Visiting French artist Jacques-Remy Girerd said he was astonished last Saturday afternoon, when he took the stage to greet a packed house of enthusiastic film goers in the movie theatre of the Great Hall of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing.

The Asian debut of his first full length animation film La Prophetie des Grenouilles (The Frog Prophecy) was warmly received by well over 1,000 Chinese film-goers.

They gave him a longstanding ovation after the showing of the exquisitely crafted, poetic film, which took Girerd six years to make and is seen by many as a re-interpretation of the story of Noah's Ark.

"I never dreamt I would one day come to this faraway 'Middle Kingdom' to show my film. Nor did I expect that my film would win the hearts of so many Chinese cinema lovers," said Girerd, a veteran film director/producer who has worked in the motion picture industry for at least 30 years.

Friends from afar

Girerd came to China as a member of an official French film industry delegation.

Consisting of cultural and trade officials, film artists and producers, the delegation brought to Chinese audiences 10 French films produced in the past two years. Their "Panorama of French Films" festival ran from April 8-11 in the Chinese capital.

Of the films, five are directorial debuts and eight were released in France only late last year. The works are said to represent the newest and most active force in the French film industry.

The ongoing Chinese Film Exhibition that started in Paris last October and the "Panorama of French Films" event are said to constitute the largest film exchange between the two countries in many decades.

They serve as a prelude to the 2004-2005 France Culture Year program in China, under the framework of the China-France Culture Year initiative signed by then Chinese President Jiang Zemin and French President Jacques Chirac in 1999.

In the Chinese Film Exhibition in Paris, 110 films, including 20 from Hong Kong, have been screened in Paris, France since last October.

Also in the upcoming Cannes Film Festival in May, there will be a Chinese Movie Day.

With the support of the Chinese Ministry of Culture, Unifrance, a film industry promotion and co-ordination body in France, and the French Embassy in China have co-sponsored this film event, an initiative that "comes in response to the first signs of opening up of the Chinese film market, and is part of a long-term policy approach," according to Unifrance chairperson Margaret Menegoz.

The setting up of this initiative is a result of extensive contact between French and Chinese institutions over recent months, and notably the official visit of France's Culture Minister, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, to China in December 2003, Menegoz said.

Among the agreed projects will be a second "Panorama of French Films," to be held in 2005, she said.

Understanding each other

French films are not new to most Chinese film goers, especially to those of the older generations who are familiar with older French films such as Zorro, starring French actor Alain Delon, and the boisterous comic film La Grande Vadrouille, directed by Gerard Oury, said Li Ershi, a historian with the Beijing Film Academy.

But "Chinese film goers today, especially the young, are more familiar with blockbuster films, namely those imported on a massive scale from the United States since the early 1990s.

"In contrast, the number of French films introduced to Chinese cinema goers in recent years is very small," Li pointed out.

To attract more public attention, at the screenings in Beijing, popular Chinese film and TV stars including Jiang Wen, Xu Jinglei, Jiang Wenli and sports star Hao Haidong were invited to introduce these movies to the Chinese viewers.

All films exhibited in the event are in French with Chinese and English subtitles.

After the screening of each film, its director, producer, or lead actor/actress took to the stage to talk to the Chinese audiences and answer their questions.

As a result, all the screenings were sell-outs.

However, many Chinese moviegoers say they still have difficulty understanding French films.

"According to my experience, most French films, if not all, are slow in plot movement and the protagonists talk too much and talk always philosophically," said Qu Jia, a university students who attended some of the screenings. "Although I can read the subtitles of a French film, I often fail to understand what the dialogue is all about."

Some other Chinese audience members said they are not accustomed to the unresolved endings of many French films.

It is an approach seldom adopted by Hollywood genre films in which the stories develop in a certain pattern and always have a clear resolution. The characters in Hollywood, films are created according to certain "proven formulae," with the suspenseful details uncovered in the end, said film critic Zhao Xingying.

The unconventional French narrative style which is so different from that used by Hollywood film directors puzzles some Chinese film-goers.

For instance, after watching Jeux d'enfants (Child's Play), many Chinese movie-goers admitted they were confused by the complex plot of the film.

But the misunderstanding and confusion caused by these films might just be the significance of this French film festival in Beijing, other Chinese movie-watchers argued.

Watching French films offers average Chinese a good chance to learn more about the European nation, which cherishes a long history and a splendid civilization just like China does, said Gong Hua, marketing director of Titan Sports Weekly. Fascinated with French art and culture, Gong has lived in France for eight years.

"The French film, a main force in the traditionally delicate and refined European film family, provides us with new choices that are very different from the commercial movies from Hollywood," said Mei Feng, a Chinese film researcher studying at the Department of Cinema of the University of Paris 8.

"If we always watch easy-to-understand commercial films, for the purpose of 'mental massage,' our minds will gradually become dull and our tastes will be coarsened," he warned.

Mei said that, not only ordinary Chinese movie-goers can benefit from French films, Chinese film industry officials and professionals can also learn from their French counterparts, to the benefit of local films.

In recent years, France has stepped up measures to boost its domestic film industry, such as setting up film foundations with tax income from the film exhibition sector to aid gifted young film directors. There have been offers of regular ticket discounts to attract more audiences to go to the cinema. Publicity campaigns have also been held to rally more support for domestic films, according to Mei.

In facing the fierce competition from Hollywood, effective measures taken by the French film industry have enabled it to maintain a 30 per cent market share over the past 20 years, and its market share rose to 40 per cent last year, he noted.

The brief film showing in Beijing, according to Menegoz, is but "the starting point for further exchanges between the two countries."

Tong Gang, China's State Film Bureau chief, also hopes that the film festival will "usher in a new phase in co-operation between Chinese and French filmmakers."

Marc Piton, audiovisual attache at the French Embassy in China said: "The cultural exchange program, titled 'France-China Exchange Years' as well as negotiations currently under way between the Center National de la Cinematographie (CNC) and the China's State Film Bureau for a co-operation agreement have played a significant role in providing impetus for the event."

According to Piton, before ending its mission on Monday, the French film delegation also met top Chinese film industry officials and at least 30 Chinese film producers and artists including Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou and Feng Xiaogang, in the offices of China's State Film Bureau, seeking possibilities for future co-operation.

Based on a draft completed late last year, an official agreement concerning in-depth co-operation between the Chinese and French film industries is expected to be drawn up and announced in the coming months, according to Unifrance general manager Veronique Bouffard.

"French industry insiders see China as a film market of considerable potential where French films traditionally are shown on television, and to a far lesser extent in theatres," she said.

Recent months, however, have shown encouraging signs, with four French films released on Chinese screens in 2003 and 2004, namely, Wasabi, by Gerard Krawczyk; Belphegor: the Phantom of the Louvre, by Jean-Paul Salome; The Travelling Birds, by Jacques Perrin; and Fanfan la tulipe, also by Krawczyk.

Piton hopes that this film showing will become an annual event, and its scope can be extended to include other major Chinese cities in addition to Beijing, which may be of help in supporting the commercial distribution of French films in China.

(China Daily April 16, 2004)