Chinese Films

Since farmer Wen Jide gave up his hoe, he has been a chancellor, a governor, even an emperor. In the movies, that is. When the 62-year-old lost his small plot to a developer a few years ago, he harnessed a nothing-to-lose attitude to win a role as an extra in a Ming Dynasty television drama being filmed near his home here. Wen had never acted before but drew on his experience in a singing and dance troupe in his village. He earned 50 yuan (about $6) for five hours' work.

Mainland Chinese movies won big at the Hong Kong International Film Festival awards gala Thursday, bagging gold and silver in the Asian Digital Competition and the Humanitarian Award for Best Documentary. The Tibetan film "The Silent Holy Stones" won the International Film Critics Federation prize, known as the FIPRESCI.

The Art Deco glory of the Cathay Theatre on Huaihai Zhong Road still beckons to those who love movies, a renovated bit of 1930s Americana in Shanghai that is a reminder of Hollywood's long history of building dream palaces in China. War, a communist revolution and a capitalist reawakening have roiled the country since then, and modern Shanghai's sky-piercing cityscape is more suited to Anakin Skywalker than to Clark Gable. But this is still a movie town.

Bruce Lee. Jackie Chan. Those are the names that come to mind when one thinks of Hong Kong martial arts films. Lee is dead and Chan is aging, although he has not discussed retiring yet from action acting. Who will keep the banner flying when he does? Not even Chan knows the answer, but he does offer reasons why there are few new stars ready to leap into the fray.

China's best-known filmmaker, Zhang Yimou, in recent years has moved away from the period epics that depicted China's turbulent 20th century history with stinging social criticism--"Red Sorghum," "Raise the Red Lantern" and "Shanghai Triad"--to more intimate contemporary dramas such as "Not One Less," about a teenager drafted into a teaching position, and "The Road Home," in which an illiterate wife devotes her life to her husband, a rural teacher.

The real Mao Tse-tung hounded critics to death. But in the latest version of history according to China's state film industry, Mao treasures free speech and criticism of his regime. "Mao Tse-tung and Edgar Snow" tells the story of Mao and the American journalist who met him in 1936, when China's future Communist rulers were an obscure band of rural guerrillas. "Mao is anxious to create a fair society," Snow says in one scene.

The victory streak continues for the Chinese-language film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," which garnered best director, best supporting actress and best feature honors at the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday. The multiple wins, coming a day before the Academy Awards, cap a monthlong series of prizes bestowed on the martial arts romantic drama and its director, Ang Lee. The movie has been nominated for several Academy Awards, including best picture and director.

The Motion Picture Assn. of America once again hosts a Chinese Film Festival, beginning Monday at the Egyptian. The invitation-only opening night film, Zhang Jianya's "CrashLanding," was named best picture of the year in the Baihua Awards, one of China's most prestigious film prizes. Since the festival is co-sponsored by the Chinese government, it is not the kind of outlet where one is likely to find a picture by Zhang Yimou or Chen Kaige.

Spurned by Cannes, the Chinese film "Not One Less," directed by Zhang Yimou, took the top prize at the 56th edition of the Venice Film Festival on Saturday night. The jury's special prize went to "The Wind Will Carry Us," by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami.

Like modern-day Marco Polos with cellular phones, Hollywood executives are venturing to China seeking the same kind of profits they reaped exporting fantasy to the rest of the world. But despite China's promise of 1.3 billion potential customers, a burgeoning middle class enamored of entertainment, a flourishing creative community and a growing, less shackled economy, the largest untapped market for American movies and TV shows remains maddeningly out of reach.