Feng portrays drama of 1942

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Production Feature

China's master of popular cinema FENG Xiaogang 馮小剛 (pictured right) used the Shanghai International Film Festival 上海國際電影節 as the launch pad for his upcoming drama Back to 1942 一九四二.

Unveiling a trailer and two sharply different but equally striking poster images, Feng explained how the film had ballooned far beyond anything initially envisaged. But he said that, like his previous disaster-melodrama Aftershock 唐山大地震 (2010), the film fills in another piece of formative, but often overlooked piece of Chinese history.

One of the posters is a cryptic line drawing of a human being contorted into the shape of a locust. The other is a disturbing photo of a mass exodus. Its tagline 'Keep walking, keep living' could also be a metaphor for his views on the state of China's film industry.

The film's story chronicles the human drama as a devastating famine struck Henan Province in 1942, a time when China was already at war with and partially occupied by Japan.

Based on a novel by LIU Zhenyun 劉震雲 (pictured left), the film was originally intended to be made for RMB30 million ($4.9 million) , but now looks set to come in at RMB210 million ($33 million). Feng described the film as one of the most difficult and gruelling films he had ever made, with locations, period vehicles and over 1,000 extras all adding to the cost. Hollywood stars Tim ROBBINS and Adrien BRODY both have parts.

Feng went out of his way to thank Huayi Brothers Media Corporation 華誼兄弟傳媒股份有限公司 executives James WANG Zhonglei 王中磊 and Dennis WANG Zhongjun 王中軍 for consistently backing movies including LU Chuan 陸川's Kekexili: Mountain Patrol 可可西里 (2004) as well as some of his own pictures, where the commercial prospects initially seemed dismal.

"Some 3 million people died in the famine. I had to remind my actors that this is not a disaster movie in the conventional sense, rather this is about religion, culture, about dying, about facing up to disaster and about survival," said Feng. "There is a surprising amount of humour in it."

He also used the press conference – apparently one of 24 held on the first full day of the festival – to rouse the local industry. "This movie is certain to provoke a lot of discussion. It will prove wrong those people who say that the Chinese film industry has no depth."

"We cannot let Hollywood over-run our industry, we need to make better Chinese films and address our weaknesses. We cannot blame Hollywood or [Chinese] audiences for our own failings."

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