Critics or Fans

Early 2014 could easily be the prime of Feng Xiaogang’s career. On January 30， his much-anticipated direction of the Spring Festival Gala aired throughout China to hundreds of millions. His latest film， Personal Tailor， hit China’s big screens at the end of 2013. In just ten days， its box office revenue soared to 500 million yuan， breaking Feng’s personal record. By January 5， 2014， Personal Tailor had grossed 666 million yuan.

However， Feng remained unhappy. His highest-grossing film yet met fierce criticism. Many critics didn’t think much of Feng’s new work. A film researcher known as “Daqihupi” on Weibo asserted that“Personal Tailor respects neither film nor the audience. It lacks a solid structure and concrete characters. The film features only an array of ads and a few jokes.”

Feng was outraged. He posted several tweets in response to “the majority of critics who pretend they know film” and even swore never to forgive them.

Feng’s Comedies

One of China’s top-grossing film directors of all time， Feng was born in Beijing in 1958. Before his career as a director， he served in the army， worked as a stage designer， and went on to direct several TV series. In 1997， his first New Year comedy Dream Factory hit the big screen. With a budget of only six million yuan， its box office topped 36 million yuan， a muchneeded boost amid a Chinese film market slump at the time.

Since then， comedy in the Beijing dialect has become symbolic of Feng’s work. Gradually， Chinese movie fans began expecting his latest opus at the end of every year. From Dream Factory， Be There or Be Square， Sorry Baby， to Big Shot’s Funeral， Cell Phone， and If You Are the One， Feng proved a consistently heavy hitter in terms of box office revenue.

The success of Feng’s New Year comedies lies in his “down-to-earth” working style. His films are aimed at the mainstream public and he knows the Chinese audience. He portrays Chinese society realistically. A Sigh is about extramarital love， a sensitive issue in the country. Cell Phone tackles social， marital， and familial problems arising from such a relatively new， but life-changing tool. And If You Are the One deals with the topic of “l(fā)eftover women” in China， which refers to single， urban， and educated women.

After his early success， Feng showed no interest in creating a serious epic， the dream of many Chinese film directors. He remained satisfied as a “box office” director for a long time after Dream Factory. “I can never be a film master. It would cause physical repulsion， you know，” he once declared. “Venice and Cannes have nothing to do with me.”

Road to Change

Although Feng denies any desire to be considered a “master”， with The Banquet in 2006， Assembly in 2007， and Aftershock in 2010， he began to choose more serious topics， and shot larger-scale epics. These movies won over public opinion as well as the box office， which gave Feng more confidence and prompted him to put more energy into Back to 1942， a historical film about a famine in Henan Province which left more than three million people dead and tens of millions homeless refugees.

The film was an 18-year journey， if measured from the moment he set his eyes on the novel Remembering 1942 in 1994 to the film’s premiere in November 2012. Most critics praised the historical epic. “Watching Back to 1942 in a theater brings a huge sensation that eclipses every domestic movie in recent years，” opined a reviewer with Southern Metropolis Weekly. Renowned film critic Raymond Zhou noted， “Feng was clever this time. He doesn’t speak much in the movie and instead leaves a lot for his audience to think about.” Zhou also predicted， “Even if the movie is not commercially viable， I believe its box office revenue will be good just because Feng is its director.”

Zhou was overly optimistic. Back to 1942， a film Feng worked so hard on and invested his hope in， earned only 370 million yuan at the box office. After the theaters’ take was deducted， Huayi Brothers Media Group， the producer， lost about 100 million yuan. Due to the poor performance of the film， Huayi Brothers’ stock price dropped sharply for more than a few days， which pushed the company’s total losses to upwards of 300 million yuan.

The results hit Feng hard. He couldn’t understand why a film that was so highly acclaimed couldn’t win the hearts of moviegoers. Blame rotated from a bad release date to the public’s poor understanding of his- tory to Chinese film censorship. There was little doubt that he lost some lightness， his position as the audience favorite， with the endeavor. His instincts about serious topics pale compared to his nose for laughs.

Critical Acclaim or Popularity

Being an artistic or popular director is no longer Feng’s personal choice. With Huayi Brothers’ expansion and development， Feng plays more roles， from director to shareholder and investor. As Back to 1942 proved， his films influence the stock price of the company. This invisible pressure casts a shadow over Feng the moment he decides on a theme. “Feng has been bound by capital，” remarked screenwriter and critic Shi Hang. “What do you expect him to do？” Even Feng himself admitted that he feels bored with this kind of life.“According to my contract， I must shoot four more movies. How do I survive that？”

Times are changing. When Feng announced in early 2013 that he intended to return to his most popular style with Personal Tailor， Chinese film circles were undergoing drastic change. Including Lost in Thailand， which was released at the end of 2012， many of China’s most successful films of 2013 were made by young directors. Lost in Thailand， So Young， Finding Mr. Right， Tiny Times， and No Man’s Land were all commercial successes by directors born in the 1970s and even 1980s. Most of the “seasoned” directors such as Zhang Yimou， Chen Kaige， and Jiang Wen， didn’t even release new films in 2013. In this sense， Feng fought alone on big screens. Facing the next generation of hungry directors， Feng seems even more troubled at which road to take： aim for art despite all its drawbacks or go back to his adeptness to produce the popular.