Domestic criticism/attacks (Domestic Reception)

• Ideological attacks were raised on the validity of the 'New Chinese cinema' around 1987, by the likes of Wu Yiqong, the then-head of the financially troubled Shanghai Film Studio. Wu dragged politics into the picture by accusing the films of the Fifth Generation of failing to 'serve the people' because the films were regarded as inaccessible and obscure. This provided ammunition for politicians who at that period were in a cycle of stamping down so-called 'bourgeois liberalism'. Certain filmmakers from the older generations joined in on these critiques, such as the likes of Xia Yan, ironically himself an innovative young director who'd come up against the system in the 1930s. E.g. Wu Yiqong quote: "One of the biggest problems in the theory world today is getting the value of film all upside down. Which comes first – its existential value or its essential value? If an artist makes a film without taking the audience into account at all, then how can they see the film’s essential value as a medium for popularising things with the masses?"
• The films were also attacked on economic grounds, as not being able to win back any more at the box office (the weaknesses of the Chinese film distribution system are relevant here), meaning their production was seen as not justifiable on financial terms, although Chris Berry reminds us that government-commissioned reform films taking up much higher budgets and counting for 40% of annual productions (as opposed to 10-15% for Fifth Generation or 'exploratory' films) lost money but nobody dared to criticise those for the same reasons.
• Accusations of orientalism and of making films deliberately trying to appeal to foreigners and foreign film festivals have been common. See for instance the comments of Dai Qing concerning Raise the Red Lantern.