Taste of success

"I've long thought that there are a set of particular stigmas placed on Asian cinema, both by the Western critical establishment and by general audiences ... and these stigmas affect the potential of an Asian film's box office," says Sam C. Mac, a film critic for Slant Magazine, adding that some moviegoers still live with the legacy of old martial arts movies and Hong Kong gangster films.

"While it won't always be a winning formula, I think films that are earnest and honest in their expression of Chinese culture have a better chance at critical and audience acceptance than those that try to emulate Western formulas for cinema, and consider cultural identifiers as merely an afterthought," Mac says.

"To some extent, Chinese capital being more involved will help increase the understanding of global cinematic tastes and the improvement of technical skills in production. Reaching global appeal for Chinese movies will require filmmakers to tell diverse stories with universal appeal," Anthony Kao, editor-in-chief of Cinema Escapist, says.

"While joint productions with Hollywood and other global players will help the Chinese film industry better understand global audience tastes, investment alone is not the answer," he adds.

Some Hollywood insiders believe with the rise of China's domestic market, there is less incentive for homegrown filmmakers to gamble millions on an attempt to appease an unfamiliar and poorly-understood international market when they can recoup hundreds of millions of dollars with a single hit film in China.

Andre Morgan, co-founder of Ruddy Morgan Films, says: "The truth is that China has not focused on the American market, yet. Historically, the Chinese industry over the past 20 years has been very focused on building its domestic market and production capabilities.

"They do not really make films for international consumption, but that will change as China consolidates its domestic market and looks for new horizons."