The Nightingale -- Presenting Real China to the World

By TANG YUANKAI

French director Philippe Muyl was recently surprised to learn that his film The Nightingale (Le promeneur d’oiseau), jointly produced by China and France, would compete for Best Foreign Language Film Prize at the 87th Academy Awards. The director says this is a sign that China’s film industry is opening up.

In 1991, Ju Dou, directed by Zhang Yimou, was the first Chinese-language film to win an Oscar nomination. Over the next 12 years, Chinese-language films were nominated seven times for Oscars, and Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon won on behalf of Taiwan. But for the past 11 years, no Chinese film has been short-listed for an Oscar.

The Nightingale was screened at more than 30 international film festivals before its Chinese debut on October 31, 2014. It won Audience Award at the 16th RiverRun Film Festival in the U.S. and the Golden Slipper award at the 54th Zlín Film Festival in the Czech Republic. At the Shanghai International Film Festival, the film was nominated for five awards and its lead actor Li Baotian won a Media Award.

These successes have raised hopes for an Oscar in 2015.

Poster of The Nightingale (Le promeneur d’oiseau).

Tribute to a Country Amid Reform

“Selecting The Nightingale shows that a co-production may represent Chinese films on the global stage,” Philippe Muyl said. “It shows a bright, heartwarming and optimistic China which is striving to solve existing problems. That makes us stand out.”

Before coming to China to direct The Nightingale, Philippe Muyl thought it would be “an adventure.” Yet after arriving, he realized that China is not the same country as that portrayed in the news. He felt that he had a responsibility to record China’s realities so as to “present the real China to the world.”

“To some extent, China currently remains unknown to many Westerners. Sometimes it is misinterpreted,” Philippe Muyl said. “The French talk about China almost every day, but few have ever actually been to the country. They have no idea what China looks like and simply believe what they have seen on television, often focusing on negative aspects like environmental pollution.” Therefore, he says, people should visit China for themselves or go to see The Nightingale. “You will find many attractive things in China besides smog – beautiful scenery, kind people, ancient culture and modern vitality.”

“The film tells an original Chinese story with Chinese actors. But I adopted a narrative form familiar to Western audiences to make it easier to understand,” Muyl said.

In early May 2014, The Nightingale was released in French cinemas and was a box office hit. Its receipts exceeded Hollywood blockbusters and several French films shown at the same time. Running for over half a year, it has become the first noncommercial Chinese film to run so long in French cinemas. One in 500 French people have seen this film.