Page 20 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
January 20, 2014
Popular Chinese microfilm turned into a movie
MICROFILM TO MOVIE. Chinese film director
and actor Xiao Yang, second from left, and actor Wang
Taili, center, pose with dancers on stage as they pro-
mote their new movie, Old Boys: The Way of the
Dragon, in Beijing. An online microfilm watched by
tens of millions that helped establish the genre is be-
ing made into a feature-length movie. The planned
debut of Old Boys at cinemas in China is May 2014.
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)
By Louise Watt
The Associated Press
EIJING — A Chinese online
microfilm, Old Boys, which was
watched by tens of millions and
helped to establish the genre, is being
made into a feature-length movie.
The filmmakers presented a trailer at a
media event in Beijing and said Old Boys:
The Way of the Dragon would be shown in
Chinese cinemas in May. The project’s
genesis as a 43-minute microfilm that
netted nearly 70 million views on a video
website demonstrates how online films are
influencing China’s traditional movie
industry.
“If people like me wanted to make a
movie 10 years ago, we had to get approval
from government agencies and officials
first,” said director and actor Xiao Yang.
“But now, with the internet, we can show
our works to an audience directly and we
get feedback from the audience directly.
When my work gains a large number of
viewers, it starts to influence investors.”
Xiao’s microfilm Old Boys kickstarted
the Chinese microfilm phenomenon —
films around 40 minutes or less that are
distributed online and generally viewed on
mobile phones or laptops. They have
become intensely popular with people born
in the 1980s or later. Today, microfilm
producers face fierce competition for
B
To learn about local relief
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to help victims of the typhoon
in the Philippines, visit:
Portland Emergency Relief Task Force:
www.pdxrelief.wordpress.com
To make a donation, visit:
American Red Cross:
www.redcross.org/or/portland
Direct Relief International:
www.directrelief.org
Medical Teams International:
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Mercy Corps:
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2010. Its main song became a karaoke
favorite.
The movie starts where the microfilm
left off, with the duo — played by the same
actors, director Xiao and Wang Taili, who
wrote three of the movie’s songs — heading
to New York to seek fame. The trailer
shows the pair doing kung fu moves at
John F. Kennedy airport while being
chased by two North Korean assassins,
who the two also play.
The microfilm came about after the pair,
known as the Chopsticks Brothers, posted
their own music videos online and
garnered attention. They were later
sponsored to make Old Boys by the popular
sponsorship and advertising, so many try
to cater for mass viewing and employ
comedy elements and sexual themes.
The original film is a story with comedic
elements of a wedding host and a barber
who reminisce about their school-day
dreams of making it big in music. They
decide to team up for a talent show,
performing Michael Jackson’s “Billie
Jean,” but their hopes are dashed by the
producer, who doesn’t want them in the
competition.
The school-day nostalgia and the pair’s
sadness at losing out on their childhood
dreams struck a chord with the viewing
public when the film was released online in
q
My Turn: Why Chinglish is important
Continued from page 6
by Asian Americans and casting Asian
actors in roles in stage plays. And this is
why Chinglish is important. Portland
Center Stage is making an effort. They
didn’t have to. But they are. We have a
chance to see a play by a veteran
Asian-American playwright. And it must
be supported by making sure that Asians
are represented in the audience. PCS has
taken a financial risk with this play. I hope
it pays off. The works of David Henry
Hwang are worth it.
Editor’s note: Chinglish runs through February 9 at the
Gerding Theater at the Armory, located at 128 N.W.
11th Avenue in Portland. To learn more, or to buy
tickets to the show, visit <www.pcs.org/chinglish>.
On Monday, January 27 at 7:00pm, Dmae is directing
a reading of another Hwang play, The Dance and the
Railroad. The event, which is free and open to the
public, features movement by Minh Tran
as well as performers Heath Hyun Houghton
(as Lone) and Samson Syharath (as Ma).
Blue Tide Satellite
866-443-3351
video website Youku and the state-run
China Film Group as part of a project to
showcase promising young microfilm
makers.
The overwhelming popularity of online
viewing is redefining how China’s
mainstream industry markets itself and
chooses themes. Xiao said that after his
microfilm
became
popular
online,
investors approached him.
“What is popular online is a good
indication of what will be popular with
young people,” said Shao Dan, Youku
Tudou’s director of international commu-
nications.
So Young, one of 2013’s biggest Chinese
box office winners, started life as a web
novel about a young woman’s journey into
adulthood that gained lots of fans online.
The 2011 movie Love Is Not Blind, about
a young woman’s heartbreak, was low
budget, but it concentrated its marketing
online, including videos of people tearfully
relating their own tales of being lovelorn.
It came out in time for China’s Singles
Day, reaping box office revenue that was
many times its investment.
Film critic Raymond Zhou said
traditional films were increasingly relying
on microfilms for promotion, putting short
documentaries about the making of the
feature film online to attract attention
ahead of the release date.
Zhou said he didn’t expect Old Boys to
work so well as a feature film. “I really
doubt it, because there’s a time for
everything,” he said.
When Old Boys the microfilm premiered
in 2010, “it really clicked with the online
public, (but) things change so fast.
Whatever is popular right now will be
totally forgotten in say half a year,” Zhou
said.