Breakthrough

The holiday movie period did not see a single standout player but a close-knit competition involving films of a variety of genres, said Yin Hong, vice chairman of the China Film Association and a professor at Tsinghua University.

Among the packed lineup of titles released on April 30 and May 1 were films in the spy, thriller, comedy, animation and romance genres.

Cliff Walkers is set in 1930s Harbin, northeast China. It follows Communist Party special agents as they test their wits against their enemies to complete a secret mission.

Rao Shuguang, president of the China Film Critics Association, spoke highly of the storytelling and production quality of the new film by Zhang Yimou.

"It is not only Zhang's personal breakthrough in terms of film genre and narrative exploration, but it is also an expansion and breakthrough for China's new patriotic films," said Rao.

When asked how he created well-received films, Zhang Yimou told Xinhua the importance of portraying the characters' stories well.

"There is no shortcut," he said. "Let the audience be moved by the emotions of the characters and the brilliance of human nature."

"Some moviegoers have told me that from this movie they understood the bravery of the country's heroic revolutionary forefathers, which makes me believe I have done a meaningful thing," he said.

While the holiday box office peak is closely related to Chinese audiences' increasingly mature film consumption habits during holidays, industry observers have called for more quality films and the cultivation of audiences' regular film-viewing habits outside of holidays to promote the high-quality development of China's movie industry.

Yin noted the need to see more quality titles on regular release schedules, like weekends, and the importance of providing audiences with more varied movie choices.