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Feng Xiaogang: The people's filmmaker


http://en.youth.cn   2007-08-29 14:11:00

Among China's three most powerful directors, Feng Xiaogang is perhaps the only grassroots hero. People often refer to Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige as masters, but when talking about Feng, they smile as if he is a sweet neighbor who always invites you to share his dumplings.

Strangers will approach Feng and tell him which of his films is their favorite. Such interest in his work shows that while he isn't the most internationally acclaimed Chinese director, he is one of the most popular with Chinese audiences.

His popularity is largely built on hesuipian, a word specially created for his early films screened during December and next February, roughly the time between New Year's Day and the Spring Festival, when people tend to spend more time in cinemas.

Feng's smash comedies on ordinary urbanites' lives topped the domestic box office from 1997 to 99. His films also raked in most money from mainland theaters in 2001 and 2003. In 2006, his first attempt at a costume epic, The Banquet (Ye Yan), won US$19.7 million despite savage reviews.

Feng did not grow up in a film studio, or have a director father as Chen does; neither did he have Zhang's chance to work on a film soon after graduation. The painting-lover from a single-parent family never got a chance to enter any academy, which sets him apart from most mainland directors.

If there is a secret recipe, he says, it is the passion and courage to try. "To me, turning something impossible into possible is really tempting and exciting," says the 49-year-old in black polo shirt with purple logo, blue denim and black sneakers sitting leisurely in the sofa in his lofty studio. While most of his films feature hilarious puns and jokes, Feng is surprisingly serious.

"Every important step is made out of such a belief: I can do it."

At 20, he was determined to join the army's art troupe. Friends thought he was dreaming, but he was accepted as a stage designer with his self-taught oil painting skills.

Eight years later, he left the army and worked at a grain depot. But he chose to shuttle back and forth in different TV drama crews as an art designer, which helped him get a job at the Beijing TV Art Center.

The few years of experience there endowed him with ample opportunities to hone his skills. Everyday he would talk about films and TV dramas with his colleagues, seeking constructive criticism. Such discussions could last for a whole day.

Liu Sha, one of China's earliest TV and film producers, is a 20-year friend of Feng. As he recalls, Feng was always frowning and thinking. The young man always started conversations with jokes, and then talked about a film he watched or a book he just read. What was good about them? Which part could be better?

"He was an avid learner, very smart and hard-working," Liu says. "And he was never afraid to try. Those who also worked as designers then are still designers, but look at him now."

 
source : China Daily     editor::
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