THERE are two ways to make a box-office smash.

One is to take an exciting script, hire famous actors, shoot a rollercoaster of a film, distribute it widely and market it deftly. This is the Hollywood way, and it worked pretty well for Harry Potter. The Beijing way shares some features with the Hollywood way, such as hiring lots of stars and distributing the film widely. But the magic ingredient behind Chinas latest blockbuster was one unavailable to the mightiest Tinseltown mogul. It was the power of the party. The Beginning of the Great Revival, a celebration of the founding of the Communist Party, opened at every cineplex in China on June 15th, in time for the partys 90th birthday. Competing films with a shred of drawing power were blocked, even the awful Transformers 3. Many state-owned firms ordered their staff to attend. Schools organised trips so that pupils could watch and learn from the exploits of a youthful Mao Zedong. Government departments deployed waves of bureaucratic bottoms to fill seats. Online reviews alleging that the masterpiece was rather dull were censored. Success was assured. The film was not, as you might imagine, a piece of government-produced propaganda. It was a piece of for-profit propaganda, produced by the countrys biggest film company, the China Film Group (CFG). Along with a smaller firm in which it holds a 12% stake, CFG controls more than half of all domestic film distribution in China. The two firms also distribute the 20 foreign films that China allows in each year. CFG spins tales of love, disaster, war and kung fu, of course. But the easy money is in patriotic pap. In recent years, the firm has produced Nanking! Nanking! (about heroic Chinese resistance to Japan during the second world war) and The Founding of a Republic (about the Communist takeover in 1949). Such films are profitable partly because their stars do not expect to be paid much, if anything. About 100 famous actors worked for nothing on The Founding of a Republic. An even more impressive 172 stars with Chinese ties signed on for The Beginning of the Great Revival, for compensation that, according to the director, amounted to less than the cost of lunch boxes for the crew. The Founding of a Republic cost 30m yuan ($4.6m) to make and brought in a tidy 420m yuan. The Beginning of the Great Revival cost 80m yuan, but has been a bit of a disappointment at the box office, having brought in only 340m yuan so far. Still, that is a return that would thrill any investor in Hollywood. Cinema in China is booming (see chart). In 2010 box-office revenues grew by 64% to just over 10 billion yuan. More than 520 films were madeabout as many as in America. Only India produces more. China boasts the worlds largest outdoor film studio, called Hengdian World Studios, which includes a full-scale mock-up of the Forbidden City.

Exist 2 moduri de a avea succes la ncasri. Unul dintre ele este s se ia un text incitant, s se angajeze actori celebri, s se filmeze un roller coaster al filmului , s se distribuie pe scar larg i s se lanseze pe pia cu iscusin. Aceasta este direcia cinematografiei americane, care a funcionat destul de bine pentru Harry Potter. Calea Beijing-ului are cteva trsturi caracteristice cinematografiei americane, cum ar fi angajarea multor stele i distribuia filmelor pe scar larg.Dar ingredientul magic din spatele celui mai recent blockbaster din China a fost unul indisponibil chiar i celui mai puternic magnat din Tinseltown.Acesta a fost puterea echipei. Inceputul Marii Treziri, o srbtoare a ntemeietorului Partidului Comunist, a fost declarat deschis la fiecare Cineplex n China, pe 15 iunie, la timp pentru celebrarea a 90 de ani ai partidului. Filmele concurente cu o putere mic de atracie au fost stopate, chiar i ngrozitorul Transformatorii 3.Multe firme deinute de stat au ordonat personalului lor s participe.colile organizau excursii, astfel nct elevii s poat urmri i nva din faptele vitejeti ale tnrului Mao Zedong. Departamentele guvernamentale desfurau agitaii cu baz democratic pentru a completa scaunele. Recenziile online ce pretindeau c capodopera a fost destul de plictisitoare au fost cenzurate.Succesul a fost asigurat. Filmul nu a fost un exemplu de propagand fcut de guvern, dup cum ne-am putea imagina. A fost un exemplu de propagand pentru profit, fcut de cea mai mare companie de film din ar, China Film Group (CFG). mpreun cu o firm mai mic, n care deine o miz de 12 procente, CFG controleaz mai mult de jumtate din toate distribuiile filmelor casnice. Cele dou firme distribuie ,de asemenea, 20 de filme strine pe care China le recunoate n fiecare an. CFG nvrte poveti de dragoste, dezastru, rzboi i ,desigur, kung fu. Dar banii uori sunt n favorea povetilor patriotice. n ultimii ani, firma a produs a produs Nanking! Nanking! (despre eroica rezisten chinez contra Japoniei n timpul celui de-al doilea rzboi mondial) i Infiinarea unei Republici (despre preluarea comunist n 1949). Astfel de filme sunt profitabile n mare parte pentru c starurile lor nu ateapt s fie bine pltite, din contra. Aproximativ 100 actori celebri au lucrat pe degeaba n Infiintarea unei Republici.172 staruri i mai impresionante cu legturi chinezeti s-au angajat la Inceputul Marii Treziri pentru a compensa ceea ce, potrivit regizorului, ajunge la mai puin dect costul cutiilor pentru prnz ale echipei. Infiinarea unei Republici a costat 30 de mln yuani (4,6m $) pentru a fi produs i a fost vndut pentru o sum frumuic de 420 mln yuani. Inceputul Marii Treziri a costat 80 mln yuani, dar a fost un pic de dezamgire la rata ncasrilor, fiind vndut la preul de doar 340 mln yuani deocamdat.Totui, este un ctig care ar uimi orice investitor din Hollywood. Filmul n China prosper. n 2010 veniturile ratelor ncasrilor au crescut cu 64 procente la mai mult de 10 mlrd yuani. Au fost produse mai mult de 520 filme-aproximativ la fel de multe c n America. Doar India produce mai multe. China se mndrete cu cel mai mare studio de film n aer liber, numit Hengdian World Studios, care include o machet complet a Oraului Interzis.