The fate of the main theme movie during the May Day period
The May Day holiday has always been regarded as an important window period for the mainland film market. In this period, major film companies will carefully plan and launch their own fist products, in order to get a piece of the pie in the fierce competition. In recent years, a genre known as "main theme movie" has repeatedly encountered Waterloo during the May Day period.
The term main theme film was originally used to describe those film and television works with positive themes and positive ideas. They often focus on themes such as national rejuvenation, revolutionary history, and heroic figures, aiming to promote the main theme and spread positive energy. But over time, the term has gradually evolved into a derogatory term, which is used by many viewers to refer to bad movies with old-fashioned plots, rough productions, and stiff actors.
During the May Day schedule in 2024, the main theme movie will once again become the focus. Some films that are considered to belong to this genre, such as "Children of Heroes" and "Red Age", had a good reputation during the promotion period and once occupied the top of the box office list. But just when the audience was expecting them, these films quickly lost their popularity and eventually became "stinky rags".
There are three classifications of main theme films
The so-called "main theme movie" is not a strict concept, and netizens often classify films with themes such as modern war and revolutionary history into this category. But in reality, they can be divided into three different types:
It is a blockbuster film jointly filmed by the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and three places. These films tend to be well-made and have strong casts, but they are often superficial and lack depth. Typical representatives include "People's Heroes", which will be released in 2022.
It is a revolutionary historical drama, which mainly restores the revolutionary struggles of the party and the people in different historical periods. Representative works of this genre include "Red Rock" and "Awakening Age". Due to the specificity of the subject matter, they often give people a stiff and didactic feeling.
It is the main theme film of modern themes, telling the work and life of contemporary people, soldiers, public security, etc. This type of film is the most down-to-earth, but it is also the most prone to mediocrity. Films such as "The True Color of Heroes" and "Splendid Middle Road" all fall into this category.
Since the huge success of "Wolf Warrior 2" in 2017, the number of main theme movies has begun to surge. However, due to the uneven level of directors, screenwriters, and actors, coupled with the impact of censorship, the quality of these films is also uneven.
The phenomenon of "stinky rags" during the May 1st period
Back to May Day in 2024, why do those films that are considered to be the main theme movies become "stinky rags"? There are several main reasons for this:
The plot is old-fashioned. When creating characters and setting up plots, many films rely too much on templates that have been used repeatedly, and lack novelty. For example, in "Children of Heroes", the battle of wits and courage between revolutionaries and reactionaries makes people feel familiar.
The actor's performance is blunt and contrived. Because the main theme movies often require actors to show some exaggerated emotions, such as passionate generosity, sadness and indignation, etc., many actors lack sufficient skills, and it is inevitable that they will look very contrived.
The imbalance between the grand narrative and the personal plot. In order to render the grand scenes of revolution or war, some films often ignore personal emotional experience, making the characters lack flesh and blood and it is difficult for the audience to resonate.
The impact of censorship. Due to the politically sensitive content involved, the main theme film is subject to many restrictions during filming and production, and it is difficult to show a panoramic and realistic portrayal.
Based on the above reasons, the performance of the main theme movie during the May Day period is dwarfed. Some netizens bluntly said that when they see the mainland main theme movies directed by Hong Kong directors, they don't watch them.
The overall box office performance of the May 1st stall
Although the main theme movie is deficient in word-of-mouth, the overall box office performance of May Day is still remarkable. According to statistics, during the May Day period in 2024, the total box office of the mainland film market will reach 1.527 billion yuan, and the number of moviegoers will exceed 37 million.
In this schedule, the action movie "Peacekeeping Anti-riot Team" became the biggest winner with a box office of 404 million yuan, which is well deserved. The film tells the story of the Chinese peacekeepers fighting wits and courage with terrorists when they are on duty overseas.
Another dark horse is the comedy "Spending Money at the End of the Road", which tells the story of a rich kid on the verge of bankruptcy who dumps his family property in order to pay off his debts. Although the film has a small cost, the plot is novel and interesting, and it once became a hot topic on the Internet, and finally achieved good box office results.
On the whole, the May Day film market in 2024 can be described as mixed. On the one hand, the performance of the main theme film is indeed disappointing; But on the other hand, some excellent commercial films have also emerged, which confirms the fact that the mainland film market is becoming more and more mature.
During the May Day schedule in 2024, although the film known as the "main theme movie" once occupied the top of the box office list, it eventually became a "stinky rag" because of the old-fashioned plot, stiff actors, unbalanced narrative, and the impact of censorship. The main theme movies can also be divided into three different genres, and the number has exploded since "Wolf Warrior 2" but the quality is uneven. Despite this, the overall box office performance of May 1st is still remarkable, with the action film "Peacekeeping Anti-riot Team" and the comedy "Spending Money at the End of the Road" both achieving good results.