"The Founding of A Republic", showing at Beijing Star City cinema, is attracting huge audiences.

The Founding of A Republic, a blockbuster recently shown across the country, seems to have sparked a national discussion on Chinese culture.

With 170-odd movie stars included, this movie focuses on the period of China’s history from Chungking negotiations in 1945 to the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Except for its box office success, this movie has made its due contribution to the construction of China’s mainstream culture.

“National image” is a new term recently introduced from international politics and communication theories into culturology and filmology. Generally speaking, it is considered to be the subjective impression and general comments on many areas by the domestic public and the international communities, such as on the country’s history, its culture, current politics, economic strength, international status and its ethical value orientations, in the age of frequent cultural exchanges and transmission. It is an important reflection of the overall strength of a country, of its soft power in particular.

Without question, if the national image is properly expressed, it will generate great influence or attraction externally, and mighty cultural identity and national cohesiveness domestically. As far as the movie’s cultural transmission is concerned, the “national image” means the overall impression and evaluation from Chinese and foreign movie viewers on the values, ethics, aesthetics, vitality, mentality and social conditions of China and its culture.

At this global age, it is reasonable that such a term is able to spark huge enthusiasm in the movie studies circle. When China was in a relatively closed age and the world did not understand the image of this nation through movies, this term might be a false proposition without any valuable significance. Since the mid and late 1980s, when Yellow Land and Red Sorghum edged into the world and triggered off a debate in the country on whether these movies “exhibited the ugly side” and made up to the western movie festival judges and audiences, Chinese movies have growingly stepped towards the international market, and played even greater roles in cultural exchanges. Overseas audiences are increasingly recognizing the national image of China through the cultural images on the screens.