Xu Wei/Shanghai Daily news

The silver screen for the holiday is the scene of an interesting duel between two of China's top fifth-generation film directors - Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.
Three years ago Zhang made the action blockbuster "Hero," the highest grossing movie in the history of Chinese cinema which took 250 million yuan (US$30.8 million) at box office on the Chinese mainland. Now Zhang has gone back to art-house moviemaking with  "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles" which is now showing in town.
Chen's fantasy epic "The Promise" is also showing and has some of the kung fu style of "Hero." And "The Promise" has ambitions to equal or exceed the box-office success of "Hero."
"The artistic routes of the two veteran directors have dramatically converged in the past three years," says Wu Hehu, marketing director of Shanghai United Cinema Lines, the city's leading cinema chain.
Compared with the 340-million-yuan saga "The Promise," "Riding" is a small-budget film - 60 million yuan - with a straight-forward storyline.
However, it is expected to rival the "The Promise," particularly when audiences are looking to have an enjoyable night at the cinema over the New Year holiday.
Centered on the delicate relationship between a father and a son, "Riding" tells the story of an old Japanese father who tries to fulfill a dream of his dying son - to go to China to film a Yunnan opera.
"It is a serious and realistic drama that deals with the simplest and most sincere emotions of human beings," says filmmaker Zhang, 54. "But that is not an easy job."
He explains that the making of "Riding" is quite different from that of "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers," where magnificent scenery, great cinematography and stunning stunts enchant an audience. But in an art film, it is the storyline and the acting that are vital.
"It requires me to have a deep insight into people's hearts and to grasp every tiny change in emotion and mood," Zhang says.
The movie stars the 70-something veteran Japanese actor Ken Takakura as the father while almost all the other roles are played by amateurs or people with no acting experience. This bears a remarkable resemblance to two of Zhang's previous films, "My Father and Mother" and "Not One Less."
Without any stereotypes in mind, the non-professional performers - many of whom have the same jobs in their movie roles as they do in real life - express themselves naturally and this helps to make the film true-to-life.
Another highlight is the picturesque landscape of Yunnan Province which serves as a backdrop to the movie.
"The bewildering stone-covered hills, poetic dusks and bustling ancient towns add a unique flavor to the film and make it remarkably beautiful," says Qiu Zhonglin, a local film fan.
Veteran producer Zhang Weiping is not surprised that the director of "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers" is returning to the quieter themes of his earlier work.
"Our 'Hero' and 'House' have proved to be big box-office success," producer Zhang says. "But no matter how many stunts and big scenes are applied, film should never lose its basic element - sincere emotion that can reverberate in the hearts of many."
He notes that in this modern materialistic world, many people are pursuing a better life but sometimes the more they possess, the more they lose in their hearts. He says he hopes the movie will provide people with a chance to reflect on their own lives and emotions.
However, small-budget art films like earlier "West Lake Moment" and "Waiting Alone" aren't very popular in local cinemas.
No matter how much praise they receive from critics, the two movies, with little money for promotion and not-so-good screening schedules, remain largely unknown.
Worse still, they are more likely to be threatened by video pirates.
Although director Chen claims that "making commercial blockbusters are an urgent necessity if the Chinese film market is to develop because they can attract more people to the cinema," critics and movie buffs doubt whether home-grown movies are threatened by mega-productions.
"Young directors are also longing for a platform to showcase their talents," says Wang Tao, a local movie fan. "But the cruel reality is that not enough people in China would like to buy tickets to see an art film. Instead, they will buy pirated DVDs of the films which, in turn, plays an important role in enabling them to be seen by a wider audience. That is the dilemma."

"Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles" is now screened at cinemas throughout Shanghai with English subtitles.