Big Shot From Beijing: Feng Xiaogang's He Sui Pian and Contemporary Chinese Commercial Film

The economic reform and commercialization of the cultural industry in the last two decades have greatly changed how film is made and consumed in contemporary China. From the in-flow of Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and foreign investment to the annual import of ten Hollywood blockbusters (starting in 1994); from independent film production companies to new regulations in 2002 which allow any citizen to apply to make a film; from film crew members getting involved in the production of TV soap operas and MTV to a new breed of underground art-house movies, the formal monopoly held by the state-run studio system has gradually disintegrated and the Chinese film industry, like other cultural sectors, is undergoing a profound transformation with more and more diversified products.