Global View

When it comes to cinematic influence US Films have a huge reach. Guan et al. attribute this to the English language’s prominence across the world, due to British imperialism, America’s unparalleled attraction of investment, technology and craftspeople, due to its status as the global hegemon and cultural policies that ensure the pushing of Hollywood films into the global market. This huge presence yields great financial rewards and cultural influence. As can be seen with the top grossers at the global box office often being American productions.

Conversely, Chinese films (specifically mainland China’s films) have less global reach despite being a major film market. Largely this is due to Chinese culture and languages not being as widely known across the world as well as the demonisation of China’s politics in Western spaces. Chinese films have instead focused on domestic audiences over global reach. In 2024, 3 Chinese productions made the worldwide box office top 20 based mostly on domestic takings. However, that may soon change. Currently, 2025’s highest-grossing film is the Chinese fantasy Ne Zha 2. Which performed well domestically and grossed over $19 million in America. Putting it in the top 20 highest-grossing films in America.

USA on Film

US films foreground the idea that American values (freedom and democracy, the strength of the individual and humanism) are universal and thereby everyone, regardless of background or identity, can fit into American social and political life. Especially through film. Additionally, because of its technological capabilities, its films place America as the centre of innovation. Even films that critique these values strengthen America’s image as being a place that values freedom of speech.

A good example of this is Mickey 17. The film, made by an international cast and crew, shows concern for the well-being of the majority of lifeforms and values the ability of individuals to affect change. It also uses extensive special effects to realise futuristic technology, alien creatures and new worlds. Even the film’s critiques of capitalism and colonialism, the system that America embodies, and focus on collective action demonstrate America’s willingness to criticise itself. Thereby maintaining its image. 

China on Film

Regarding cultural image Chinese films are often concerned with showing the capabilities of the Chinese film industry with dramatic spectacle aiming to rival Hollywood. China’s films also showcase Chinese history, traditions and cultural attitudes (the importance of family, community and reserved sexuality) to encourage identification with China’s culture, people and political project. Both nationally and worldwide.

You can see these traits exemplified in films like Ne Zha 2. The film is rooted in Chinese mythological stories (Investiture of the Gods), uses designs inspired by traditional Chinese art and focuses on themes such as collective responsibility to stop oppression and is a high-budget visual spectacle aimed at showing that blockbusters aren’t solely the USA’s domain.

New Cold War

With the US continually vilifying China as China increases in prominence tensions are rising between the two nations. Their films in effect function as arms of influence. The US uses films to position itself as a global leader that cares about democracy and people’s welfare worldwide. Thereby positioning anyone the US doesn’t like as an enemy and justifying US aggression. But US governments have carried out many horrifically anti-democratic and violent policies. Including enabling genocide in Palestine and the deportation of migrants without due process.

Meanwhile, China’s government seems to use films to maintain political cohesion by encouraging patriotism in domestic audiences. Internationally, they act as a way of showcasing who the Chinese people are and what their system is capable of. However, this also has harmful pitfalls, as government censorship means that topics such as governmental human rights abuses aren’t touched on.

Ultimately both industries are used by governments for promotional purposes, but China’s filmic soft power is more based on showcasing itself to the world. Whereas America uses film to demonstrate dominance on the world stage.

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Indian Cinema in China

Despite things like quotas on international film imports and the censoring of certain topics making China’s cinema market difficult to enter, Indian movies (particularly Bollywood films) have started to slowly gain a foothold. Recently the releases of Indian films in China’s cinemas have slowed down. But over several years in the 2010s, Bollywood releases became a fixture of film imports. Culminating in 2017, which saw the highest box office gross for a Bollywood film in China, and 2018, which saw 10 Indian films officially released in theatres. A huge jump compared to the number of releases at the beginning of the decade. Additionally, the prominent screenings of Indian films at this year’s Shanghai Film Festival and discussions among producers seem to indicate an ongoing interest in bringing Indian films into China’s cinemas.

Chinese Audience’s Love Indian Films

Researcher Yanyan Hong found, through interviewing 32 people, 4 specific qualities made Indian (specifically Bollywood) films attractive to Chinese audiences. These included:

• The featuring of social issues that are important in both countries (in particular gender equality, women’s rights, pressure in education and patriotism) while fostering a sense that these challenges can be overcome in a way that can be ultimately uplifting.
• The appeal of stars, notably actors like Aamir Khan.
• Bollywood exhibits cultural attitudes that are seen as overlapping with the sensibilities of Chinese audiences. Such as observing traditional values and beliefs tied to cultural identity (i.e. the importance of family, uniting as a community, overlapping philosophical concepts and patriotism). As well as showcasing traditional clothing and a more reserved attitude towards kissing and nudity.
• Focus being paid to the film’s story content. Romantic musicals were not looked on favourably. However, respondents said that entertaining and emotionally engaging storylines are the root of their fondness for Indian cinema.

