Big Fish And Begonia For our Streaming Spotlight this week, we're focusing on China - a country with a rich cinematic industry that stretches back to Ren Qingtai's Dingjun mountain in 1905. We haven't included specific Hong Kong or Tawainese entries here, although some are co-productions between all three places, and will aim to return to their specific cinema histories in the future. As always, our choices have been to a degree dictated by what is available to stream in the UK - documentaries, in particular, are hard to come by, but do look out for the likes of One Child Nation, Last Train Home and Up The Yangtze in other formats.
Raise The Red Lantern, Amazon, from £3.49
No list of Chinese cinema would be complete without at least one film from Fifth Generation director Zhang Yimou, whose work ranges from historical dramas like this to action spectaculars including Hero and intimate dramas like [film]Coming.
Raise The Red Lantern, Amazon, from £3.49
No list of Chinese cinema would be complete without at least one film from Fifth Generation director Zhang Yimou, whose work ranges from historical dramas like this to action spectaculars including Hero and intimate dramas like [film]Coming.
- 11/6/2020
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
China reopened its cinemas on Monday after nearly five months of closure, but audiences are only trickling in.
The re-opening was restricted to theaters in cities and regions where the coronavirus is deemed to have been vanquished. That excluded Beijing, where recent weeks have seen a resurgence of Covid-19 cases.
By 6 p.m. local time, cumulative nationwide gross takings totalled $470,000 (RMB3.35 million), according to figures from measurement agency and consultancy Entdata. Earlier in the day, state media had reported that the total included more than $150,000 of prior bookings, which indicates that only modest numbers of cinema-goers made decisions on the day.
The slow pace of ticket sales in commercial theaters contrasted with buoyant first day sales for the Shanghai International Film Festival. Unconfirmed local sources report that the festival achieved over 100,000 ticket sales in the first 10 minutes of online ticketing. The festival will run July 25-Aug. 2.
Rewarding a degree of bold programming,...
The re-opening was restricted to theaters in cities and regions where the coronavirus is deemed to have been vanquished. That excluded Beijing, where recent weeks have seen a resurgence of Covid-19 cases.
By 6 p.m. local time, cumulative nationwide gross takings totalled $470,000 (RMB3.35 million), according to figures from measurement agency and consultancy Entdata. Earlier in the day, state media had reported that the total included more than $150,000 of prior bookings, which indicates that only modest numbers of cinema-goers made decisions on the day.
The slow pace of ticket sales in commercial theaters contrasted with buoyant first day sales for the Shanghai International Film Festival. Unconfirmed local sources report that the festival achieved over 100,000 ticket sales in the first 10 minutes of online ticketing. The festival will run July 25-Aug. 2.
Rewarding a degree of bold programming,...
- 7/20/2020
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Chinese cinemas will open next week in regions at low risk for Covid-19 with a boost from a slew of Hollywood titles, including “The Pursuit of Happyness,” “Dolittle,” “Bloodshot,” and “Coco.”
China’s theaters have been closed for longer than any other country’s, having stayed dark — despite a brief attempt to reopen in March — since the lunar new year holiday in late January.
As of early Saturday morning in China, 22 films are set to hit theaters on Monday, the first day of reopenings, including U.S. films “Pursuit of Happyness,” “Coco,” and “A Dog’s Purpose.”
The others are all Chinese re-run titles, except for one new one: “A First Farewell,” a well-received arthouse title set in China’s Xinjiang region that screened as part of last year’s Generation Kplus selection at Berlin.
The opening day offerings include: blockbusters “Wolf Warrior 2,” “Monster Hunt,” “Wolf Totem,” “American Dreams in China,...
China’s theaters have been closed for longer than any other country’s, having stayed dark — despite a brief attempt to reopen in March — since the lunar new year holiday in late January.
As of early Saturday morning in China, 22 films are set to hit theaters on Monday, the first day of reopenings, including U.S. films “Pursuit of Happyness,” “Coco,” and “A Dog’s Purpose.”
