Young film director Ning Hao has made big waves in the Chinese media with his latest black humor flick, Crazy Stone.	The Crazy Stone billboard.	A still from Crazy Stone.

Young Chinese film director, Ning Hao, and his latest black humor flick, Crazy Stone, are making big waves within the Chinese media and also at the Chinese box office. The film has already earned RMB 31 million, RMB 16 million of which was generated in Beijing alone.

After five years of working on relatively obscure Chinese films, Ning is now basking in the limelight. His first movie, Thursday, Wednesday, shot in 2001 while he was still studying at the Beijing Film Academy, won him the Best Director Award at the Beijing University Student Film Festival. In 2003, his debut feature, Incense, won the Grand Prize at Tokyo's Filmex, and in 2004, his Mongolian Ping Pong was selected for screening at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Hong Kong International Film Festival, and was also named Best Asian Film at the 2005 Shanghai Film Festival. Despite all their laurels, none of these films has been shown in local cinemas. Ning Hao has constantly been hampered by fund shortages owing to the difficulty he has experienced in convincing investors to risk their cash on the movies he makes, that are devoid of special effects and have no international stars. In order to pursue his film ambitions, Ning has been obliged to supplement his budget by shooting MTV features.

“The system of film releases and distribution on the Chinese mainland is too inflexible,” says Ellen Eliasoph , President of Warner Bros Pictures China . “The majority of films shown in Chinese cinemas are multi-million dollar blockbusters, which makes it difficult for low-budget movies to be seen, let alone survive.” In 2005, 70 of the 260 films produced in China were shown in local cinemas, and only a dozen of them made any profit. In its capacity of investor and distributor of the low-budget Crazy Stone, Warner Bros has chosen to promote it on the Internet.

“ We chose Crazy Stone because of its irresistible humor and the personalities it features,” says Ellen Eliasoph.

There have been reports that the movie's black humor keeps the audience in stitches throughout. This may be an exaggeration, but the film has certainly attracted a great deal of attention within Chinese film circles. “This low-budget film has successfully stolen away fans of the standard multi-million dollar Hollywood blockbuster by virtue of its authentic Chinese humor,” says Hao Jian, a professor at the Beijing Film Academy, concluding, “It uses dialogue and a touch of slapstick to create a comic effect, and also has an extremely funny plot.”

The eponymous stone in Crazy Stone is a precious piece of jade that is found in a financially floundering factory. The fun begins when the boss decides to sell it at auction in order to pay outstanding wages. As a real estate developer has designs on the land on which the plant stands, he hires a well-known gangster from Hong Kong to steal the jade. Meanwhile, three local villains are also trying to steal this treasure from under the noses of the security guards protecting it.

The escapades of the characters and their resolute optimism aptly express the impermanent, fleeting nature of life. “We live in a crazy world,” says Ning. “Every one is racking his or her brains to reach their goal, but it often happens that cleverer you are and the harder you work, the more likely you are to miss out on good fortune.”

Some scenes from Crazy Stone are send-ups of the type of Hollywood blockbuster with which the movie has successfully competed for an audience. In one sequence, the Hong Kong gangster imitates Tom Cruise's stunt in Mission Impossible of suspending himself from a rope tied to the ceiling in an effort to steal the jade. The punchline to this stunt is that as the rope seller has shortchanged him as regards the required length of the rope, this big-time thug from Hong Kong is left helplessly dangling one meter out of reach of the object of his desire.

In another scene, a security guard chases after a villain amid typical Chinese festival celebrations, wherein the beating of gongs and drums acts as accompaniment to the cops-and-robber chase. It is a scene that skillfully expresses how contemporary life and traditional Chinese culture coexist and organically combine.

“I look forward to being more innovative in my film production,” says Ning, when asked about future plans, “Most of my team are, like me, in their 20s. None of us is wealthy, so we can't afford to live in luxurious hotels, but we get true satisfaction from devising comic plots and dialogues that make the audience laugh.”

Many people who have worked with Ning Hao are impressed with his innovative ideas and ability to distinguish and express life's truly humorous moments. It was this obvious talent that attracted Warner Bros' interest and investment, and why they already have plans to invest in Ning's next movie, Crazy Race Car , whose cost is estimated at RMB 20 million. Warner Bros is also planning to market a Ning Hao Three Film DVD pack comprising Crazy Stone , and Ning's previous two films, Incense and Mongolian Ping Pong .