The movie celebrated Chinese aesthetics and traditional culture in an unprecedented way, with its deft orchestration and soulful folk ballads.

The film catapulted its director Chen Kaige and cinematographer Zhang Yimou to international stardom.

Chen Kaige, movie director, said, "Of course we wanted to defy the old mould and create something new and sensational. We were so young and considered ourselves much better than our predecessors. Later, when I reflect on that period, I think we were just too arrogant and rebellious."

The former cinematographer Zhang Yimou later emerged for his socially and historically conscious dramas. His earlier art-house productions, from "Red Sorghum," and "Ju Dou," to "The Story of Qiu Ju," won international accolades for their visual beauty and delicate meditation on Chinese culture.

Today Zhang Yimou is the most commercially successful director in the country. Elaborate martial-arts epics, such as "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers," become China's answer to Hollywood blockbusters.

No longer content to cede China's box office to Hollywood, more and more talented Chinese directors and actors are flexing their muscles in all possible genres.

Just to name a few, Feng Xiaogang has ruled the year-end box office with popular satirical comedies, Jia Zhangke specializes in gritty portrayals of China's urban life and underprivileged people. And Lu Chuan has proven himself a master at both documentaries and historical dramas.

The result of all this diversity was a record Chinese box office last year, about 4.3 billion yuan, or US$600-million.

Today's Chinese audiences are happy that after so many years they can now rely on homegrown movies to be entertained. And it seems that other parts of the world are watching, too.

(CCTV September 27, 2009)