China cinema boom excites Shanghai film festival

Quantity does not equal quality

Despite the bonanza for Chinese cinemas, industry movers and shakers in Shanghai have been at pains to stress both the lack of quality in Chinese films and the lack of success in exporting them.

"The domestic film industry still lags far behind Hollywood in terms of industrial scale, technology, market standards, filmmakers' pedigree and diversity of movie genres," said Ren Zhonglun, president of Shanghai Film Group.

Many luminaries at the festival have expressed concern over the industry's pursuit of profit at the expense of quality and the craze for cheap movie adaptations of Internet novels and TV shows.

"When I saw that 'Where Are We Going, Dad?' was completed within six days yet reaped 700 million yuan in box office, I felt ashamed," said Yu Dong, president of Nasdaq-listed Bona Film Group, referring to the big-screen version of the popular TV show.

It made that sum in a short cinema run in February last year. "Running Man", another TV hit rushed to cinemas, made more than 400 million yuan this February.

China-made films have so far failed to make much of a mark outside of China. Very few Americans watch Chinese movies.

The quality of Chinese filmmakers will never really be tested until their work is globally distributed, said Marc Shmuger, former chairman of Universal Pictures. "The rise of the Chinese film industry can not be reflected by mere numbers," he added.

The Chinese film industry has achieved much in a very short space of time in China, but it will take a lot longer for it to become competitive abroad, "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner told Xinhua.

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