chinese objections
　　来自中国的反对声
　　
　　 although, in it’s time, hero was the biggest grossing film in china, and ardent chinese fans have watched it multiple times, some chinese, especially university students, feel the story of the emperor of qin and the historic unification of china should have been more authentically represented. i heard that some chinese moviegoers coming out of a beijing movie theatre, having just watched house of flying daggers (which has yet to prove itself as a long term box office hit in america), said it was a waste of their money and that they felt alienated because they thought it was too obviously created for foreign tastes. to this zhang yimou says, “to be honest, i don’t know anything about the western market—although chinese people have always criticized me for making films for foreigners, which is puzzling, as i don’t even speak english!”
　　 kung fu films have been popular in america for a long time, but with a limited audience.bruce lee’s enter the dragon (1973) crossed over from a niche market to the mainstream, but perhaps because of his untimely death or because films that followed it were not as good, the mainstream popularity of kung fu films was short lived, although jackie chan and other martial arts movies are still very popular with “fight film” fans. now that ang lee and zhang yimou have elevated the genre, we should think of wuxia epics as modern cross cultural emissaries, even though they are stories with historical settings.
　　
　　cross cultural puzzlement can turn ignorance into curiosity
　　文化差异——把不了解变成好奇
　　
　　 it’s a completely fair point that the foreign audience may not fully appreciate the implications of chinese historical culture and mythology from these films because the presentation is so spectacular. however, if western moviegoers enjoy these films anyway, for the cinematic virtuosity, exotic stories and bold display of talent that they do understand, it creates an openness and eagerness to see and understand more. a chinese author of a reader-review of hero in the new york times says it much better than i can:
　　 “every chinese person knows the ending of this movie, but for those that are not chinese, i feel the ending would give you a more honorable impression about the culture of china than you already have.”
　　 foreign moviegoers have erupted in cheers and applause in the theatres over the thrilling special effects and martial arts choreography in these opulent, epic wuxia films. but some american film critics and moviegoers, unfamiliar with the literary and film genre of wuxia, wrote that the powerful intertwined dramas of politics, love, loyalty, ethics, revenge and betrayal in hero and house of flying daggers might have been better off without the distraction of such elaborate martial arts scenes. if only the publicity for the movies had included the following background, such a misunderstanding could have been avoided:
　　 chinese wuxia films grew from the literary tradition and include fantasy films with flying swordsmen. they trace their lineage back to the first wuxia film, the burning of red lotus monastery filmed in 1928 which was based on the legend of the strange hero by xiang kairen. this film, and its sequels, were the prototype of the wuxia fantasy genre. in it were all the elements of modern wuxia fantasy films, including special effects to simulate palm power and the use of wire-work to simulate flying. when these films were produced in the 1950s, they took stylistic elements and conventions from traditional chinese opera. by the mid-60s, a synthesis with the new literat论文联盟http://ure movement changed the one dimensional noble warrior of earlier films to a more complex character with human flaws, and produced the wuxia film as we know it today. hu jinquan introduced a style of imagery and beauty that appeals to our senses. most however, are most familiar with the fantasies of xu ke, who captures our imagination, and the choreography of yuan huo-pin that makes the pulse race with excitement.1