A movie that becomes a worldwide hit not only generates massive box office revenue, but can also promote the culture, values and ideology of a country by serving as a window allowing foreign audiences to learn more about a country’s people and culture. Foreign audiences may be influenced by national imagery portrayed in a film and have their own attitudes towards the country. A movie is therefore often a “cultural ambassador in an iron box.” Movies always bear the responsibility of constructing the national cultural image, rather than just making money and nurturing spirituality.

Currently, China is rapidly rising and playing an unprecedented historical role in the process of globalization. However, China’s GDP growth and economic aggregate can’t fundamentally change its destiny as a manufacturing power. Compared with the popularity of products “made in China,” Chinese culture, value and ideology are often misunderstood overseas. For China, it is undoubtedly a problem which urgently needs resolving to establish an image of “cultural China” matching the significantly strengthened “hard power,” such as political strength and economic aggregate.

Although many Chinese movies have achieved worldwide success, they haven’t made breakthroughs in conveying national imagery. Movies from the 1980s to 1990s, such as Red Sorghum (1987), Yellow Earth (1984), Ju Dou (1990), To Live (1993) and Farewell My Concubine (1993) earned the “fifth generation” of Chinese directors – Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Wu Ziniu and Huang Jianxin – famed international reputations. However, their films only had Chinese imagery that fit the scope of Western “Orientalism.”

Recently, there has been successive exciting news about Chinese movies. A Touch Of Sin (2013) directed by Jia Zhangke scooped the award for Best Screenplay at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. At the beginning of this year, Black Coal, Thin Ice (2014) written and directed by Diao Yi’nan won the Golden Bear for the Best Film in the 64th Berlin International Film Festival and actor Liao Fan won the Silver Bear for Best Actor. These awards indicate Chinese movies’ extraordinary artistic achievements and increasingly growing international influence, but there are still problems with the national imagery conveyed in such movies.

A Touch Of Sin focuses on four characters, each living in different provinces, who are driven to violent ends. Ethnic themes and social justice reflected in this film deeply impressed audiences, but social criticism was conveyed in a negative way by using violence.

Chinese directors who participate in European film festivals are often used to catering to Western audiences, so they can’t properly depict Chinese imagery in their movies. Unlike A Touch Of Sin, which indignantly criticizes the reality, the movie Black Coal, Thin Ice is full of commercial color with stylized lust and suspense. German weekly news magazine Stern compared it to Hollywood noir films from the 1940s.

Compared with Red Sorghum directed by Zhang Yimou and Tuya's Marriage by Wang Quan’an, Black Coal, Thin Ice appears more mainstream and commercial. However, it can’t break away from the Orientalism style of “seeking novelty.” German national newspaper Die Zeit reviewed the film by saying “murder occurs even in China.”

Few changes have taken place in basic value and logic of narration in Chinese movies since the new century. This can be seen from early commercial movies such as Hero (2002) and The Banquet (2006) to today’s art films such as A Touch of Sin and Black Coal, Thin Ice. In terms of values, there are also many flaws in commercial films which are popular recently, including Lost in Thailand (2012), Silent Witness (2013) and Tiny Times (2013), which are all characterized by money worship. Values and imagery in these movies are hard to satisfy audiences.

With new problems successively emerging, it is of profound significance for Chinese films to participate in cultural construction. In this process, it is particularly important to tell compelling “Chinese stories” in movies. According to scholar Li Yunlei, Chinese stories should contain Chinese people’s common experience and emotions and people can see the characteristics, destiny and hope of our nation through them. Therefore, it is still a long way to go for us to tell Chinese stories in a positive way and obtain our cultural confidence.

The author is a research assistant with the Literature Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Translated by Yu Hui

　　Revised by Tom Fearon