A still photo of the movie "The Great Wall" co-produced by Hollywood and Chinese groups.
The first trailer of "The Great Wall," the biggest movie co-produced by Hollywood and Chinese groups to date, hit the big screens on Thursday, triggering a lot of discussions and even controversy among moviegoers.
The U.S.-Chinese 3D movie features an epic fight between humans and monsters in China over 1,000 years ago. As the name reveals, the Chinese Great Wall forms the main backdrop, but the fact that the setting of the movie is ancient China and that big stars such as Matt Damon are starring in it provide a lot of allure.
As discussions over the stars and the story are ongoing, we are fielding some questions about the movie.
Q: Who made "The Great Wall"?
A: Famous Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou is the director of the movie. Zhang, who directed "House of Flying Daggers" and "Hero," is mostly known to Westerners as the chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Zhang said this is the first time he cooperated with a Hollywood studio. It's also the most expensive Chinese movie of all time.
Q: Is Matt Damon the most attractive star in the film?
A: As the most expensive Chinese movie with a budget of reportedly 135 million U.S. dollars, it features dozens of big names. Besides Damon, an American A-lister, U.S. actor Willem Dafoe and Chinese A-lister Andy Lau, as well as Chinese stars such as Jing Tian, Luhan and Zhang Hanyun also star in the film.
According to netizens' comments, Damon is not the most popular star in the movie, at least for now, as many people, including Asian-American comedy star Constance Wu, have said that Damon shouldn't be in the movie, calling his hero role a "racist myth" and Hollywood "whitewashing."
It's worth mentioning that "The Great Wall" is the first time that Lau has played in a Hollywood movie. Some netizens even wrote in English that it's Luhan, a young Chinese pop star, who hooked them on the movie.
Q: Why is the movie in English given that the movie is completely shot in China with Chinese sponsors, and most roles are played by Chinese?
A: "What I really want is to bring Chinese color and cultural background to the worldwide audience through a film language that they are familiar with," Director Zhang said, suggesting that English is still the most popular spoken language among audience.
But think of it another way. Since it's a U.S.-Chinese epic film with most roles played by Chinese, and will be released in China earlier than in the United States, using English seems a proper way to balance its appeal to audience.
Q: Besides a lot of action, special effects and an epic story about China, what else does the movie have to offer?
A: A test of Chinese history. Why? The trailer gives three subtitles to describe the Great Wall: "1,700 years to build," "5,500 miles (over 8,800 km) long," " What were they trying to keep out?" The first two are correct facts, but the question was incorrectly answered in the movie.
Many netizens mocked that they didn't realize that the Chinese Great Wall was built to keep out monsters. For the right answer, please check history books.
Q: What's the monster in the movie?
A: Zhang said they are "ancient Chinese monsters," but the trailer only showed a paw of the monster, which doesn't look like a Chinese dragon at all.
Some reports said it's a reptile-like dragon. Okay, but is it an ancient Chinese monster? Most Chinese might doubt this. Maybe that's another good reason for you to go to the movies and check out this film once it hits the big screens.
