Archives
‘Kill Bill’ at the Beijing Film Studio
In 2002, Quentin Tarantino filmed parts of Kill Bill at the historic Beijing Film Studio. The House of Blue Leaves, where Beatrix “The Bride” Kiddo (Uma Thurman) has a blood-splattering showdown with the Crazy 88, was constructed on a soundstage here. But the only scene to use exterior sets on the studio’s back lot was cut from the final edit. In this now infamous scene, Michael Jai White (with fake New Zealand accent) and his gang confront Bill (David Carradine) while he is out for a casual stroll with his disciple. Bill begrudgingly accepts the challenge while Kiddo watches from […]
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Book Video: Once Upon a Time in Shanghai
When the Capitol Hill Book Fair was moved virtual this spring, I put together this 5 minute video to present my latest book ‘Once Upon a Time in Shanghai: Behind the Scenes of the Chinese Movie Industry’ (Daylight Books, 2019). I wanted to share what I find so fascinating about the mainland China film industry, as well as the process and thought that went into making the photographs. Understanding the oversized movie production infrastructure in China seems even more relevant now, as the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down movie production and theaters across the US. PEN America released a report […]
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Changchun Film Studio
The Changchun Film Studio was the first official state-run film studio recognized in the People’s Republic of China. It was created through merging multiple existing film production facilities and, in 1955, was given a permanent home in Changchun. For several decades, the studio occupied a cluster of buildings which had been constructed under the Japanese occupation to imitate the German Ufa Film Studio. The studio reportedly produced over 1000 feature films over the years. The film Bridge was made here in 1949, the PRC’s first feature film, which told the story of a worker who inspires his comrades to finish […]
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Republic of China on Taihu Lake
The awkwardly named ‘Jiangsu West Taihu Lake Film and Television Industry Base‘ in Changzhou, northwest of Shanghai, is relatively new, established in 2015. It reportedly cost over $110 million to build and includes 7 indoor sound stages and 150 acres of outdoor sets and other facilities. The site is especially known for its use in Republic of China era TV series, and most of the outdoor lot consists of streets of early 20th century urban streetscapes. The 2019 film Liberation, which received a very limited US release in January 2020, was made there, along with TV dramas Detective Ke Chen […]
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Farewell My Film Studio
The Beijing Film Studio was created in 1949 as one of the primary state-run film production facilities. The studio was responsible for classic films such as New Year’s Sacrifice (1956) and Song of Youth (1959). Later, the studio constructed a traditional Chinese streetscape on a backlot near the university district in Beijing, reportedly used for 1982 films Rickshaw Boy and Teahouse. It also became the first studio to open up to international co-productions with Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor in 1987, which also received permission to film within the Forbidden City. In the early 1980s, former Taiwanese film star Feng […]
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Huzhou Film and Television City
Huzhou Film and Television City, located within the Taihu National Tourism Resort, is just as much about family entertainment as it is about film production. When I visited, the entire park staff assembled out front for a song and dance routine before the doors opened. Tourist shows occur throughout the day, including an acrobatic police chase (pictured), axe gang choreography inspired by Kung Fu Hustle, and a fictional wedding ceremony. The first portion of the park, representing Republic of China era Shanghai, was constructed in 2016. It includes the Bund, a port, a Catholic church, and other large scale buildings. […]
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Xiangshan Film and TV City
The Xiangshan studios opened in 2005 on an undeveloped peninsula of fishing villages south of Ningbo for The Return of the Condor Heroes (2006), based on the Wuxia novel by Jin Yong. The site was also used for Chen Kaige’s historical drama Sacrifice (2010) and for the popular TV series Nirvana in Fire (2015). A Republic of China section added later was used in the ill-fated WWII film Air Strike with Bruce Willis. The production was hampered by delays, cost overruns, and a tax evasion scandal involving actress Fan BingBing before it was widely panned by critics.
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Zhenbeipu Western Film Studio
Constructed on the ruins of an old fortress outside Yinchuan in northwestern China near the edge of the Gobi desert, the Western Film Studio has been used in numerous epic historical films. Writer Zhang Xianliang first had the idea to use the site as a film location after spending time laboring on a nearby farm during the Cultural Revolution. The 1982 film The Herdsman, based on a story by Zhang, was the first feature film made here and one of the first Chinese films to get international recognition. Other noteworthy films shot here include Zhang Yimou’s Red Sorghum (1987), Hong […]
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Shiqiu Film and Television Base
The local Shiqiu town government, outside Nanjing, took on the cost of constructing a Roman Catholic cathedral for Zhang Yimou’s Flowers of War (2011) starring Christian Bale. As the Japanese army overtakes Nanjing, the church becomes a refuge and hiding place for 13 schoolgirls, 12 prostitutes, an American mortician (played by Bale), and a boy who had been adopted by the priest (now dead). Despite generous explosions and gunfire throughout the film, the church survives, and today it sits in the middle of a landscaped green lawn. The site failed to attract other large-scale productions but is still used for […]
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The Eight Hundred (八百)
The Eight Hundred (八百), an $80 million war film directed by Guan Hu, was slated to be one of the most anticipated releases of 2019. However, at the last minute its debut as the opening film at the Shanghai International Film Festival was cancelled a planned July theatrical release put on hold. No explanation was offered at the time, but commentators suspect that the film ran into problems with government censors. While the film tells a seemingly patriotic story, based on a classic battle in which a band of Chinese soldiers held off the Japanese advance on Shanghai from a […]
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