A Chinese-made Korean War epic has topped the global box office, tapping a vein of rising patriotism in China and prompting moviegoers to post videos of themselves eating frozen potatoes to emulate the hardships endured by soldiers in the conflict.
The Battle at Lake Changjin (長津湖), released to coincide with China’s Oct. 1 national holiday, had grossed nearly 5 billion yuan (US$779.13 million) by Tuesday, according to data compiled by Lighthouse, a box office tracker owned by Alibaba Pictures.
That puts it ahead of current global blockbusters including the latest 007 film, No Time To Die, and Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, according to IMDb-backed movie data Web site Box Office Mojo, and makes it the biggest-grossing war film ever, overtaking Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, which took in US$526.9 million.
Photo: Reuters
Having premiered 20 days ago, the three-hour-movie currently accounts for half of all films being shown in Chinese cinemas, according to Lighthouse. It was made with the support of the central government’s propaganda department, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Starring Wu Jing (吳京), who directed and played the lead role in Wolf Warrior (戰狼), another nationalistic Chinese blockbuster, the film depicts Chinese soldiers battling the much-better equipped US troops during the bitter cold of the 1950-1953 war.
The conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving US-led UN forces technically still at war with North Korea.
The movie, which cost US$200 million, is the latest in a series of patriotic titles China has churned out in recent years.
The film has been embraced by official media, and a former journalist was arrested by police for suggesting on a social media platform that the soldiers frozen to death in the movie had been foolish.
One scene in the movie shows soldiers chewing frozen small potatoes between battles while their US counterparts feast on Thanksgiving turkey.
Some cinemas have distributed frozen potatoes to audiences before the movie, according to videos on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, with many showing moviegoers eating them or the fried flour that was also eaten by Chinese soldiers.
A young woman in one such video cried after the first bite, saying it was impossible to eat.
“The frozen potatoes they ate give us the good life we have today,” another Douyin user said.
Peking University professor Zhang Yiwu (張頤武) said the increasing popularity of local films posed a challenge to Hollywood’s efforts to gain share in China’s movie market. “Hollywood’s movie industry produced one standard product for global audiences in the past, but they might have to learn how to cater to the Chinese market,” Zhang said.
April 28 to May 4 During the Japanese colonial era, a city’s “first” high school typically served Japanese students, while Taiwanese attended the “second” high school. Only in Taichung was this reversed. That’s because when Taichung First High School opened its doors on May 1, 1915 to serve Taiwanese students who were previously barred from secondary education, it was the only high school in town. Former principal Hideo Azukisawa threatened to quit when the government in 1922 attempted to transfer the “first” designation to a new local high school for Japanese students, leading to this unusual situation. Prior to the Taichung First
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
The Ministry of Education last month proposed a nationwide ban on mobile devices in schools, aiming to curb concerns over student phone addiction. Under the revised regulation, which will take effect in August, teachers and schools will be required to collect mobile devices — including phones, laptops and wearables devices — for safekeeping during school hours, unless they are being used for educational purposes. For Chang Fong-ching (張鳳琴), the ban will have a positive impact. “It’s a good move,” says the professor in the department of
Article 2 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法增修條文) stipulates that upon a vote of no confidence in the premier, the president can dissolve the legislature within 10 days. If the legislature is dissolved, a new legislative election must be held within 60 days, and the legislators’ terms will then be reckoned from that election. Two weeks ago Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposed that the legislature hold a vote of no confidence in the premier and dare the president to dissolve the legislature. The legislature is currently controlled
RSS