The fifth project of director Zhang Yimou's "Impression" musical series, previewed Sunday.
Scenes from "Impression Dahongpao". [Photo: sina.com]
Scenes from "Impression Dahongpao". [Photo: sina.com]
Scenes from "Impression Dahongpao". [Photo: sina.com]
Scenes from "Impression Dahongpao". [Photo: sina.com]
Scenes from "Impression Dahongpao". [Photo: sina.com]
Scenes from "Impression Dahongpao". [Photo: sina.com]
Scenes from "Impression Dahongpao". [Photo: sina.com]
Scenes from "Impression Dahongpao". [Photo: sina.com]
Scenes from "Impression Dahongpao". [Photo: sina.com]
Zhang Yimou, the renowned Chinese filmmaker, is much less known for his creation of the "Impression" series, the world's first outdoor musical performances set in China's most beautiful tourist destinations.
"Impression Dahongpao", the fifth project in the series, previewed Sunday in the Wuyi Mountains in southeastern China's Fujian Province, where Dahongpao – the finest Chinese oolong tea grows.
The 70-minute live show, co-directed by Zhang Yimou, Wang Chaoge and Fan Yue, uses the natural landscape as the background and incarnates local folk tales, tea culture and town life.
"I'm not exaggerating - this is the largest movie theatre in the world," said Wang Chaoge.
The open-air theatre features the world's first 360-degree rotating auditorium and 15 projection screens.
As the story moves on, the auditorium turns and the scene naturally changes, as if undergoing a journey through time and space.
"We put multimedia techniques in nature and make people think about the relation of humans and nature. It's a revolutionary performance," said Fan Yue, another co-director.
"3D is a great revolution of Hollywood, but it is still illusionary. Ours is a live movie," said Wang Chaoge.
"Impression Dahongpao" is slated to premiere on March 2, and the sixth project of the series, "Impression Putuo", is now in production.
"We have done about one third of Impression Putuo. It is expected to open to the public by year's end," said Wang.
"Impression Putuo" will probe the relationship between Buddhism and human nature as the Putuo Mountain is one of the four Holy Buddhist Mountains in China.
The team has also received invitations from more than 60 other Chinese cities to make their own "Impression" shows, but Wang said not all the locations are good for such productions.
"We have to find the lucky places," said Wang.