India’s Soft Power

The past decade has seen the reach of Indian cinema grow significantly on the world stage. With films like RRR making a significant international box office and cultural impact. It was the first Indian feature to win Best Original Song at the Oscars. This decade has also seen movies from across India’s film industries release some of their biggest international successes.

With this growing prominence India’s various film industries have begun to be seen as a form of soft power. The films promote India’s culture and values worldwide while also helping to bring revenue back to the country. It is therefore understandable why filmmakers would want access to one of the world’s biggest film markets and with the revenue sharing and flat fee models implemented by China’s film industry, it’s easy to see potentially high profits if more Indian films are screened in China’s cinemas. It also helps to act as a cultural exchange across boundaries between the two countries. Whose governments have frequently been involved in geopolitical clashes. 

The Future

It’s hard to say how the love between Chinese cinemagoers and Indian cinema will progress. Yanyan Hong’s study does present several potential problems for film exchanges between the two countries. Aside from the aforementioned censorship and quotas Hong mentioned how some of the elements presented in Indian films can feel repetitive and negative stereotypes about the country due to biased reporting have caused some audiences to hold incorrect views about India. The lack of decent translation and promotion for films, the prominence of piracy for Bollywood films potentially undercutting revenue, and clashing with Hollywood releases also act as potential challenges for the future of India-China film exchanges. Along with, of course, the impact of geopolitics.

But developments around the Shanghai Film Festival, the shifting of successful Indian films like Kalki 2898AD more towards storytelling innovation over star power, the popularity of viewing Indian films online and the hunger among Chinese audiences for films that relate to their experiences could still represent good opportunities for the future development of Indian cinema in China.

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Fans of Inception will enjoy the reality-bending storyline and visuals. The romance subplot helps balance out the brooding and introspective energy of the film. The film received mixed reviews, however, it’s a good watch if you want to see a dark fantasy spin on the age-old rags-to-riches story. Be warned, the film involves violence and themes of suicide. Let’s take a closer look;

The Story

The movie follows the life of Sang Yu, a poor screenwriter plagued by terrifying nightmares. Every time he sleeps, he crosses over to a strange alternate reality where a dark shadowy figure attacks him. He tries to cure his chronic insomnia by going to various healers without success. Unable to sleep properly for months on end, he can no longer write. His agent, San, is hounding him to finish the script he got an advance for, and his landlord is demanding unpaid rent.

With everything else going on, Sang Yu still frequently passes by a nearby café to watch Hua’er, a girl he’s pining after. He eventually comes home to find himself evicted. With no money, no family, no prospects and his sanity in shambles, he sends San a suicide note via text and climbs onto a building to jump to his death. A kind street vendor saves him at the last minute, offering a free meal and some advice. The old man tells him that whenever he’s in the middle of a nightmare, he should just tell himself; “I’m only dreaming”.

This advice changes Sang Yu’s life. He learns how to wake himself up at will, which comes with one amazing perk; he can bring items from his dream world back to his current reality. He starts bringing back precious antiques which he pawns for huge amounts of money. Of course, power comes with consequences.

While watching this, I could tell that there was a twist coming, but it wasn’t what I expected. The film took a few unexpected turns and played on the psychological aspect more than I expected. However, in my opinion, the deeper spiritual meaning the film aimed for fell a little flat at the end. There were too many mixed metaphors and the ending felt cobbled together, with a very vague conclusion.

The Characters

Something I appreciate about this film is that although it is fantasy, the actions and thought processes of the characters are realistic. The old superhero trope of immediately trying to save the world or wreaking vengeance on enemies is a little stale. Sang Yu does what most reasonable people would do if they woke up (or in his case, fell asleep) with superpowers; he makes money. And even though his first priority is himself, he is neither selfish nor particularly careless. He isn’t a hero, a villain or even an antihero; he’s just a person.

The lead role was excellently played by Darren Wang. I appreciate the portrayal of his friendship with San, which had a natural and rather touching development. Unfortunately, this film fell short of Sang Yu’s relationship with Hua’er. In this day and age, I don’t expect to still see blatant stalking framed as a grand romantic gesture. And though Hua’er was given some personality, she still comes off as a manic pixie dream girl. As the only female main character in the film, the moviemakers could have really done better.

