Young director's heist flick steals Chinese hearts
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-08-07 16:40 BEIJING - Having crafted an
unlikely hit from a low-budget portrait of gangsters and grifters chasing a gem
in grimy urban China, Ning Hao is treating his success with the cynicism of one
of his anti-heroes.
"I'm always being interrupted by endless phone calls and interviews," the
director said. "I'm very tired."
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This undated photo
shows Ning Hao in Tokyo. [movie.uying]
| After
a month of exposure following his debut mainland Chinese release, "Crazy Stone",
Ning needed a few sips of soft drink to perk up during an interview with
Reuters.
Since opening on June 30, Ning's dark farce has become China's most
successful homegrown release this year, with box office takings exceeding US$2
million -- a good taking in China's piracy-ravaged market.
Not that Ning, 29, could brag about it. The director was blissfully ignorant
of how his film was doing, when asked.
Still, he was glad that his movie -- made for just 3.5 million yuan
($439,300) -- had been "accepted" by most of the audience, despite the
rapid-fire dialogue delivered in a tangy dialect that calls for subtitles even
for Chinese audiences.
"Shanghai people didn't love it, though," he said. "They don't really like
hearing other regional dialects."
Tellingly, box office takings in China's most westernised city have been
relatively low, with Shanghai filmgoers largely resisting the film's homespun
charm.
"Crazy Stone" was shot in Chongqing -- a smoggy teeming port on the banks of
the Yangtze river, and a city worlds away from Shanghai's global pretensions and
chic sensibilities.
"It's about the reality of this crazy developing China and Chongqing being a
microcosm of the country," Ning said.
"In this crazy city, there must be a lot of crazy stories... Lost of
contradictions and conflicts, class differences and wealth gaps."
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