Director Feng Xiaogang discusses on The Banquet  
 

SHANGHAI (AFP) June 26, 2006 -  Emerging director Feng Xiaogang says his new period film THE BANQUET is still aimed at commercial success despite being a sharp artistic break from his usual comic fare - and it could place him among the growing band of internationally renowned Chinese filmmakers.  

The maker of black comedies Cell Phone and Big Shot's Funeral - both domestic hits - pledged that despite the radical style changes demanded by the filming of The Banquet, his latest effort would not disappoint viewers.

"I can promise you that the film is very dramatic. The story will pull you in from the beginning to end," Feng said during the just-ended week-long Shanghai International Film Festival.  

The Beijing native may be little known outside China, but the release in September of The Banquet, a brooding Chinese historical piece that is loosely based on Shakespeare's Hamlet, could put him in the same company as internationally feted directors Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou.  

Bringing a bit of star power to the film will be Zhang Ziyi, who won wide acclaim for her roles in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, House of Flying Daggers and Memoirs of a Geisha.  

Success abroad would suit Feng just fine because, as the son of a Communist Party college professor and a nurse, he unashamedly admits the aim of his films is to entertain and earn money.  

"My choice is to make commercial films," said Feng, who has never had professional training and worked his way up from the production side of television after eight years as a scene painter with an army theatrical troupe.  

Most of Feng's previous movies ruthlessly take aim at China's increasingly materialistic society.  

Cell Phone, a sleeper hit that raked in US$6.7 million (HK$52.26 million), pokes fun at China's ultra-wired society and the behavior it spawns. But underneath it tackles the more uncomfortable issues of love, trust and infidelity.  

The Banquet also touches on deception, but this time in a murderously vindictive Chinese imperial court, as Zhang and other royals scheme to win political power.  

Feng shrugged off criticism that The Banquet is pandering to international judges and audiences in the same vein as colorful, historically sweeping martial arts epics such as Zhang Yimou's Hero or Chen Kaige's The Promise.  

"I'm trying something else. I cannot just stick with the comedies. I should break new ground," said Feng.  

His sincerity may not be in doubt but A Sigh and the mainland blockbuster A World Without Thieves, which earned US$11 million, have both been presented at small international film festivals. A Sigh, about the impact of an extramarital affair on a struggling TV script writer, won the award for best screenplay in Cairo in 2000. A World Without Thieves, which features Hong Kong actor Andy Lau Tak-wah as the anti-hero in a light drama about reformed thieves, was nominated for a prize in Montreal and won Best Screenplay Adaptation at the Golden Horse Film Festival, both last year.  

Nevertheless, Feng's efforts have yet to be rewarded with the same enthusiasm overseas as at home. A Big Shot's Funeral, which stars Donald Sutherland and is Feng's clearest attempt to win international recognition, satirizes the impact of commercialism on society. Despite its popularity at home, the film bombed overseas.  

"Sometimes foreigners say they cannot understand my films," admitted Feng. "One cannot hesitate between [making] a movie for a festival or one for ticket [sales]," he said. "As a director, you can choose either way."  

But for Feng, the cost does not outweigh the benefit. "It's too risky to cater to only a few judges' taste."  

That has not stopped Feng from showing a trailer of the film at this year's Cannes festival. Screenings at the Toronto and Venice film festivals are also reportedly planned. Promotion has taken up nearly 40 percent of the film's total US$13 million cost, Feng said, making The Banquet a big-budget film by Chinese filmmaking standards.