‘A new era for Chinese science fiction’: The Wandering Earth director, producer wow fans at US screenings
- Chinese New Year hit shown in North America, after Netflix picks up rights, and its director and producer face fans at sold-out screenings
- Sci-fi genre in China has entered a new era, director Frant Gwo says, but it’s not a match yet for the best of Hollywood
On Sunday, director Frant Gwo and producer Gong Ge’er spoke with fans at two sold-out screenings in New York. They arrived there after meeting earlier in the week with film industry executives in Los Angeles.
The Wandering Earth has a message: collective action tops individual freedom
“Hollywood thought the idea behind The Wandering Earth was really cool,” Gwo told the audience. “The idea that people were running away from disaster but decided to take the Earth with them. That’s our Chinese feeling of love for our home, our world.”
Based on a novella by Liu Cixin, The Wandering Earth details an attempt to rescue the Earth from an exploding sun by using giant rockets to move the planet to a new solar system. Plans go awry when the Earth is dragged into Jupiter’s gravitational field. Aboard an international space station, Liu Peiqiang (played by Wu Jing) coordinates manoeuvres by rescuers on Earth.
Joining Wu are screen veterans such as Hong Kong’s Ng Man-tat, playing a grizzled truck driver, and Li Guangjie as Wang Lei, a soldier willing to sacrifice everything to complete his mission. But fans clamoured to learn more about Liu Qi (Qu Chuxiao) and Han Duoduo (Zhao Jinmai), youngsters who are pulled into a perilous journey on the Earth’s surface, where they face earthquakes and sub-zero temperatures.
“We had a whole backstory about Liu Qi and Han Duoduo, why they wanted to leave the safety of their underground city to come to the surface,” Gong joked. “But because the film was so long we had to cut it out. So you will need to see the full-length version to find out the reason why.”
The Wandering Earth took five years to assemble and complete. “When we started, there were two people on the team. By the end, we had 7,000 crew members overall,” Gwo said. “We were working right up until the last day before the New Year.”
Gwo and his crew spent two years on post-production alone, building over 2,000 special-effects shots and 10,000 props. But he cautioned viewers not to compare The Wandering Earth to other sci-fi films. “We have a long way to go to catch up,” he said.
“I think it might take 10 years to reach even the middle of what Hollywood does. These are just our first steps, and we need to be patient. The Chinese have never lacked for imagination – just look at classic novels like Journey to the West. But what we do lack, temporarily at least, is the ability to make the imagination work everywhere.
“The way we can make up that gap is labour. We have so many people who are doing their best to make up this gap.”
Liu, who won a Hugo award in 2015, has drawn the admiration of Hollywood filmmakers like James Cameron. The writer is famous for grounding his stories in science.
The Wandering Earth: Chinese sci-fi epic far from genre’s best
Gwo and his crew were able to find exciting ways to visualise the complex theories the author works with. But what was just as important to the director was the film’s message of solidarity.
“In The Wandering Earth we send 1.5 million Chinese people to rescue the world,” he said. “This collectivism is how the Chinese work, how we solve problems.”
Gwo drew a huge laugh at the screening when he was asked about a sequel. “We have to negotiate with Liu Cixin first,” he said. “This first one was for the Chinese audience; maybe he will now pay attention to the audience abroad as well. But we hope to work with him on any sequels.”
Both Gwo and Ge’er seemed overwhelmed by their reception in New York. “This is a new era for Chinese science fiction, and we need to encourage these kinds of films,” Gwo told the crowd.
“We ask you to share this film with your friends. We especially hope that children will watch and find goals for their lives. That’s one reason why we made this film.”
