said that one of the most anticipated features of Here is its groundbreaking 'digital makeup', a technique that wasn't possible just five years ago, let alone executed as flawlessly and seamlessly as it is in this film. "We were truly at the perfect place and the perfect time to make this film," he added.
▲ Zemeckis and his wife Leslie Zemeckis at the closing ceremony of the film festival. Photo provided to China DailyIn recent decades, technological advancements have dramatically transformed the film industries in both China and the US, with AI-powered visual effects now a staple of many productions. This evolution has sparked significant discussions and sharing between filmmakers from both countries."At the end of the day, all artistic activities revolve around humanity. It is especially the case for filmmaking, as the kind of authenticity that comes from real life and existence is truly invaluable," Chen said, while emphasizing the significant challenge of balancing artistic vision with technological advancements, stressing that the latter should support, not suppress, the former.Fully recognizing this challenge, Zemeckis believes that cinema has always been a blend of technology and artistry. As the industry transitions into the digital age, he remarked that "everything is going to come back to the basics, which is story and character".Challenges and chancesOther challenges are also emerging in the global film market as traditional cinema, a real-time cultural experience, is now confronted with fierce competition from the fast-growing popularity of short videos and online entertainment, which have become ever more ubiquitous and tend to dominate leisure time.The 2024 summer box office in China fell short of expectations, with a 44 percent decline from the previous year — sending ripples through the world's second-largest film market.On the other side of the ocean, US box-office revenue in 2024 is projected to be 10 percent lower than last year, according to Boxoffice Pro, a global cinema industry publication, and it will struggle to reach the pre-pandemic yearly sales level.▲ A poster for the film Oppenheimer, which won the Best Foreign Language Film award at the event. Photo provided to China Daily"A common challenge faced by the Chinese and American film industries is that during the pandemic, people gradually developed a dependency on online streaming content. After the pandemic, this shift in consumption habits has posed challenges for the film industries in both countries," says Liang Junjian, associate professor at Tsinghua University.As they navigate similar challenges, the two film industries are paying closer attention to each other — drawing on each other's insights, and exploring collaborative opportunities.At the 45th American Film Market earlier this month in Las Vegas, the China Film Joint Pavilion hosted by the China Film Group garnered considerable interest.Fu Ruoqing, chairman of the China Film Group, says that Hollywood studios, including Warner Bros, Universal, Sony and Disney, have shown interest in distributing Chinese films, and in forming partnerships.At this year's China Film Golden Rooster Awards ceremony, Oppenheimer, a biopic written and directed by British American filmmaker Christopher Nolan, won the Best Foreign Language Film award. The award was established in 2021 to align with international standards and attract outstanding films from abroad. It chronicles the life of American scientist, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and his pivotal role in the development of the atomic bomb."Film festivals and awards represent a real opportunity for cultural exchange and development," Richard Allen, chair professor of the School of Creative Media at the City University of Hong Kong, said while attending a forum on film education and industry at Xiamen University during the festival."In principle, both China and the US should be interested in marketing their films in each other's markets, because the profits to be made are potentially much larger if they collaborate, rather than compete against each other," he said.▲ A scene from Zemeckis' new film Here, featuring Tom Hanks (left) and Robin Wright. Photo provided to China DailyInspiration and influenceSince The Fugitive became the first Hollywood film introduced to China on a revenue-sharing basis, followed by Forrest Gump a year later, the exchange of movies between the two countries has flourished.Many film experts agree that while Hollywood films are not as popular in the Chinese market as they were a decade ago, some films still attract a significant audience. At the same time, the Chinese film market remains open to introducing a broader range of international films from diverse cultures and genres.Chinese films, meanwhile, have been trying to expand overseas. In the early 2000s, Zhang Yimou's Hero found box-office success in North America. In recent years, the film adaptation of sci-fi author Liu Cixin's novel The Wandering Earth penetrated the North American market and caught the attention of mainstream American media.Cinema continues to serve as a potent medium for cultural exchange between China and the US, fostering mutual understanding and deepening each nation's appreciation of the other."Film plays an indispensable role in facilitating China-US cultural and people-to-people exchange," says Raymond Zhou, a seasoned film critic. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon remains the highest-grossing non-English language film in North America, and its martial arts director Yuen Woo-ping was also invited to contribute to the action sequences in the American film The Matrix."At the film festival in Xiamen, many young filmmakers demonstrated an extensive understanding of the film histories of both China and the US. Through dialogue and the exchange of ideas, they gained valuable insight that is likely to influence their future creative endeavors.Attending the festival for the first time, Edward Drake, a young American director, says that he gained a lot of inspiration from the conversation between Chen and Zemeckis."It's fascinating to see two incredibly different filmmakers united by their shared commitment to telling great stories about the human condition. They approach their craft from distinct Asian and American perspectives. That's the beauty of film — it can transcend cultural boundaries, bring people together, and is all rooted in our shared humanity," he says.Source: Xinhua