The others are all Chinese re-run titles, except for one new one: “A First Farewell,” a well-received arthouse title set in China’s Xinjiang region that screened as part of last year’s Generation Kplus selection at Berlin.
The opening day offerings include: blockbusters “Wolf Warrior 2,” “Monster Hunt,” “Wolf Totem,” “American Dreams in China,...
- 7/17/2020
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Chinese streaming giant iQiyi has made 2019 blockbuster animated film Ne Zha available in nine South East Asian markets. VIP subscribers in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Brunei and Cambodia from Sunday were given exclusive access to the $726M worldwide grosser which is China’s biggest toon ever and the No. 2 local title of all time.
The move, which comes amid global theater closures due to the coronavirus, could help iQiyi expand its international footprint. The overseas version of the iQiyi app has to date launched more than 2,700 films, including new releases and premium originals, the company said on Sunday, though subscriber numbers were not disclosed. The Ne Zha figure from classic Chinese fairy tales is widely known among young people in the South East Asia region, and since its launch on iQiyi in China, the film has been among the Top 10 most played movies on the platform,...
The move, which comes amid global theater closures due to the coronavirus, could help iQiyi expand its international footprint. The overseas version of the iQiyi app has to date launched more than 2,700 films, including new releases and premium originals, the company said on Sunday, though subscriber numbers were not disclosed. The Ne Zha figure from classic Chinese fairy tales is widely known among young people in the South East Asia region, and since its launch on iQiyi in China, the film has been among the Top 10 most played movies on the platform,...
- 4/6/2020
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
This year’s FilMart marks the international sales debut of Beijing-based distributor Times Vision, which brings to Hong Kong a slate led by crime thriller “Savage” and animated feature “Nezha.” The company will be presenting nine live action films, including one documentary, and seven animated titles.
Times Vision is led by CEO Nathan Hao, who co-founded Chinese indie distributor Lemon Tree and led its international division before joining the newly established Times Vision in 2017. Times Vision imports foreign titles – primarily arthouse films, but it also has begun delving into the remake rights market – and is now getting into production as well. It is currently at work with Chinese partners on pre-production for a remake of 2016 Japanese Oscar entry “Her Love Boils Water.”
“We are famous for being good buyers of festival titles,” Hao told Variety. “Tvod is a new thing for Chinese audiences for foreign films. Streaming is a better...
Times Vision is led by CEO Nathan Hao, who co-founded Chinese indie distributor Lemon Tree and led its international division before joining the newly established Times Vision in 2017. Times Vision imports foreign titles – primarily arthouse films, but it also has begun delving into the remake rights market – and is now getting into production as well. It is currently at work with Chinese partners on pre-production for a remake of 2016 Japanese Oscar entry “Her Love Boils Water.”
“We are famous for being good buyers of festival titles,” Hao told Variety. “Tvod is a new thing for Chinese audiences for foreign films. Streaming is a better...
- 3/17/2019
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
The Brazilian animated feature “Tito and the Birds,” which makes its North American premiere at Tiff, has been picked up for distribution by Shout! Studios (“Big Fish & Begonia”) for Oscar consideration.
This exquisite-looking movie, about a 10-year-old boy who saves the world from an epidemic of fear, was created by Split Studio in Brazil with oil paintings (like last year’s innovative “Loving Vincent”), digital drawings, and graphic animation.
“Tito and the Birds” was directed by animation newcomer Gustavo Steinberg (the live-action “End of the Line”), Gabriel Bitar (“Cidade Cinza”), and André Catoto (“Say I Am Only Seventeen”). In addition, it features an original score by Gustavo Kurlat and Binho Feffer (the Oscar-nominated “The Boy and the World”). The producers are Daniel Greco, Felipe Sabino, and Brenda Wooding.
“Tito and the Birds” tells the story of the titular boy and his two friends confronting a pandemic created by fear...
This exquisite-looking movie, about a 10-year-old boy who saves the world from an epidemic of fear, was created by Split Studio in Brazil with oil paintings (like last year’s innovative “Loving Vincent”), digital drawings, and graphic animation.
