Since China had nothing to do with the invention of films, the development of China films began with film screening. 1896, Lumir brothers hired twenty assistants to show movies on five continents. In this way, the film, a cultural product with both artistic and commodity values, was introduced into China under the impetus of the business strategy of western businessmen to expand the market. Subsequently, many European and American businessmen saw that China's film industry was profitable and invested in China. They run the projection industry, build and develop chain cinemas, and even set up a film enterprise in China to make films.
From 1896 to the 1920s, although foreign investors occupied a monopoly position in the film market in China, they could not stop the film activities in China. 1903, German students returned to China with films and projectors, and rented Tianle Tea Garden to show films at Qianmen Grinding Factory in Beijing. 1905 Ren Qingtai of Beijing Fengtai Photo Studio filmed a segment of Dingjun Mountain, a Peking Opera starring him, for the birthday of Tan Xinpei, an old Beijing Opera dancer.
From the beginning, China's films were combined with China's traditional opera and rap art, forming a unique film type. However, Fengtai photo studio, which first tried to shoot this kind of film, was only a small enterprise, not a film institution. It was not until the appearance of the "Film Department" of the Commercial Press that it truly represented the beginning of the film industry in China. During this period, in addition to business, film production institutions appeared one after another, including Asian film companies invested by American businessmen, fantasy fairies, China, Shanghai and New Asia. Because most of their members came from the drama stage, most of the film themes and contents at that time came from China opera and civilized opera. In addition, they also began to shoot short stories and feature films, and made the most preliminary exploration and attempt on film art.
China's films were born in 1905, and have gone through various historical stages such as China's semi-feudal and semi-colonial period, revolutionary war period, new China construction period, cultural revolution period, reform and opening up period, and the new period of building a well-off society in an all-round way. It has gone through the process of technological change from silence to sound, from black and white to color, from analog to digital, and from tradition to modern. At different stages of development, China's films have left outstanding masterpieces:1During the pioneering period in the 1920s, there were progressive films with the theme of social change, such as "The Orphan Save the Ancestor"; During the Anti-Japanese War and National Salvation, there were films such as "Crazy Flow" and "Chinese Sons and Daughters" that inspired fighting spirit and promoted patriotism. After the Anti-Japanese War, eight thousand miles of clouds and the moon, and a river of spring water flowed eastward. Profoundly reveal social contradictions and essence, and form a realistic creation trend.
She said that during the 17 years after the founding of 1949 New China, a large number of excellent works combining realism and romanticism emerged, which shaped a large number of screen images with strong national style and formed the first climax of the development of new China films; Ten years after the Cultural Revolution, China's films came out of the low tide, producing a large number of excellent films, such as Little Flower and Man in Middle Age, which reflected the reform practice and criticized the social malpractice. Especially in the late 1980s and early 1990s, major revolutionary historical films such as founding ceremony and Armageddon, and realistic films such as Jiao and Phoenix Piano reached the second climax.
In the 1990s, Shi said that China films have successively implemented major measures, such as film and television merger reform, film quality project, rural film projection project, film shareholding system and group reform, and made new breakthroughs and improvements in artistic quality and form. In addition to Kong Fansen, The Day I Left Lei Feng, Xi Lian, The Mountain, The Man, The Dog and other works, there are new styles of New Year's greeting films and comedies such as Be there or be square, and a large number of new forces have emerged. In the new century, China film has formed a new pattern of coordinated development of state-owned, collective and private, and the film development has embarked on a virtuous circle. Masterpieces such as Deng Xiaoping, Hoh Xil and The Past of Taiwan have achieved both social and economic benefits, while domestic blockbusters such as Hero and Myth have occupied a dominant position in the China market, creating a box office miracle for China films in the world cinema. Over the past three years, more than 30 films in China have won awards at more than 40 international film festivals, marking the arrival of the third development climax.