Ｂａｔｔｌｅ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　Ｎｅｗ　Ｙｅａｒ　Ｃｒｏｗｎ.docVIP

Ｂａｔｔｌｅ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　Ｎｅｗ　Ｙｅａｒ　Ｃｒｏｗｎ 　　THE turn of the year is the high season for China’s film industry, when three major festivals come in a row: Christmas, New Year and Spring Festival (or Chinese New Year). With a steep increase in the number of moviegoers, this period of a month or more (Spring Festival can fall anywhere between late January to early February) is always marked by hectic competition among established directors intent on refreshing their reputations, and newcomers eager to carve out a niche. This year the battleground was particularly crowded. 　　Many old hands reappeared this season, although Zhang Yimou was notably absent as he was occupied with the Beijing Olympics opening and closing ceremonies in 2008. But mainland directors Feng Xiaogang and Chen Kaige, and Hong Kong directors John Woo and Hark Tsui all had new works. Newcomers include a handful of actors-turned directors, such as Donnie Yen, who directed and stared in Ip Man, about Bruce Lee’s mentor Ye Wen. 　　Chinese filmmakers long ignored the timing of their films’ debuts. In the past theaters even closed during the holidays. In 1995 Hong Kong kungfu star Jackie Chan brought his Rumble in the Bronx to the mainland during Spring Festival, and easily made RMB 110 million in box-office takings, an astronomical figure by the standards of the time. A year later his Golden Dragon hauled in another RMB 80 million. Such dazzling success awoke his mainland peers to the concept of the “New Year Film.” The first mainland-produced Spring Festival hit ― The Dream Factory ― leapt onto screens in 1997, and surprisingly overtook Jackie Chan’s Who Am I? in ticket sales. Its director Feng Xiaogang has remained the “Spring Festival movie tsar” to this day. 　　These days mainland studios rush to churn out work for the holiday season, but many films are actually an ill fit for the holiday mood and therefore perform poorly on the market. But the overall ardor for the New Year season has never diminished. China’s