“Tito and the Birds” was directed by animation newcomer Gustavo Steinberg (the live-action “End of the Line”), Gabriel Bitar (“Cidade Cinza”), and André Catoto (“Say I Am Only Seventeen”). In addition, it features an original score by Gustavo Kurlat and Binho Feffer (the Oscar-nominated “The Boy and the World”). The producers are Daniel Greco, Felipe Sabino, and Brenda Wooding.
“Tito and the Birds” tells the story of the titular boy and his two friends confronting a pandemic created by fear...
- 8/22/2018
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Note: After a batch of A24 films on Netflix were added last week, even more join the streaming platform this week.
A Most Violent Year (J.C. Chandor)
The Sidney Lumet talk is apt, as J.C. Chandor’s A Most Violent Year certainly captures the scope and pulse of the late master’s dramas. But this is a dark-side-of-the-American-dream epic with a reach all its own. Oscar Isaac and...
Note: After a batch of A24 films on Netflix were added last week, even more join the streaming platform this week.
A Most Violent Year (J.C. Chandor)
The Sidney Lumet talk is apt, as J.C. Chandor’s A Most Violent Year certainly captures the scope and pulse of the late master’s dramas. But this is a dark-side-of-the-American-dream epic with a reach all its own. Oscar Isaac and...
- 7/27/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
There’s a wider range of indie movies joining the usual studio suspects in this year’s animation race. Disney/Pixar returns with “Incredibles 2,” Brad Bird’s superb advance on the original Oscar-winning 2004 superhero feature, while Disney Animation offers its own sequel to an Oscar-nominated original, “Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2” (November 21), and Universal/Illumination will try to make its return to awards contention with another Dr. Seuss adaptation, “The Grinch” (November 9).
Longer shots include Aardman’s stop-motion “Early Man” (Lionsgate) and two Sony Animation entries, sequel “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation,” from director Genndy Tartakovsky, and the Phil Lord & Chris Miller-produced “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (December 14), a likely holiday hit with a wild stylistic look directed by animators-turned-directors Bob Persichetti and Rodney Rothman and Peter Ramsey (“Rise of the Guardians”). Are Lord and Miller now considered worthy of Oscar contention, with experienced animators in the directors’ chairs?...
Longer shots include Aardman’s stop-motion “Early Man” (Lionsgate) and two Sony Animation entries, sequel “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation,” from director Genndy Tartakovsky, and the Phil Lord & Chris Miller-produced “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (December 14), a likely holiday hit with a wild stylistic look directed by animators-turned-directors Bob Persichetti and Rodney Rothman and Peter Ramsey (“Rise of the Guardians”). Are Lord and Miller now considered worthy of Oscar contention, with experienced animators in the directors’ chairs?...
- 7/3/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
• Oscilloscope Musings Interesting piece about Zach Snyder's Suckerpunch and how it reflects various old movies, especially the musical Gold Diggers of 1933
• Cartoon Brew on the making of a new animated feature Big Fish & Begonia, now in select cities
• Deadline Jumanji (2017) broke a long held record just barely toppling Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002) to become Sony's all time biggest domestic hit
lots more news and entertainment tidbits after the jump including Omar Sharif, Glenn Close, Melissa McCarthy, Anika Noni Rose and Keiynan Lonsdale...
• Cartoon Brew on the making of a new animated feature Big Fish & Begonia, now in select cities
• Deadline Jumanji (2017) broke a long held record just barely toppling Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002) to become Sony's all time biggest domestic hit
lots more news and entertainment tidbits after the jump including Omar Sharif, Glenn Close, Melissa McCarthy, Anika Noni Rose and Keiynan Lonsdale...
- 4/11/2018
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Chinese feature animation has reached a new level of achievement with “Big Fish & Begonia,” which grossed nearly $90 million in China, was a festival fave, and was picked up by Shout! Studios for North America. The mystical and visually stunning hand-drawn folk tale, from directors Liang Xuan and Zhang Chun, bows this weekend in La, San Francisco, and New York before expanding next week. But will American audiences respond and will the Academy elevate Chinese animation with an Oscar nomination?
