541 Mixed Reviews

Unaware that he had been betrayed by his girlfriend, Qin Guan was making financial plans for the holidays.

"Shall we go to the cinema tomorrow? ‘Heroes’ will be in theaters in North America."

"Which one do you want to watch first?"

Both of his films were being distributed by Miramax. One of them was a foreign film introduced in North America, while the other was an indie film. Miramax had assigned different significance to the two of them.

Qin Guan wasn’t concerned about that. Shrugging, he said, "We can watch ‘Heroes’ at the nearby cinema, then watch ‘Confessions of a Dangerous Mind’ the next day."

Cong Nianwei stared at Qin Guan with a meaningful expression in her eyes. "So they are in theaters on different days?"

"Of course. Don't look at me like that. I’m melting..."

"Stop!"

It was wonderful to be back home.

The next day, Qin Guan and Cong Nianwei went to the cinema with Sister Xue’s tickets.

The Chinese commercial film had been publicized in North America for a whole month. The American youth paid to see the film thanks to their love for Jet Li. They were also curious about the mysterious Asian film.

The first screening started at nine o’clock in the morning. It seemed that the cinema was confident about the film.

The big screen turned on. About 60% of the average-sized theater was occupied, which was a gratifying achievement.

Cong Nianwei was interested in the film, but Qin Guan was nervous.

It was easy for a Chinese audience to enjoy a foreign film with an English audio and Chinese subtitles. Fans of American, Korean and Japanese TV shows were a good example of this.

American people couldn’t follow subtitles though.

In the film, actors were shouting at each other in Chinese, and the emperor was giving a lesson to the audience in standard Mandarin. The English subtitles were flashing by quickly at the bottom of the screen.

Qin Guan's reading ability was enough to read them, but the young people around him were frowning.

"What is he talking about?"

"No idea. The subtitles are too fast."

Idioms were extremely important, but English sentences were always too long. In half an hour, the confused audience began to leave. Cong Nianwei was worried. "What's the matter?" she whispered to Qin Guan.

Qin Guan tried to comfort her. "We’ll just rely on the reviews tomorrow and the box office statistics."

To their delight, most of the audience stayed till the end of the film. Qin Guan couldn't control public opinion, but he would definitely buy some newspapers the next day.

As they walked out of the cinema, Cong Nianwei burst into laughter and pointed to his lips. "You look strange with that beard on!"

Qin Guan smiled in reply. No matter how much facial hair he had on, he would always be a good actor.

The two of them walked home chatting and laughing. The next day, Qin Guan bought some shrimp wontons from a Chinese restaurant for breakfast and bought some newspapers on the way home.

When he returned, Cong Nianwei had prepared some round pancakes. She put a plate of pickles on the table as Qin Guan finished the newspapers.

The box office of the opening day had been more than 100 million dollars. His film was at the top of the weekend box office.

This was an uncommon achievement during the summer, but the reviews were much more interesting than the box office.

The audience was divided. Qin Guan’s fans were crazy about the film, while his haters couldn't wait to diss it.

The mainstream media talked very highly of the film. They thought it was as mysterious as Chinese culture and wanted to travel among China’s beautiful mountains and rivers, which were as beautiful as Wonderland.

Each scene was meaningful, and each actor left a memorable impression. Their words were as elegant as poems, expressing the essence of Chinese culture and philosophy.

Some reviews came from prestigious art lovers and insiders of the film circle, including directors, photographers and producers. Everyone thought it was an outstanding visual feast.

Of course, some people, who were fans of Jet Li, were fond of popular Kung Fu stars.

There was also a group of people who disliked the film. They ranked it with an F, which was the lowest possible rating.

Most young people hated it. They couldn't follow the dialogue and had no idea what was going on. What does the director want to say? That the ancient Chinese could fly in the sky?