By Isabella Tianzi Cai
Say What? "Confucius" in Three-Way Tie for Worst Chinese Film of 2010
The winners of the 2nd Golden Broom Awards were announced in Beijing on February 22, 2011, Liu Wei from China Daily reports. The award ceremony is dedicated to the worst films made by Chinese directors. It may be considered the Chinese equivalent of the Golden Raspberry Awards (or “Razzies”) in America.
More details, including a full list of “winners,” after the break.
Opinions about the awards vary greatly from one person to another. At the celebrity end, none of the winners showed up to receive the awards, with Feng Xiaogang sarcastically describing the jury as “shrewd bastards” who must deserve “golden abacus awards” because they were “opportunists taking advantage of others’ celebrity status.” However, some actors and directors who were not nominated this round, said that they would be willing to accept the awards in person if they were ever on the list.
From the perspective of the judges – 31 in total and handpicked by the founder of the awards, Cheng Qingsong – the zero turnout was not a big surprise. Cheng emphasized “a sense of humor” in the awards. All he and his team ever wanted to achieve was to remind people of bad films despite their stellar box office performances. Quality control, in a sense.
China’s box office receipts have been breaking its own record yearly for at least seven consecutive years. Its domestic box office has also surged in the past few years, thanks to its homemade dapian (a.k.a. blockbusters or mega-pictures) and zhuxuanlu films (a.k.a. leitmotif films, main melody films, or keynote films). While some of these films did well in terms of box office because they were made to be commercially successful and were marketed aggressively, others did well because they were aligned with party tenets, supported party legitimacy, promoted national glory, and were in turn supported and promoted.
Because of the false impression many people have that successful films are also good films, plus the fact that film criticism easily turn to “hyperbole” nowadays to stand out, “a serious appraisal,” as believed by Cheng and others, is therefore in dire need.
Right now in China, besides the Golden Broom Awards, the Sour Mango Awards and the Iron Elephant Awards, which also recognize bad screen products, are in the limelight as well. None of them is mainstream and controlled by the government. Their independence is an important part of their credibility.
Below is a list of this year’s winners at the Golden Broom.
Most Disappointing Film of the Year: Confucius by Mei HU Just Call Me Nobody by Yen-ping CHU If You Are the One 2 by Xiaogang FENG
Most Disappointing Director of the Year: Mei HU for Confucius Xiaogang FENG for If You Are the One 2
Most Disappointing Actor of the Year: Libo ZHOU (Tang Bo Hu Dian Qiu Xiang 2 Zhi Si Da Cai Zi)
Most Disappointing Actress of the Year: Barbie HSU (Future X-cops, Reign of Assassins, Long Feng Dian)
Most Disappointing Film with Product Placement of the Year: Aftershock by Xiaogang FENG
Most Disappointing Sequel Film of the Year: Tang Bo Hu Dian Qiu Xiang 2 Zhi Si Da Cai Zi