“The Chinese animation industry is at the beginning of a huge growth period,” said Liang. “In recent years, some excellent Chinese animated films were released and did very well at the box office. That means the market is now looking forward to more domestic animated films. There’s more and more capital and talent entering the animation fields in both film and television, and I believe that Chinese animation will soon...
“The Chinese animation industry is at the beginning of a huge growth period,” said Liang. “In recent years, some excellent Chinese animated films were released and did very well at the box office. That means the market is now looking forward to more domestic animated films. There’s more and more capital and talent entering the animation fields in both film and television, and I believe that Chinese animation will soon...
- 4/6/2018
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Marrying the sensitivity of “Spirited Away” to the lushness of “The Legend of Korra” and the narrative coherence of a lucid dream, “Big Fish & Begonia” is the very rarest of Chinese exports: An animated film that was made for adults. Co-directed by Zhang Chun and Liang Xuan, two thirtysomethings who worked on the movie for more than a decade before their social media campaign caught the attention of some legit financiers, this extreme labor of love eventually managed to conquer a marketplace that has almost zero appreciation for such art.
While America at least has the likes of Pixar and Laika to offset the really cynical stuff, with mainstream oddities like “Sausage Party” and “Isle of Dogs” there to remind us that cartoons aren’t just for kids, Chinese audiences are pretty much just stuck with the “Boonie Bears” franchise (and that’s hardly an exaggeration: the country’s fourth,...
While America at least has the likes of Pixar and Laika to offset the really cynical stuff, with mainstream oddities like “Sausage Party” and “Isle of Dogs” there to remind us that cartoons aren’t just for kids, Chinese audiences are pretty much just stuck with the “Boonie Bears” franchise (and that’s hardly an exaggeration: the country’s fourth,...
- 4/6/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Chinese animation makes a confident play for art and relevance with “Big Fish & Begonia,” a swell of myth, nature, adolescent turbulence and fantasy intrigue that impresses more often than it organically dazzles, and yet succeeds mostly because of its beating heart.
It’s impossible not to think of Japan’s animation deity Hayao Miyazaki when watching this movie’s lyrical flourishes — morphing creatures, magical worlds, a little “Spirited Away” here, a little “Ponyo” there — but there’s also a concerted effort on the parts of directors Xuan Liang (who also wrote it) and Chun Zhang to establish their own alchemic wonder. Where Miyazaki’s wisdom kept his prodigious imagination in the service of intimacy, “Big Fish” is daringly, if haphazardly, epic with its vision and feelings. The urge to awe may feel self-conscious at times, but it’s rarely not heartfelt, even when it’s skirting the edge of incomprehensible.
Detailing the story’s intertwined human and spiritual worlds takes some time in the early going, but the set-up’s basic gist is that life on earth is tied to the movement of the oceans, which are controlled by beings in a sky realm. The story centers on one of these otherworldly figures from above, a 16-year-old girl named Chun who is eager to explore the human world through an established ritual — one involving a massive whirlpool-like water portal — that allows an “other” to visit life below in the form of a red dolphin.
Also Read: 'Frozen 2' Star Kristen Bell Teases 'Very Good' Story and Songs
The trip can only last seven days, however, and mustn’t involving direct interaction with humans, due to the prevailing belief that they’ve made a mess of things. (And who can blame them, especially when it comes to sea mammals?)
Chun defies the rules, though, and initiates a wordless dolphin-girl connection with a kind fisherman’s son who shows an abiding respect for aquatic life. When Chun gets trapped in a fishing net, the boy saves her, but drowns in the process. Distraught and eager to right this wrong, Chun returns to her world with one of the boy’s possessions — an ocarina — and looks for a way to bring him back to life. This requires bargaining with the soul keeper, a wily, mahjong-playing figure who demands half of Chun’s life in return for the chance for her to nurture the boy’s soul, manifest in their realm as a baby dolphin, into adulthood, after which he can return to the human world.
