With a population of 649 million, the tastes of China's online community are transforming the domestic film industry, but insiders fear it is a change for the worse.
The annual China Film Art Report, released Tuesday by the China Film Association, described 2014 as a strong year for "the Network Generation," a term describing both young filmmakers and cinemagoers who have grown up under the perennial influence of the Internet.
Last year saw "The Continent" and "Tiny Time 3" - both romance comedies by post-80s directors with a strong online presence - pass the box office benchmark of 100 million yuan (16 million U.S. dollars).
Han Han and Guo Jingming, the directors of the two films, began as book writers at the start of the century, but have cultivated much larger fan bases online in recent years -- their microblog accounts have around 40 million followers each.
Many low budget Chinese features, funded by online groups or based on online inspirations, have been stealing audiences from Hollywood goliaths.
Yin Hong, director of the film and television center at Tsinghua University, noted that, "non-linear narrative, fragmented story-telling, parody, grassroots values--the professional aspects of film--are weakening, and the entertainment factor is higher than ever."
Han and Guo's films belong to a new genre in China: "fans film" - encompassing works unconditionally backed by fans of stars or filmmakers with no regard of the specifics of the films.
Guo's latest microblog entry combines commercial publicity with reminiscence of youth: "I'm 32 now. My youth is gone. However, those ten years, the best of life, were spent with 'Tiny Time', I hope that we are part of your youth memory."
The post, released on Tuesday night, has already been liked more than 70,000 times and drew nearly 17,000 comments, many voicing passionate support for the upcoming fourth installment.
Echoing Yin's professional concerns, "Tiny Time 3" garnered several "most disappointing" film awards and was rated 4.3 out of 10 at douban.com, the leading Chinese film and music online community, not to mention dismissive remarks from hardline critics.
"Network Generation films are characterized by simple values easily internalized by young, ordinary urbanites," the report noted, expressing concerns for an "audience-supremacy" approach at the cost of aesthetics and social reality.
Chinese romance "You are my Sunshine" is the latest triumph in the genre. Adapted from an online hit novel, the film was ranked second in the domestic box office chart last week, taking in 329 million yuan in less than two weeks, despite harsh criticism of the acting, editing and plot cliches.
"While accepting soaring sales as a positive for the film industry, we must shoulder social and cultural responsibilities," Yin said, urging filmmakers to explore ways to meet demand and resist the lowest common denominator at the same time.
"China's film industry is at a critical moment of restructuring and about to switch from quantity to quality. We need more healthy, sustainable and culturally deep works," said Rao Shunguang, a senior official with the association.
