Between Political Discourse and Classic Inheritance: the State of Chinese Cinema in the 21st Century

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 21st century, Chinese movies have shown a strong tendency towards the adaptation of classics in an attempt to draw audiences. However, of all the productions churned out by the film industry, very few win audience acclaim. One of the main reasons for this is that adaptations, in attempting to weave new themes and plots into the originals, become followers of mainstream values and ideology. While this does contribute to the moral construction of the citizenry, as desired by the Chinese government in the current political context, it is not justified from the perspective of classic inheritance. What means, if any, exist to reconcile the conflict between political discourse and classic inheritance? How to strike a balance between the two? These have become urgent questions which must be addressed.