Movie a first for Ang Lee, Fosun Entertainment

Since his hit movie Life of Pi, Ang Lee has been looking for ways to add dimension, resolution and reality to the theatrical experience.

His answer is the new film Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk shot in 4K, native 3D at the rate of 120 frames-per-second, presenting the viewer with 40 times more information than a normal 2K 24-frame 2D picture.

The audience will be able to see tiny pieces of dirt flying on the battleground and catch characters' facial expressions even in moving shots.

The story, based on Ben Fountain's novel of the same title, follows 19-year-old private Billy Lynn and his squad participating in a football halftime show after returning from Iraq for a promotional tour. Through his flashbacks and emotional struggles, what really happened to him is revealed, contrasting with the public perceptions of the war.

"Even though people are thanking them, they are still projecting their hopes and expectations on them. Nobody really understands how lonely they feel, how out of place and how much they love each other," the three-time Oscar-winning director explained.

"With this movie, I wanted to really step into it all," he said. "The storytelling, how we feel about each other, how we relate to each other, how we share our feelings. That's the essence. It's about the human experience and my hope is that this new immersive cinema will help take us there."

Ang believes his film, though about an American war and soldier, actually tells a universal and personal coming-of-age story that moviegoers around the world will relate to. The movie will be screened in China starting on Nov 11, the same day it's released in the US.

Not only a milestone for the director, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk also marks a first for Fosun Group, China's largest private conglomerate that bought the former One Chase Manhattan Plaza for $725 million in 2013, as this film is the first product of Studio 8, a major production studio heavily financed by Fosun.

It seems like a race is on among Chinese businesses wanting to use Hollywood's magic to reach their global ambitions. Alibaba recently invested in Steven Spielberg's production outfit, and Wanda bought a stake in Legendary Entertainment.

Jingyan Huang, managing director of Fosun Entertainment and director of Studio 8, said that Fosun Group intends to move into every link of the film industry, from development to talent and distribution and cultivate world-renowned intellectual properties.

hezijiang@chinadailyusa.com