As the curtain falls on another year, Feng Xiaogang is back doing what he knows best-making people laugh. For more than a decade the popular director has forged a New Year-film tradition with a string of mega hit comedies. If You Are the One (Feicheng Wurao), a romantic comedy loosely based on When Harry Met Sally, is his latest effort and revolves around a middle-aged man's arduous and amusing search for his dream girlfriend.

Feng Xiaogang says his new movie is a New Year's present to Chinese moviegoers, who have experienced a tough year in 2008. [Wu Huang]

Feng says the movie is a New Year's present to Chinese moviegoers, who have experienced a tough year in 2008.

Heavy snowstorms, a disastrous earthquake and the financial crisis have brought too much hardship, and now is the time for people to let down their guards and enjoy a good old-fashioned laugh.

"Life is complicated and hard enough, so people want films to be simple and relaxing," he says.

"They don't want to ponder riddles in theaters. This is a film they can watch and feel relaxed and comforted."

For years, Feng has been creating stories about common peoples' ups and downs and his efforts have won wide spread popularity among mainland audiences.

But because Feng is always serving up mainstream fare, some critics say the 50-year-old director is incapable of making "big, award-winning" films.

"Whether a film is big or not is not decided by the creators," he says.

"You think it is a big film with depth and insight, but if viewers cannot relate to it, it is small and empty.

"Things like the election of the United States president or the abolishment of apartheid in South Africa are big enough to change the world.

"But for a common Chinese citizen, whether his child can go to a better school seems bigger than that.

"Big or small depends on the angle from which you think. Personally, I like taking the common peoples' angle.

"If viewers feel it is funny and are touched after watching my film, I am very satisfied."

Despite the criticism, Feng's common touch has always scored big at the box office.

Last year, Assembly (Jijie Hao), a story about an ordinary soldier's search for redemption, topped the domestic box office, grossing 260 million yuan ($38.2 million).

In 2006, The Banquet (Ye Yan), his first and only attempt at a costume epic, raked in 150 million yuan ($22 million) despite harsh reviews.

From 1997 to 1999, his comedies topped the domestic box office and in 2001 and 2003, his other productions also pulled in the most money from mainland theaters.

Feng is confident his latest effort will gross more than 200 million yuan ($29.4 million), which represents a huge profit on the 50 million yuan ($7.4 million) investment spent on production.

"I do not worry about the box office at all," he says.

"The audience follows me all the time. In Hong Kong investors will tell producers to find Andy Lau or Tony Leung first, but in the mainland, a popular director is more attractive to audience even than the stars."

But Feng does not enjoy equal favor from film festival judges. Over his 15-year movie-making career, and despite winning the hearts of mainstream Chinese audiences, the director has won few awards.

At the recent Golden Horse awards in Taiwan, Assembly received six nominations and won the Best Actor and Best Adapted Script. But Feng was not nominated.

"Film festivals hate happy endings, and that's what viewers love about my films," he says jokingly.

"It is OK that I leave some space for other directors. After all you cannot have everything."

Feng's next movie departs from his comedy bent and will focus on the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which claimed more than 240,000 lives.

Feng says the project was in his mind before the May 12 Sichuan earthquake hit this year and he is working on the script.

(China Daily December 23, 2008)