Promotional material for The Wandering Earth II  Photo: Courtesy of Maoyan

After dinner on the fourth day of the 2023 Spring Festival holidays, Wuhan resident Wan Fang went to a local cinema with her family to see Chinese director Zhang Yimou's newly released movie Full River Red. Since they were watching a 10 pm showing, she thought that only a few people would be in the cinema, but when the elevator door opened, she was shocked by the crowd before her.

A similar scene took place in another cinema when she chose to watch the sci-fi blockbuster The Wandering Earth II. 

"People are letting their enthusiasm for films loose after being tempered by the ­COVID-19 epidemic," Wan said.

The total box office of the holiday period had reached 6.73 billion yuan ($992.11 million) as of ­Friday night, the last day of the first Spring Festival holidays since China optimized its COVID-19 response. This has surpassed the 6.039 billion yuan grossed during the 2022 Spring Festival holidays, making it the second-highest Spring Festival box office in Chinese film history.

Both audiences and movie ­critics have given thumbs up to these ­holiday films, praising their ­moving narrations of Chinese stories and values as well as ­stunning visuals.

Xu Shuming, a cultural researcher, told the Global Times on Friday that films infused with the Chinese spirit that has been passed down from ancient times, like the courage and optimism shown in sci-fi movies when facing crises and disasters, were the main reason for the box-office surge as they were "relatable for audiences and fit with their shared cultural consensus."

Promotional material for Full River Red  Photo: Courtesy of Maoyan

Powerful core

A total of seven films hit cinemas during the holiday period, which enjoyed a great variety of genres, covering sci-fi adventure, period suspense, sports drama, comedy and fantasy animation.

Several film critics told the Global Times that the quality of the films was much improved over previous years and some even went beyond their expectations. 

One of the most important reasons for the success is that these outstanding works have a powerful core founded on Chinese stories and values, which not only focus on the ­nation but also take a broad view on benefiting all humanity, according to Luo Luo, a film critic based in Beijing.

The films Full River Red and The Wandering Earth II, which were No.1 and No.2 respectively on the Spring Festival charts, are two representative examples of this spiritual core.

The top film of the holiday period takes place in a military outpost during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Inspired by a famous poem believed to be written by the patriotic general Yue Fei, the film sees Zhang once again delving back into China's ancient past after excursions into 20th-century wartime scenarios with Cliff Walkers (2021) and Snipers (2022). 

Watching ordinary people sacrifice themselves one after another to pass on Yue's patriotic poem, Chinese audiences were touched by the moral spirit of these "small potatoes" and were impressed with the patriotic spirit of the Chinese people that has been handed down for thousands of years.

"The scene in which soldiers recite Yue's poem shocked me and made me feel an upsurge of emotion. This is the real treasure of our nation," Beijing resident Xiao told the Global Times.

The Wandering Earth II, directed by Guo Fan, continued the high bar set by the first film's stunning special effects while showing the responsibility China feels for the world and its constant call for unity between different countries and regions.

In the movie, Chinese diplomat Zhou Zhezhi (played by Li Xuejian) represents this spirit with the lines: "In times of crisis, unity above all. Remember the day that people's courage transcended history." 

Promotional material for Full River Red  Photo: Courtesy of Maoyan

Chinese belief, courage

Both film industry insiders and audiences have felt that a new spring has dawned for the Chinese movie industry, which was hit hard by the epidemic. Peking University professor Zhang Yiwu told the Global Times that in addition to the surge in moviegoers following the downgrading of China's management of COVID-19, the "high concept" film Wandering Earth II won people's hearts due to its unique combination of its interesting "universe exploration" theme and Chinese beliefs and narrative. 

"Although the first film already won over a large audience, the story's core of showing Chinese space exploration is what intrigued audiences and got them to head to cinemas." 

In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic had a greater impact on the North American film market than on the Chinese market. It was also the year that the Chinese box office achieved the historic breakthrough of becoming the biggest in the world. Chinese market retained the top spot at the global box office in 2021, but lost the top spot in 2022 because of the impact of the pandemic.

But industry insiders say the Chinese market has strong tenacity and the recovery of the 2023 Spring Festival period is proof of that. As the whole world is still struggling to recover from the shadow of the ­COVID-19 pandemic, China's booming film market definitely will set up a good example for the whole industry and bring courage and hopes to them as well.