As China becomes an increasingly important global film market, audiences in the country still have an uneasy relationship with Hollywood. Just last month, The Wall Street Journal reported how moviegoers in the country were quickly becoming tired of “flower vases,” meaning fleeting roles given to Chinese actors in major blockbusters. And now comes “The Great Wall,” which is facing the opposite problem: a blockbuster movie set in the country and featuring a largely Chinese cast, but led by a white dude, namely Matt Damon. Plenty of criticism has already come in for the movie, but director Zhang Yimou urges everyone to wait and see — this isn’t a “white savior” flick.
“In many ways ‘The Great Wall’ is the opposite of what is being suggested. For the first time, a film deeply rooted in Chinese culture, with one of the largest Chinese casts ever assembled, is being made at tent pole scale for a world audience. I believe that is a trend that should be embraced by our industry,” he said in a statement. “Our film is not about the construction of the Great Wall. Matt Damon is not playing a role that was originally conceived for a Chinese actor. The arrival of his character in our story is an important plot point. There are five major heroes in our story and he is one of them — the other four are all Chinese. The collective struggle and sacrifice of these heroes are the emotional heart of our film. As the director of over 20 Chinese language films and the Beijing Olympics, I have not and will not cast a film in a way that was untrue to my artistic vision. I hope when everyone sees the film and is armed with the facts they will agree.”
Well, with that in mind, here’s the latest trailer for the movie which is set in 15th century China and tells the fictional tale of what the Chinese were really trying to keep out with The Great Wall — and it wasn’t just Mongols.
Co-starring Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe, Andy Lau, Jing Tian, Zhang Hanyu, Eddie Peng, Lu Han, Lin Gengxin, Zheng Kai, Chen Xuedong, Huang Xuan, and Wang Junkai, “The Great Wall” opens on February 17, 2017.
