Changchun Film Studio (Changchun dianying zhipianchang) was the first film factory to be built after the establishment of the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) in 1950. For almost half a century this huge studio remained the production base of numerous mainstream propaganda movies, movies that were to be hugely influential on the hearts and minds of a good proportion of the Chinese masses. The same movies are still well known today, although perhaps not thought about as fondly as some hard-line communists would like.
In more recent years the studio has rapidly been losing its fan base and the movies from here have dwindled to documentary style productions and second rate films, mostly under searing competition from the Hong Kong comedies and Hollywood mainstream. In attempts to restore interest in the Chinese film industry, and to kick up a bit of money, the Changchun Film Studio opened up some of its doors to the general public and built an extension, the Movie Palace, on its side. This is still the studio producing most in the Chinese movie industry and as such visitors can get to see props of palaces, castles and scenery from many a Chinese classic. If you are lucky, you may get the chance to see the process of film-making, and even catch a glimpse of your favourite Chinese film star.
Quite confusingly, there is another movie museum/studio in Changchun, the Changchun Movie City. The Changchun Movie City, compared to the Movie Palace, is bigger, newer and more advanced. The attractions here are mainly exhibitions of the art and history of movie making. Within the complex are also a circular movie theatre, ordinary theatres and a few individual studios with different scenery settings. This place is more tourist-oriented than the Movie Palace.
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