“AMAZING China,” a 90-minute documentary hit on China’s big screen that reviews the country’s comprehensive development over the past five years, has become the country’s highest-grossing documentary. Released March 2, the documentary had made 210 million yuan (about US$33 million) at the box office as of Saturday. The number surpassed that of the previous record holder “Twenty Two,” a feature highlighting the plight of comfort women, which earned around US$25 million last year. “Amazing China” introduces a series of major developments the country has made since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, including the world’s largest radio telescope FAST, the world’s largest maritime drilling rig Blue Whale 2, and the development of 5G mobile technology. The large amount of aerial views of those super projects in the news documentary have made a strong visual impact on audiences, commented Rao Shuguang, secretary-general of the China Film Association. The documentary also records the stories of ordinary people, including engineers of infrastructure projects, grassroots officials fighting poverty and entrepreneurs devoted to technological innovation. “Other than just showing what China has achieved, it tells us about the hardworking people who made these miracles happen,” said Li Jianwen, a moviegoer in Qingdao, Shandong Province. Rao points out that the human touch and detailed story-telling have drawn the moviegoers into theaters. Rated 9.6 by viewers on Maoyan, a major Chinese film database and ticketing platform, the film’s box office is expected to exceed 376 million yuan. (SD-Agencies) |