MCLC: Painted Skin 2 takes China by storm

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: Painted Skin 2 takes China by storm
***********************************************************

Source: The Guardian (7/31/12):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/jul/31/painted-skin-2-china-st
orm

Why Painted Skin 2: The Resurrection has taken China by storm
Following China's ban on foreign films, Painted Skin 2 has become the
country's highest grossing local film of all time – and it's female
viewers who are boosting its sales

Taoist Face/Off … Painted Skin 2

Even The Dark Knight Rises isn't dark enough to slip through a Chinese
blackout. Christopher Nolan's big finale recently got the thumbs up from
the Beijing censors <http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118056824> – but
the ban on foreign films that started on 25 June means it has to wait its
turn for a cinema slot. But what's bad news for angsty Gotham billionaires
is happy days for human heart-quaffing fox demons; part of the reason why
the Chinese government periodically imposes these restrictions.
Supernatural romance sequel Painted Skin 2: The Resurrection, released
three days after the ban, became the first local film in nearly six months
to sit on the No 1 spot.

It did a bit more than that, in fact. Not only was it China's third
highest opening weekend ever (300m yuan/$47m, behind Titanic 3D and the
third Transformers), but it's now the highest grossing local film of all
time, too ($111.8m to date). Directed by Mongolian-born up-and-comer
Wuershan <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4069612/>, it's a throwback to the
heyday of the 90s Hong Kong supernatural titillator: actor-singers Zhou
Xun and Zhao Wei play the aforementioned fox demon and a disfigured
princess who, competing for the attention of a local frontier general, end
up trading bodies. Think a Taoist Face/Off, with shimmery underwater
sapphic writhings instead of showers of slow-mo bullet casings.

The Hollywood Reporter
<http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/painted-skin-2-resurrection-shangh
ai-film-festival-gordon-chan-kris-phillips-338550> praised Painted Skin
2's "unbridled visual creativity", while shrinking from its more
retrogressive elements, especially the depiction of some eye-rolling,
black-magic-practising barbarians who were "a laughable throwback to
long-outgrown film stereotypes".

But mostly, Wuershan gets his undeniably broad story stylings singing with
mythic resonance. Not everything about his film is staunchly traditional,
though. One obvious reason for the scale of its success is that it has
tapped successfully into the female demographic that seems to be crucial
if any blockbuster, Chinese or not, is to hit warp speed. Not just by
casting two female leads, but by giving them decent roles, too, and a
timeless theme – the significance of beauty – with deep-lunged dramatic
breathing room. "Zhao's scenes with Zhou are much more emotionally
resonant than those with the weak-eyed Chen [Kun], her putative romantic
partner," noted Film Business Asia's Derek Elley
<http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/painted-skin-2-resurrection-shangh
ai-film-festival-gordon-chan-kris-phillips-338550>.

Even more of a departure for the industry could be the fact that Painted
Skin 2's backers Huayi Brothers – the country's largest private media
company – avoided the director-centric approach of much Chinese film, and
opted to put power in the hands of its producers instead: the Hollywood
way. "They executed a market-oriented strategy in their selection of
director, their screenplay development, their choice of release date, and
their investment and production management," writes Robert Cain on his
Chinafilmbiz blog 
<http://chinafilmbiz.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/painted-skins-the-competition
-with-sophisticated-strategy-and-superior-marketing/>, "It could have a
long-lasting impact on Chinese film production."

Of course it's ironic that Painted Skin 2 needed a little old-fashioned
government help for this apprentice in Hollywood market-economy ways not
to be crushed by the real Hollywood. But that is the kind of paradox China
likes to throw up now. Wuershan should know: he has embraced all players.
His first film, hyperactive martial-arts comedy The Butcher, the Chef and
the Swordsman <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WJYWrdTES8>, was for Fox
International, executive-produced by Doug Liman (Mr and Mrs Smith), while
his debut homegrown production yanks him right back towards classical
Chinese culture. That always has exotic allure for western audiences; with
Ice Age 4 tempting Chinese audiences back to Hollywood, we'll see how
loyal the home crowd are feeling.