Box office shows appeal of art films

The box office success "Black Coal, Thin Ice" has raised cinemas' confidence in art films.

The Chinese production which won the Golden Bear for best film at the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival, has taken 98.4 million yuan (16 million U.S. dollars) since it hit domestic screens on March 21.

This is a rare box office success for an art movie, minority cinema in China where only commercial movies draw a large audiences.

"If it had not won the prize, more than half of the box office would have not existed," director Diao Yinan told Xinhua.

The prize undoubtedly helped. "Black Coal, Thin Ice" cost about 14 million yuan with reportedly another 20 million yuan spent in publicity.

It is difficult to estimate how big the art movie industry is in China because there is no absolute definition of the genre and box office is a sore point for art film makers. Diao managed to combine both artistic and commercial values from screenplay to production.

"I refused to add commercial elements to my play at the very beginning when I was trying to find an investor, but then realized no matter how good the work itself is, it's meaningless unless the film is produced," Diao said.

The work has been praised for bridging the gap between art house and multiplex elements.

"It's good to abandon dualistic thinking against commercial and art films, and find a balance which combines the two," said Rao Shuguang, secretary general of Chinese Film Association.

"I hope my work is the most commercial of art films and the most artistic of the commercial," Diao said.

"Black Coal, Thin Ice" has heartened cinemas and film-makers.Following the hit, a string of art movies will be on screen this year, including "Coming Home" by Zhang Yimou, "The Golden Era" by Xu Anhua and "Dao Shi Xia Shan" by Chen Kaige.

Chinese movie-goers want more than the sensual pleasure brought by a "grand scene" or special effects. More viewers demand films include human nature, said Ma Shunfa of the UME Letai Cinema in Shijiazhuang, Hebei.

"We'd like to screen more art films," Ma said, adding the box office of "Black Coal, Thin Ice" was very promising for art films.

The domestic film market has matured in recent years. Figures show the total box office neared 22 billion yuan in 2013, 59 percent of which was from domestic films.

"Despite the emergence of new genres, it takes a long time to cultivate a mature market with differentiated demand," said Rao, who believes that the Chinese film industry will have another decade of rapid development.