Holiday movie releases to draw large audiences

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The National Holiday is another good time for movie theaters to draw large audiences. With more excellence on the big screen expected during the National Holiday, we take a look at how movies went down at previous holidays like the Qingming festival, the May Day holiday and the student's summer vacation. You'll also see Chinese elements are strong in this year's western productions, and beyond the Olympic stage, the competition among movies is also intriguing.

Big screen offerings during Qingming Festival

"The Children of Huangshi" drew attention since it first started shooting, thanks to having Hong Kong veteran Chow-yun Fat among its cast. The China-US joint production tells a moving saga, set in a China that was under attack by Japan during the 1930's. A young English journalist, an American nurse and the leader of a Chinese partisan group join together to rescue 60 orphaned children who survive the massacre of Japanese troops. The humanitarian spirit running through the movie won the hearts of audience across the country, and was a record box office success among all joint productions this year.

Also premiering at the Qing Ming festival in early April was "Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon". The film was heavily publicized before its premiere, grabbing attention with Hong Kong veteran Andy Lau and star Maggie Q. The epic film tells of the Three Kingdoms story through the eyes of one of the heroes, Zhao Yun, who continues his master Liu Bei's quest to reunite the three kingdoms. Andy Lau plays Zhao Yun in a challenging role that spans 50 years from the age of twenty to seventy.

Well known action director Daniel Lee and one of the lead actors, Sammo Hung, who also directed the action sequences, have produced some terrific fighting scenes.

"Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon" cost 100-million yuan, or over 14-million US dollars, and took one year to shoot. It is set in the ancient town of Dunhuang, but was filmed on location in Hebei and Beijing. Director Daniel Lee, who is trained in ink and oil painting, focuses on the artistic value of every scene, and spared no expense on the sets and costumes. But the result turns out to be worth it. It raked in 70-million yuan or 10-million US dollars at the box office, surpassing its rival "The Children of Huangshi".

Also gracing the big screen during the Qing Ming Festival were two art house films. "In Love We Trust" and "And the Spring Comes". "In Love We Trust" had won the silver bear award at the Berlin Film Festival this year. Attending the premiere on April the 1st were director John Woo, Feng Xiaogang, rock singer Cui Jian, director Gu Changwei and rising star Wang Baoqiang, who all came in a show of support for the film.