Chun’s selflessness isn’t seen as such by the others, except for her childhood pal Qiu, a gung-ho boy with obvious feelings for Chun. Though he suffers pangs of jealousy over Chun’s attention to her human-born, dolphin-bodied charge (which she names Kun), Qiu sticks up for Chun, and eventually offers his own form of sacrifice to keep her and the ever-growing Kun safe.
See Photos: A Timeline of Stop-Motion Animation History, From 'A Trip to the Moon' to 'Isle of Dogs'
But they’re up against a concerned citizenry, who blame the increasingly unnatural weather on the human in their midst. Chun and Qiu are also in danger of being manipulated by a devious sewer queen who houses the souls of departed human sinners in the form of rats.
It may feel as if an entire encyclopedia’s worth of Chinese mythology were coursing over you in one trippy movie. Indeed, much of the integrated inspiration for Liang’s and Zhang’s story comes from such storied texts of colorful folklore as “Classic of Mountains and Seas” and “In Search of the Supernatural,” and perhaps most prominently — in the case of one character’s turning into a giant tree, and its importance to the story’s resolution — from the ancient Taoist collection of fables called “Zhuangzi.”
Also Read: Apple Gives 2 Season Order to Animated Musical Series From 'Bob's Burgers' Creator
At its visual best, “Big Fish & Begonia” makes lyrical connections between atmospheres — as when an underwater sequence, seen from a different angle, looks like creatures are swimming through the sky — or just revels in a stunning vista altered by the characters’ ability to transform themselves and the world around them.
It may be a convoluted yarn, but there are pockets of grace when it comes to Liang’s and Zhang’s sincere evocation of the responsibility behind stewardship of our and others’ souls, and a belief in sacrifice as it relates to love and death, even our relationship to the environment. (And having spent over a decade painstakingly turning a personal project into a feature-length reality, Liang and Zhang clearly know a thing or two about nurturing something beloved into existence.)
The story is ultimately defined by the trade-offs its mythical beings make that give life to some at the expense of others, and those spiritually affirming decisions eventually take pride of place amidst the overwhelming campaign of climactic set pieces (namely, the threatened destruction of Chun’s world) that dominate the second half.
Chinese animation is still feeling its way into the industry, but “Big Fish & Begonia,” with its big-canvas approach to myth, world-building, wonder and fragile humanity, announces itself as if cinema was more than ready for it.
Read original story ‘Big Fish & Begonia’ Film Review: Chinese Animated Fantasy Tells Bold, Beautiful Tale of Sacrifice At TheWrap...
It’s impossible not to think of Japan’s animation deity Hayao Miyazaki when watching this movie’s lyrical flourishes — morphing creatures, magical worlds, a little “Spirited Away” here, a little “Ponyo” there — but there’s also a concerted effort on the parts of directors Xuan Liang (who also wrote it) and Chun Zhang to establish their own alchemic wonder. Where Miyazaki’s wisdom kept his prodigious imagination in the service of intimacy, “Big Fish” is daringly, if haphazardly, epic with its vision and feelings. The urge to awe may feel self-conscious at times, but it’s rarely not heartfelt, even when it’s skirting the edge of incomprehensible.
Detailing the story’s intertwined human and spiritual worlds takes some time in the early going, but the set-up’s basic gist is that life on earth is tied to the movement of the oceans, which are controlled by beings in a sky realm. The story centers on one of these otherworldly figures from above, a 16-year-old girl named Chun who is eager to explore the human world through an established ritual — one involving a massive whirlpool-like water portal — that allows an “other” to visit life below in the form of a red dolphin.
Also Read: 'Frozen 2' Star Kristen Bell Teases 'Very Good' Story and Songs
The trip can only last seven days, however, and mustn’t involving direct interaction with humans, due to the prevailing belief that they’ve made a mess of things. (And who can blame them, especially when it comes to sea mammals?)
