Editing Cinema of China (section)

=== Main melody dramas ===
During the late 20th century, a period when socialist dramas were beginning to lose viewership, the Chinese government began to involve itself deeper into the world of popular culture and cinema by creating the official genre of the "main melody" (主旋律 ''zhǔxuánlǜ''), inspired by Hollywood's strides in musical dramas.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ma |first=Weijun |date=September 2014 |title=Chinese Main Melody TV Drama: Hollywoodization and Ideological Persuasion |journal=Television & New Media |volume=15 |issue=6 |pages=523–537 |doi=10.1177/1527476412471436 |issn=1527-4764 |s2cid=144145010}}</ref> In 1987, the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television issued a statement encouraging the making of movies which emphasizes the main melody to "invigorate national spirit and national pride".<ref>Rui Zhang, ''The Cinema of Feng Xiaogang: Commercialization and Censorship in Chinese Cinema after 1989''. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2008, p. 35.</ref> The expression ''main melody'' refers to the musical term ''[[leitmotif]]'', which translates to the 'theme of our times', which scholars suggest is representative of China's socio-political climate and cultural context of popular cinema.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Staging China: new theatres in the twenty-first century |date=2016 |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan |isbn=978-1-137-52944-2 |editor=Li Ruru |oclc=936371074}}</ref> These main melody films, still produced regularly in modern times, try to emulate the commercial mainstream by the use of Hollywood-style music and special effects. A significant feature of these films is the incorporation of a "[[Red songs movement|red song]]", which is a song written as propaganda to support the People's Republic of China.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wang |first=Qian |date=2013-09-23 |title=Red songs and the main melody: cultural nationalism and political propaganda in Chinese popular music |journal=Perfect Beat |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=127–145 |doi=10.1558/prbt.v13.i2.127}}</ref> By revolving the film around the motif of a red song, the film is able to gain traction at the box office as songs are generally thought to be more accessible than a film. Theoretically, once the red song dominates the charts, it will stir interest in the film that which it accompanies.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yu |first=Hongmei |date=2013 |title=Visual Spectacular, Revolutionary Epic, and Personal Voice: The Narration of History in Chinese Main Melody Films |journal=Modern Chinese Literature and Culture |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=166–218 |issn=1520-9857 |jstor=43492536}}</ref>

Main melody dramas are often subsidized by the state and have free access to government and military personnel.<ref>Braester, Yomi. "Contemporary Mainstream PRC Cinema" in ''The Chinese Cinema Book'' (2011), edited by Song Hwee Lim and Julian Ward, BFI: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 181.</ref> The Chinese government spends between "one and two million RMBs" annually to support the production of films in the main melody genre. [[August First Film Studio]], the film and TV production arm of the [[People's Liberation Army]], is a studio that produces main melody cinema. Main melody films, which often depict past military engagements or are biopics of first-generation CCP leaders, have won several Best Picture prizes at the Golden Rooster Awards.<ref>Rui Zhang, ''The Cinema of Feng Xiaogang: Commercialization and Censorship in Chinese Cinema after 1989''. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2008, p. 38–39.</ref> Some of the more famous main melody dramas include the ten-hour epic ''[[Decisive Engagement]]'' (大决战, 1991), directed by Cai Jiawei, Yang Guangyuan and Wei Lian; ''[[The Opium War (film)|The Opium War]]'' (1997), directed by [[Xie Jin]]; and ''[[The Founding of a Republic]]'' (2009), directed by [[Han Sanping]] and Fifth Generation director Huang Jianxin.<ref>Braester, Yomi. "Contemporary Mainstream PRC Cinema" in ''The Chinese Cinema Book'' (2011), edited by Song Hwee Lim and Julian Ward, BFI: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 181–182.</ref> ''[[The Founding of an Army]]'' (2017) was commissioned by the government to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army, and is the third instalment in The Founding of a Republic series.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-02 |title=Chinese Main Melody Film Wins Over Young Moviegoers {{!}} CFI |url=http://chinafilminsider.com/young-moviegoers-chinese-militarys/ |access-date=2019-11-13 |website=China Film Insider}}</ref> The film featured many young Chinese pop singers that are already well-established in the industry, including [[Li Yifeng]], [[Liu Haoran]], and [[Lay Zhang]], so as to further the film's reputation as a main melody drama.