The Visuals

You can tell that this film had a big budget for visuals. The CGI was very realistic and better than a lot of contemporary Western fantasy superhero films. Personally, I think the set and prop design stole the show. There were a lot of props in this film, considering that the main character is a supernatural antique thief. It’s impressive that the props were so well-made despite the sheer number of them. I also really liked Sang Yu’s visual transition from a degenerate starving artist to a clean-cut man in a suit. I was honestly surprised to see a handsome face hiding behind the straggly beard, chunky glasses and greasy hair. Props to the makeup and department.

The only major visual flaw I noticed was the very last scene. Unlike the rest of the movie, Sang Yu looked like a cardboard cut-out against a green-screen background. The editing was clearly rushed at the end.

All in All,

This is a good weekend watch if you like fantasy, good visuals and fight scenes. The execution of the story left something to be desired, but the premise is good enough to have you watch till the end.

Also Read: Netflix Hidden Gems: Subira

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Similar to Liu Jian’s creation, young artist Hong Ning also used animation to express his humanistic concern for social change and sustainable development. Whilst Hong Ning’s expression is more radical and unconventional, showing the vitality and innovation of the young generation, and constantly pushing the boundaries of art.

One of the most striking aspects of Hong’s work is his use of experimental visual effects to explore ideas and emotions. Inspired by another experimental animation artist Lei Lei, whose featured film had also been selected by Berlinale in 2019, Hong likes to play with various media formats from retro and hand-painted animations to photos and collages.

His short film Does Not Consider was recorded in Changchun, China, the city was hit by a sandstorm on May 6, 2017. The dust and sand were greeted by the strong wind, and the streets were sparse with almost no pedestrians or vehicles except for the roadside sanitation worker who continued to work as usual. The filmmaker travelled through this mirage-like submerged, dark yellow corner of the city. He made Some of the images filtered and masked in bold, vivid colours through elliptical frame patterns. While the shouting pictures are moving in and out, the surreal and dreamlike images challenge the audience to identify the real world after a natural disaster. It is hard to recognize those images in their original colours because the reality and the surreal were blended into one at this point. By using animation as a medium, Hong Ning creates visually stunning worlds that capture the complexity of the environment and conveys his message in a way that is both beautiful and thought-provoking.

Despite the use of exaggerated visual effects, what I really love about Hong’s works is his spontaneity in creation. “At that time (when the sandstorm hit Changchun), I just put on a scarf and a mask, and then took a camera and ran all over the street to shoot. That was very impromptu work and a response to the environment at that time.” Hong revealed his unintentional shooting experience in a recent interview with UCFC.

Most of Hong’s creations come from his unique observation of every day minutiae. In “The New World: Variations on Stay-home Activities”, he found joy in exploring people’s ways to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic through online short videos. He made a collage of short videos about people’s indoor activities after frame-by-frame keying, depicting a common state of mind of people in times of crisis. In Autumn, Spring and Summer, Hong seeks to get a glimpse of the relationship between human beings and the development of media through photographs, from black and white photos to photobooth pictures to camera filters and metaverse avatars. He explores the expressions of the same self at different time stages on personal and trendy aesthetic tastes, further questioning the development of self-image in future photographs.

Hong’s cutting-edge observation and expression of our relationship with the surrounding environment have proven sustainability is never a boring topic. For the younger generation, reflection on sustainable development is not necessarily to be a long, powerful speech, a photo, a clip of a short video or an animation can do the same but with more interesting expression. When asked about the meaning of ‘global sustainability’, Hong responded, “For me, the word ‘global sustainability’ is very big, and I can’t find an accurate way to explain this concept. What I understand by it is that we need to develop for the long term. I guess it is like art creation, we can choose to create on a whim, but we can also choose to create for a lifetime.”

The Hong Ning Collection (The New World: Variations on Stay-home Activities; Autumn, Spring and Summer; Does Not Consider) had its recent appearance in Odyssey 2023, as part of its pre-festival programme. The annual film festival will launch officially in May.

About Hong Ning

Hong Ning was born in 1996 in Shandong. He graduated from Jilin Animation Institute with a B.F.A. in Animation studies in 2018. Focusing on experimental film, he is a young artist and a member of Building 23. His work was shortlisted in the 45th Annecy International Animation Film Festival, WTF2021 – Midnight Special.

About Odyssey 2023

Presented by UK-China Film Collab, Odyssey is an annual film festival in the UK in conversation with Greater China and overseas Chinese communities. The festival features 60+ films, 10 discussion panels and exclusive Q&As.

Festival Date: May – June 2023

Format: Offline in Person and Online via Shift 72

Instagram & Twitter: @odysseyccs

For Media Enquiry Please Contact

Odyssey PR Team: odysseypr@ukchinafilm.uk

Also Read: A.I Generated Art & Movies: A Collision Course

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