Chun defies the rules, though, and initiates a wordless dolphin-girl connection with a kind fisherman’s son who shows an abiding respect for aquatic life. When Chun gets trapped in a fishing net, the boy saves her, but drowns in the process. Distraught and eager to right this wrong, Chun returns to her world with one of the boy’s possessions — an ocarina — and looks for a way to bring him back to life. This requires bargaining with the soul keeper, a wily, mahjong-playing figure who demands half of Chun’s life in return for the chance for her to nurture the boy’s soul, manifest in their realm as a baby dolphin, into adulthood, after which he can return to the human world.
Chun’s selflessness isn’t seen as such by the others, except for her childhood pal Qiu, a gung-ho boy with obvious feelings for Chun. Though he suffers pangs of jealousy over Chun’s attention to her human-born, dolphin-bodied charge (which she names Kun), Qiu sticks up for Chun, and eventually offers his own form of sacrifice to keep her and the ever-growing Kun safe.
See Photos: A Timeline of Stop-Motion Animation History, From 'A Trip to the Moon' to 'Isle of Dogs'
But they’re up against a concerned citizenry, who blame the increasingly unnatural weather on the human in their midst. Chun and Qiu are also in danger of being manipulated by a devious sewer queen who houses the souls of departed human sinners in the form of rats.
It may feel as if an entire encyclopedia’s worth of Chinese mythology were coursing over you in one trippy movie. Indeed, much of the integrated inspiration for Liang’s and Zhang’s story comes from such storied texts of colorful folklore as “Classic of Mountains and Seas” and “In Search of the Supernatural,” and perhaps most prominently — in the case of one character’s turning into a giant tree, and its importance to the story’s resolution — from the ancient Taoist collection of fables called “Zhuangzi.”
Also Read: Apple Gives 2 Season Order to Animated Musical Series From 'Bob's Burgers' Creator
At its visual best, “Big Fish & Begonia” makes lyrical connections between atmospheres — as when an underwater sequence, seen from a different angle, looks like creatures are swimming through the sky — or just revels in a stunning vista altered by the characters’ ability to transform themselves and the world around them.
It may be a convoluted yarn, but there are pockets of grace when it comes to Liang’s and Zhang’s sincere evocation of the responsibility behind stewardship of our and others’ souls, and a belief in sacrifice as it relates to love and death, even our relationship to the environment. (And having spent over a decade painstakingly turning a personal project into a feature-length reality, Liang and Zhang clearly know a thing or two about nurturing something beloved into existence.)
The story is ultimately defined by the trade-offs its mythical beings make that give life to some at the expense of others, and those spiritually affirming decisions eventually take pride of place amidst the overwhelming campaign of climactic set pieces (namely, the threatened destruction of Chun’s world) that dominate the second half.
Chinese animation is still feeling its way into the industry, but “Big Fish & Begonia,” with its big-canvas approach to myth, world-building, wonder and fragile humanity, announces itself as if cinema was more than ready for it.
Read original story ‘Big Fish & Begonia’ Film Review: Chinese Animated Fantasy Tells Bold, Beautiful Tale of Sacrifice At TheWrap...
- 4/5/2018
- by Robert Abele
- The Wrap
In 2004, directors Xuan Liang and Chun Zhang created a Flash animation for an online contest. From there they expanded it into a feature length film steeped in Chinese supernatural legend. And despite some funding snags over its twelve-year production schedule, Big Fish & Begonia turned its approximately five million-dollar budget (in today’s Us dollars) into just shy of one hundred million at the Chinese box office. Now it makes its way to America two years later for a limited release, another stellar example of the nation’s growing animation industry. With its beautiful aesthetic and distinctive tale of life, death, and love, the film should find a welcome audience.
The story takes place in a magical world that exists beneath the human world in an alternate, spiritual reality. Its inhabitants are mostly humanoid in appearance, their supernatural powers attuned to the natural forces of the world. Known as “Others,...
The story takes place in a magical world that exists beneath the human world in an alternate, spiritual reality. Its inhabitants are mostly humanoid in appearance, their supernatural powers attuned to the natural forces of the world. Known as “Others,...
- 4/5/2018
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
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