STORY: "Ne Zha 2" box office success reflects China's rising cultural soft power: Hong Kong-based scholar
SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 25, 2025
DATELINE: March 3, 2025
LENGTH: 00:02:18
LOCATION: HONG KONG, China
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the movie premiere
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): GORDON MUNRO, Acting director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): GORDON MUNRO, Acting director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
4. various of audiences in the cinema
5. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): GORDON MUNRO, Acting director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
6. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): GORDON MUNRO, Acting director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
7. various of audiences in the cinema
8. SOUNDBITE 5 (English): GORDON MUNRO, Acting director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

STORYLINE:

Chinese animated blockbuster "Ne Zha 2" reflects a growing global interest in Chinese culture and serves as a testament to China's rising cultural soft power, a local scholar in culture and arts education told Xinhua.
   
"Ne Zha 2" has soared to the top of the global animated film box office, drawing widespread attention and acclaim. The film was released in Hong Kong on Feb. 22.
   
Gordon Munro, acting director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, recently attended a screening of the film. 

He said that the film's ability to draw three-generational family audiences demonstrates how Chinese cultural narratives, rooted in folklore and mythology, can resonate universally.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): GORDON MUNRO, Acting director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
"I was really fascinated to see the extent of interest in this movie in Hong Kong. It was really great to see family engagement. There are definitely three generations of the same family watching the movie. So it has something for everyone, I think, for all age ranges, the stories seem to me to be timeless, rooted in Chinese folklore."
  
With a background in music and education, Munro also praised the film's score, which skillfully blends traditional Chinese musical elements with Western orchestral or digital arrangements, creating a grand and majestic soundscape that complements the film's epic narrative. 

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): GORDON MUNRO, Acting director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
"I would say that the whole experience of the film from the sound, in general, to the music, to the visual effects, to the animation, is a wonderfully integrated piece of art actually."

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): GORDON MUNRO, Acting director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
"And the music is a beautiful blend of Chinese traditional music, but played with modern instruments as well as traditional instruments, and also some Western elements as well. So, the music is so beautifully integrated into the film that you almost don't notice it. And that's a mark, I think, of how successful the writing for the music in the film is, when you almost don't notice it."

"Ne Zha 2" has received high ratings on well-known film review websites, reflecting the growing global interest in Chinese culture. Munro believed that the film's ability to "capture the imagination" of audiences across the globe signals a new way of global engagement with Chinese cultural products.

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): GORDON MUNRO, Acting director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
"I think there will be a lot of curiosity amongst international audiences as to why this film has really captured the imagination of so many Chinese and non-Chinese people right across the world."
   
SOUNDBITE 5 (English): GORDON MUNRO, Acting director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
"People want entertainment. They want something which they feel could be a good use of their time on a Saturday or some other evening of the week. And it brings people together. So I think you know obviously there's a very buoyant economy in the full market."
   
He further emphasized that through works like "Ne Zha 2," Chinese culture is engaging in global cultural exchanges with increasing confidence.
   
Munro expressed his own enthusiasm for exploring more Chinese films and believed that as China's cultural industry continues to innovate and develop, more works like "Ne Zha 2" will shine on the international stage.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Hong Kong, China.
(XHTV)