Back to the future

Director Feng Xiaogang has a conversation with Ang Lee at Tsinghua University on Monday. CHINA DAILY

Avatar then earned 1.3 billion yuan, ushering in a cinematic revolution.

Now, China has 21,000 screens, or 55 percent of the total in the country, capable of screening films in the 3-D format.

Also, an overwhelming number of blockbusters, which have played a pivotal role in making China the world's second-largest movie market, are screened in the 3-D format.

As for Lee, despite his film's technological breakthrough making headlines, the director－in his trademark modest style－seems a bit apprehensive about how the movie will be received.

"I'm very nervous. I don't know if I have done a good job or a bad one," says the low-profile director.

The film will be simultaneously released on Nov 11 in both China and the United States.

The 62-year-old director received a Confucian-style education in Taiwan and polished his cinematic skills in the US. To that extent, very few directors have been able to bridge East and West so well.

But interestingly, while the film has been praised in China, reaction in the West has been tepid.

As for the Ang Lee's reaction, he says: "For me, there is no separation between format and content. I know that this film is experimental, somewhat ahead of its time. But it could in the future change the way films are made and watched."