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MOVING IMAGES

Kung fu fighting

Photos: AP and AFP

national and cultural symbol: The film (left) rode to success on the strength of the Chinese obsession with the panda (right).

Not for the first time, a panda is making news in China. Except this time, it isn’t a giant panda that’s fallen sick in a zoo — an old favourite story of Chinese news media and a panda-obsessed society — and it isn’t even a debate on ‘panda diplomacy’, raging over whether a particular country is worthy enough to receive a giant panda as a gift from the Chinese government (a diplomatic practice made famous by Chairman Mao’s gift of Ling-ling and Hsing-hsing to the United States in the 1970s).

The latest panda to capture hearts, minds and conversations across China isn’t even a real panda — he’s a clumsy, fat, Kung Fu-fighting lovable cartoon character named Po, the star of Dreamworks’ latest animated venture “Kung Fu Panda”, the most successful animated foreign film ever at the Chinese box office. The film released in China three weeks ago, but amid great controversy that made its success seem improbable.

Steven Spielberg, who owns Dreamworks, had announced before the film’s release that he would boycott the Olympics to protest China’s relationship with the Sudanese government. By doing so, he became the latest Western celebrity to incur the wrath of the increasingly nationalist sentiment pervading the country in the run-up to the Olympics.

The weeks leading up to the film’s June 20 release saw the appearance of a number of petitions lambasting the film and calling for a nationwide boycott. Much of the criticism emanated from China’s ‘netizens’ — the country’s hugely active online community, often considered the most accurate barometer of public opinion in China given the State’s continuing control over print media and television. For many, “Kung Fu Panda”, which enjoyed moderate success in the United States before arriving on China’s shores to this storm of controversy, was surely dead-on-arrival in the face of this strong criticism.

But in less than three weeks, against most expectations, “Kung Fu Panda” had become the most successful foreign animated film ever released in China, with millions flocking to watch dubbed versions of the movie. The film crossed the 10 million Yuan mark — usually a barometer for a box office hit — in just 10 days, and had grossed more than 110 million Yuan (US$ 16 million) in three weeks.

Almost every conversation in Shanghai in the past three weeks — and that too, across age-groups — is now prefixed by an obligatory ‘Have you watched Kung Fu Xiongmao (panda)?’ question, followed by a pitiful, sad shake of the head if you dared reply in the negative.

The publicity generated by the controversy surrounding the film’s release certainly played its part in its early success. In the week leading up to the release, thousands of comments about the film appeared on BBS — one of China’s most popular discussion forums on sina.com.cn, a Chinese news engine website.

“We should boycott anything related to Spielberg, we should show our nation’s self-esteem,” wrote one blogger. There were, also, voices of opposition from China’s own film industry and resentment at the idea that American filmmakers had the gumption to so liberally and irreverently play around with a Chinese national symbol.

The panda occupies a unique space in the imagination of the Chinese: the panda is a hugely popular national symbol (and perhaps the only animal in China spared from finding itself on a dinner table) and its image also carries tremendous cultural importance, a symbol of uniqueness, love and positivity.

A glimpse of the importance of this symbol was recently evident in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake. The Wolong Reserve, the country’s largest breeding centre for pandas, is in Sichuan and dozens of news reports after the earthquake carefully monitored the safety of the pandas, their transportation to zoos around the country, the status of their health and even details on their diet — including rather bizarre articles trying to explain why the weight of the faeces of some pandas had decreased by a few kilograms after the quake.

“Kung Fu Panda” hit Chinese screens on June 20, just as the criticism was reaching a crescendo. It was almost impossible to buy a ticket in the opening weekend — shows for much of the first week in Shanghai’s cinema halls were all sold-out. It soon became obvious that it wasn’t just the publicity machine that drew Chinese movie-goers in their millions to watch the panda Po in action.

When I watched the film during its opening week in Shanghai — at a late night screening in a cinema hall that seated at least 200, and needless to say, was sold out — the reactions of the audience were overwhelmingly positive.

Into the second week, and shows continued to draw full-houses. Within 20 days, “Kung Fu Panda” had broken all records of foreign animated films in China. As more and more Chinese flocked to the theatres, more aggrieved netizens on BBS continued posting comments calling for a boycott of the film.

But gradually, on the Internet chat-rooms, an increasing number of voices came out in support of the film, and against the nationalist rhetoric. And soon, these voices drowned out the calls for boycott — there was no doubt, the fat panda warrior had conquered China.

Why, and how, did this rapid u-turn take place in a matter of seven days? A film, still routinely criticised in newspaper columns and online forums for Hollywood’s bastardisation of Chinese culture and a national symbol, has become the hit of the year. I turned to Chinese sociologist Gu Xiaoming to make sense of this strange dichotomy between what on the surface appeared to be an offence to national sentiment and the film’s unexpected success.

“What was strange about this film was it brought out the contrast between the funny portrayal of the panda in the movie and the serious image of the panda in the Chinese mind, and this contrast is very curious for the Chinese audience,” Gu explains. “No Chinese filmmaker has looked at depicting a national symbol this way, as a comic character. The panda is unique for Chinese people. It’s not an exaggeration to say it’s a national treasure, even a holy animal, and a cultural symbol. I think audiences have been fascinated by how an American filmmaker used Chinese symbols, cultural items and ideas on philosophy so well.”

What is remarkable about the “Kung Fu Panda”-mania is behind all the headlines is, on the surface, a rather unremarkable film — a typical Disney zero-to-hero, feel-good, family entertainer.

The film tells the story of a Kung Fu-obsessed, fat and clumsy but lovable panda, Po (superbly voiced by Jack Black), who works in his father’s noodle shop in a sleepy little Chinese town called ‘Peace Valley’. Against the odds, Po is selected by a Kung Fu master to be trained as a warrior, allowing him to fulfil his life-long ambition of fighting evil and saving his community.

But scratch below the surface, and you will also find a surprisingly sensitive portrayal of Chinese culture. Far removed from many netizens’ accusations of belittling Chinese culture, the film ultimately salutes it.

The dialogues are littered with oblique references — from the uniquely Chinese gambling game mahjong and tofu recipes to word-plays on the Chinese names of some of the characters — that were lapped up by the Chinese audience (and, interestingly, will be lost on most Western viewers).

“What many of us didn’t expect was that many things in the movie about China, like the town where Po lives, and the way of life, were remarkably well portrayed,” says Emma Luo, 26, a school teacher in Shanghai. “I could relate to it, and I found it surprising that an American filmmaker succeeded in bringing this out in a way many Chinese filmmakers do not.”

Part of the plot was the generation gap between Po and his father (who, strangely, is a duck) — a gap many of China’s urban youth will relate to. Po’s father wants him to carry on the family tradition and run a noodle shop, and cannot understand his son’s burning desire to make a name for himself in his own right.

“It isn’t just the younger audience that finds this film appealing,” says Jasmine Peng, a 34-year old businesswoman in Shanghai. “It’s the message that I find so appealing. On the outside, he’s like any one of us, lazy, ordinary. But inside he has the spirit of a Kung Fu warrior. It’s the positive image and the impossibility. And, of course, let’s not forget he’s simply an adorable panda. And the Chinese definitely can’t resist that.”

Kung Fu Panda was released in India on July 11.

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