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Shanghai is over-exposed
Critics and some cinemagoers are becoming worried about the growing trend in the film industry of deliberately selecting Shanghai as the backdrop to any movie set in China, writes Xu Wei.
Since the birth of the Chinese film industry a century ago, Shanghai has long been a magnet and a source of inspiration for talented filmmakers from all over the country. And soon local cinemagoers will be treated to new pictures with a Shanghai setting aimed at satisfying their seemingly endless fascination with their miraculous city. "Chang Hen Ge," a film by Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan, is one of them. At the Shanghai Film Shooting Base located in suburban Songjiang District, the movie has just finished its four-month shooting schedule. Jackie Chan, the kung fu megastar, visited the cast last month not as an action actor but as the executive producer of the film. "Actually it's the third time that I have worked with Kwan to make a film like this -- after 'Center Stage' and 'Red Rose, White Rose'," says Chan, who is wearing a business suit as befits his role as producer. Long before he became active in producing films, Chan had smashed box office records throughout Asia with his trademark mixture of action, humor and precisely choreographed stunts -- all performed by himself. "Compared with shooting an action movie, making an art film is much more difficult. The audience might be excited by an explosion or a fight scene and easily become bored by a simple plot which is usually seen in art films," he says. "Some of the footage which is now in post-production conveys the unique flavor of the city," Chan says. "The moment I saw the heroine Wang Qiyao (played by Hong Kong actress Sammi Cheng) appear in an exquisite 'qipao,' the charm and elegance of a Shanghai lady bubbles over." Based on the eponymous novel by well-known Shanghai writer Wang Anyi, "Song" is Kwan's third movie with a deep nostalgic feeling for old Shanghai. It depicts the tragic life and loves of Wang Qiyao, from her days as "Miss Shanghai" in the late 1940s through to her murder in the mid-1980s. Unlike another Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai's hits where an "antique Shanghai" is re-created, or director Kwan's earlier films, "Center Stage" and "Red Rose, White Rose," which focused on the Shanghai of the 1920s and 1930s, "Song" moves over a much longer time span of 40 years. "Something remains of the ups and downs and dramatic social changes," Kwan says. "And that is the vitality, perseverance and strong will of a woman no matter how tender and mild she looks. In that sense, some distinctive personalities of the character can be found universally in the women of today." Kwan emphasized that "Song" should not be considered a story only for "Shanghai ladies." The city is only a backdrop to a movie which goes beyond the boundaries of location and time. So too does "Mini," another film with a Shanghai setting. With scenes shot around Suzhou Creek and the Bund, "Mini' -- whose screenplay is adapted from another of Wang Anyi's novels -- revolves around two lovers who are young, passionate and madly in love. The film is expected to be completed in July and released later in the year. "Actually the story only happens to be set in modern Shanghai," says Wang Dawei, producer of "Mini." "The characters are the main point." Though the crews of the two movies play down the Shanghai backdrop and have targeted the movies at a mass audience, Dr Liu Haibo, a teacher in film art from Shanghai University, still has doubts and worries about Shanghai's starring role. "To my eyes, the rising trend of using Shanghai as a movie backdrop is not necessarily a good thing," Dr Liu says. "Some stories leave no choice but to be set in Shanghai as the events in them could happen only in this city while some that might well have happened elsewhere leave a feeling of fake nostalgia and have deviated from real life." He gives "Hands in the Hair’ which starred Hong Kong actress Rosamund Kwan as an example. The movie was screened earlier this year and portrays a middle-aged Shanghai woman who reminisces over her past glories. However, it did not achieve good returns at the box office or win praise from the critics. "The cast and director of the film were not Shanghai natives and seem to have had little understanding about Shanghai, so how could they make an impressive picture?" Dr Liu says. "The film crew was immersed in a similar reminiscent mood to that of the heroine and they failed to explore anything deeper." Steven Qian, a local movie buff, complains that a lot of pictures with Shanghai settings are too vulgar, commercial and deliberately mystifying. "Actually, scenes of luxury and feelings of nostalgia are not everything in such movies," Qian says. "A really excellent work should be able to arouse in the audience echoes and reflections on their own lives and the world they live in." And the fever to show off Shanghai doesn't stop with moviemaking. A TV series version of "Center Stage," starring Hong Kong star Wu Chien-lien, finished an intensive shooting schedule also at the Shanghai Film Shooting Base last month. And Vivian Wu, a well-known Chinese-American actress, has also revealed plans to work with some of the West's best directors and actors in a series of movies showing the "Shanghai ladies" of today. Wu, who left her native Shanghai for the United States in 1987, says the first in her Shanghai series, "Shanghai Red," will start shooting soon. "I love Shanghai so much that I will try my best to promote the stunning culture and fashions of this dynamic city to the world," Wu said in an interview earlier this year. For actors, producers and directors who want to set their films in Shanghai, critics suggest they obtain a thorough knowledge of the city. "First of all, they must have a clear understanding of the city's history, culture and the trajectory of its development," Dr Liu says. "Otherwise, the movie will be only a superficial production which won't be enjoyed and applauded by the general public."
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