Cao Zhen

FENG XIAOGANG doesn’t like to be put into the position of a New Year season director by most audiences.

He may not be happy when someone remarked his box-office success as the contribution by New Year season and the performance of his longtime actor Ge You. He said: “Well, I don’t need both. My film ‘A Sigh’ was screened in October 2000, two months ahead of the New Year season, and it still took a record 20 million yuan in box-office receipts.”

“I must have confidence that, even though the film is not scheduled for the New Year season, audiences love to watch it all the same,” said Feng.

Feng’s understanding of a New Year film is that whenever you shoot it or whenever it is screened, it is just a film. He said all that matters in his films is a bizarre story and how it relates to ordinary people. “A good story is sure to attract audiences and how it relates to people relies on the expression of the thoughts of ordinary people. Most audiences regard the actors’ lines in my films as sincere and amiable, because the lines show the inner heart of everyone, although actually, no one talks that way,” said Feng.

From 1997 to 2007, Feng shot nine films for the New Year season, most of which were low-budget comedies. Feng never denies his efforts in developing Chinese New Year films. “The greatest significance in Chinese cinema from 1997 to 2001 has been the New Year films, while other genres turned out nothing. Added to that, every New Year film of mine reflects the truth in China of that particular year. If you want to watch it some time in the future, what the country looked like in that period of time can be found in my films.”

Another reason why Feng is so proud is that most of the New Year films shot by him snatched the box-office title in those years. “Dream Factory” (1997) earned 26 million yuan (US$3.42 million) at the box office while it cost only 3 million yuan to produce. “Be There or Be Square” (1998) and “Sorry Baby” (1999) took in 40 million yuan and 30 million yuan, respectively.

Last year, Feng danced to another tune by shooting an epic blockbuster “The Banquet” to appeal to the Western market. However, the transformation from low-budget comedies only brought him a string of criticism for this “Hamlet”-inspired film.

Now Feng has planned a series of activities for the 10th anniversary of his New Year comedies, including a film exhibition in Shenzhen.