Lapian (拉片): The disseminated professionalism and the co-constituted world

Abstract

Current Chinese cinephilia has developed an obsession with what is known as lapian, a practice that consists of scholarly or professional analysis of films and a fascination with cinematic details both textual and inter-textual. What can be discerned through such a phenomenon are not only Chinese film aficionados’ love for cinema and movie going, but also their aspiration to participate in and contribute to the nation’s emerging film culture. Having originated in classrooms at Beijing Film Academy around 1958, lapian has been disseminated to the country’s myriad of film communities; together with it, is the professionalism of engaging films. Enabled by fan-based platforms on the Internet (especially social networking sites such as Douban, Mtime, and Wechat public accounts), the tactile nature in lapian broke down the barrier between professional film critics (as well as scholars) and ordinary film lovers. On the one hand, the proliferation of lapian among common viewers produces a discourse that competes with professional criticisms in China. Unlike the implicit elitism that pervaded the pre-Internet world of cinephilia (as well as its lapian practices), current Chinese film communities have appropriated the professionalism of film criticism for co-constituting a cinematic world that involves a greater population of film viewers. On the other hand, opportunities to comment on and discuss films on these more democratic platforms without formal qualification (such as certification of the author’s accomplished status in traditional journalism) encourages younger generations to pursue their dreams of filmmaking, film criticism, and film scholarship, which could seem impossible to them. Hence, lapian prepares the greater number of cinephiles to be not only involved in the film world but also actively constituting it.