by Xinhua writer Zuo Yuanfeng
BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- For awards, cultural propaganda or sheer money? Chinese people are not so sure about the ambitious film project to make the country's "2560-year-old" philosopher Confucius a superstar.
"Every Chinese person has his own image of Confucius. The film cannot really make everyone happy here. I think it might rather aim at Korean, Japanese and Western film markets," Wang Jiewen, professor from the Film and Television Arts College of the prestigious Communication University of China, told Xinhua Friday in an email interview.
"Confucius", presented by the state-run China Film Group Corp. and Dadi Century Ltd., is due to start shooting in late April and be released around October 1 -- the deadline for competing in the Best Foreign Language Film category of the Academy Award.
The film's director Hu Mei graduated from the Beijing Film Academy along with veteran Zhang Yimou in 1982 but her acclaim was previously limited to several historical TV series.
Though Hu promised to respect history in the first place, many Chinese fans doubt how the film will turn out -- or first of all -- whether it's appropriate to entertain modern people with an historic icon.
Many dissenters say it is "unforgivable" to put Confucius and his historic theories into the entertainment spotlight.
Blogger Xu Shilin wrote: "It is, itself, a low-grade idea to put Confucius on the silver screen. It's just another modern and frivolous way to entertain people."
"If we really want to make a film about him, it will be more appropriate to let the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education supervise the whole process and release the film at cost price for public benefit -- rather than take advantage of people's curiosity for Chinese traditional culture to make a commercial blockbuster."
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC), a great educator, philosopher and politician, created Confucianism, a doctrine that boosted harmony and decorum and later became the ideal way of dealing with life and society for Chinese people.
Later generations honored the thinker as "the ultimate Holy man" and "the example for all teachers" among other titles.
However, media observer Lei Zhenyue is among those who favor the idea of introducing a modern touch to the depiction of the holy man.
"Confucius is a person in the first place. Only then should he be regarded as a symbolic icon of Chinese culture... He also experienced love and hatred, and sought after mundane happiness. But it didn't prevent him from being a great philosopher and cultural master, and it certainly didn't lower his status in people's hearts," Lei wrote in his blog.
"Making a film about such an historic icon will surely bring controversy, but it doesn't necessarily mean that filmmakers want to 'frivolously' entertain people," said professor Wang Jiewen.
Wang said it would be "much more than sheer entertainment" if filmmakers accurately grasp the essences of Confucius' life and theories and make a sincere work out of it.
Aspects of the film's plot include the character's travels to many fiefdoms to persuade lords to adopt his political theories, and a near-death experience when he was forced to be vagrant for seven days as the result of political fights among many states.
The controversy over the biographical movie was heated as the leading role went to Hong Kong film star Chow Yun-Fat, who was most famous for portraying a Kung Fu master in Ang Lee's masterpiece "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" among others.
While some experts and fans worried Chow's image might not be intellectual enough, others believed the talented actor will accurately grasp the inner characteristics of Confucius -- especially with the help of Oscar-nominated costume designer Chung-Man Hai from "Curse of the Golden Flowers" (2006) and cinematographer Peter Pau, who won the 73rd Academy Award for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000).
But the film crew knew better. According to researchers, Confucius was at least 1.9 meters tall, and was rather strong and brave at war -- contrary to the stereotype image of a weak intellectual.
"We should believe in a veteran actor as experienced and talented as Chow. I just hope that he could bring out the steadiness and generosity in Confucius," professor Wang said.
Meanwhile, a 50-million-yuan 104-episode cartoon series, which depicts the life story of Confucius from a little boy to a master, was set to be aired in the country around September 28.
It is said that the crew, involving senior animation engineers from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Shanghai, spent a whole year researching, designing and revising the great thinker's images as animations.
"This person is still not truly known to people. Especially for children who love KFC, some of them even don't know Confucius at all," said acclaimed musician Kong Xiangdong, also a descendant of Confucius, at a meeting where experts were invited to offer ideas for shooting the cartoon series.
"We are responsible for presenting Confucius and his ideas in an innovative way. It doesn't have to be an epic, but humanity should always be the soul," Kong said.
