why is "grandma's grandson" so popular in china? this is what the thai chinese director said
2024-09-14
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the thai film "grandma's grandson" has recently gained high box office and good reputation in mainland china. since its release, the cumulative box office has exceeded 100 million yuan, and the douban score has reached 8.9. the film's director ba wenidiba said that the film's content about family ethics resonated with people, and the chinese elements such as chaozhou dialect and folk songs that were integrated into the film also made the chinese audience feel at home.
cultural resonance connects people
"the movie discusses family relationships that are familiar to all of us. i think this is the main reason why the movie is popular and resonates with people," said thai-chinese director ba in an interview with xinhua news agency.
director of "grandma's grandson" ba wenidiba (left of the screen) is interviewed by xinhua news agency reporters in bangkok, thailand. photo by xinhua news agency reporter sun weitong"grandma's grandson" tells the story of a'an, a young man from a chinese family in thailand, who accidentally learns that his grandmother is terminally ill. he then plays the role of a "full-time filial grandson" to take care of her, hoping to become the "first in line" to inherit a million-dollar inheritance. however, this ends up opening up a warm and healing family story between grandparents and grandchildren.
after watching the movie, many chinese audiences lamented that the subtle emotional relationships between family members portrayed in the movie were tear-jerking, and the topics of family ethics it raised were also on the hot search list many times.
ba said that this was his first time to shoot a family-themed movie, and he and the screenwriter spent two years polishing the script. the story of the movie is based on the screenwriter's personal experience when he was young, and many details come from the lives of people around him. the movie incorporates a lot of chinese elements and chinese cultural imprints: the chaozhou dialect, chaozhou folk songs, the golden boy and jade girl door stickers at home, and the qingming tomb-sweeping customs, all of which make chinese audiences feel very familiar.
"we incorporate family commonalities into the film, trying to let audiences of different ages feel their own life experiences from the film." ba said that telling the deepest stories and feelings in the heart, incorporating cultural elements into the plot, and connecting people's hearts are the only ways for the film to transcend time and national boundaries.
as a chinese, ba often listened to his grandmother's stories about his parents' boat trip from china to thailand when he was a child. in ba's view, it is very special for him to make a movie based on the cultural elements preserved by his grandmother's generation and release it in china.
opening up a big market through movies
songpong wongkhongdi, director of marketing and international business at gdh559, the producer of "grandma's grandson", said that the popularity of the film in china is a testament to the successful export of thai cultural products. he hopes that this will allow chinese consumers to further understand thai films and open up a larger cultural market.
the betel nut market in bangkok's thonburi district, where the movie "grandma's little big women" was filmed, has now become a popular check-in spot for tourists.
songpong wongkhongdi, director of marketing and international business of the thai film and television company gdh559, which produced "grandma's grandson", was interviewed by xinhua news agency reporters in bangkok, thailand. photo by xinhua news agency reporter sun weitongchalinchali yukon, chairman of the film and tv series branch of the national soft power strategy committee of thailand, said that thailand has beautiful natural landscapes such as seashores and islands, and has always been a popular location for international film and television works. thailand and china have increasingly close cooperation and exchanges in the humanities fields such as film, and more and more chinese crews are coming to thailand to shoot. at the same time, china has a vast market, and some film and television works with thai elements are also popular in china.
chalin chali said: "film plays an important role in cultural exchanges. we attach great importance to promoting exchanges and cooperation with china in the field of film. i believe that there is a broad prospect for future cooperation." (reporters: gao bo, chen qianci, wan houde; video: diao huilin, wang yujue)
