Entering the Forbidden Palace as a white-haired tourist, the former emperor Puyi wishes to sit again on the Dragon Throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. When a young boy wearing a red scarf tells him to stop, he proves that he was once "master" of this place by pulling a cricket jar out from where he had hidden it behind the throne when three years old. Miraculously, the jarred cricket, isolated inside the jar for 60 years, slowly climbs out.

In 1984, the Bernardo Bertolucci-directed US$25-million Italian-British co-production of The Last Emperor was the most prominent of the early films on which the Chinese worked with foreign filmmakers. Bertolucci used the tragic history of China's last emperor to crack open the huge, heavy doorway to China and give the world a glimpse inside.

The film, which shot Chinese scenery, stories, and characters from a Western perspective with Western filmmaking techniques, went on to win nine 1988 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. But the film also earned criticism for having strayed too far from Chinese history.

When faced with the choice between actual history and story, the director clearly chose story, giving rise to a number of ridiculous moments. For example, in the film, Puyi's wetnurse was Vietnamese; the palace courtyard where he played with the eunuchs had Japanese-style architecture; ministers appear at a major ceremony before the emperor with chirruping crickets; and Puyi has an apocryphal last meeting with the Empress Dowager, in which she says, "They're all waiting for me to die," then dies.

But some Chinese critics argued that Bertolucci had created an image of China that was very critical, that his film was "a Chinese myth filled with black humor." Setting that aside, Bertolucci's fantastic visual sense certainly brought great realism to his shots of the Forbidden City.

The success of The Last Emperor sparked the Western imagination wi

th regard to China. When Chinese directors, backed by funding from Hong Kong and Taiwan, picked up their cameras and shot films like Raise the Red Lantern and Farewell My Concubine, they created an image of China framed in gaudy reds that, as Peking University film professor Huang Shixian has written, "unconsciously produced new folk customs and an oriental spectacle."

If we look at the historical trajectory, the 1979-1989 period was one in which China and the West were still feeling their way with regard to co-productions. Whether from the West or from Hong Kong, foreign film crews simply borrowed Chinese scenery and paid to use Chinese equipment, sets, and manpower. China's role was passive: the capital, directors, and key creative personnel were all of foreign origin.

China's supervisory body for film became actively involved in co-productions in 1996, tightening reviews of projects and demanding that the majority of production jobs be given to Chinese. (The demand excluded the key creative positions of director, screenwriter, and cinematographer.) China's desire to reclaim the leadership role was also apparent in its further demand that at least half of the principal cast be Chinese. Meanwhile, the prospect of Hong Kong's return to China sent that territory's film industry into decline. Fearful of the return, Hong Kong industry personnel left for Hollywood or went into TV, leading to fewer co-productions with China.

It was only after the end of 2001, when WTO accession compelled the Chinese film sector to liberalize and become more of an industry, that China began allowing more foreign and Hong-Kong investment in film production. This, in turn, kicked off a new wave of co-productions.

For The Forbidden Kingdom, Rob Minkoff, who had also directed The Lion King, had Jet Li and Jackie Chan duke it out on Beijing sets. The Mummy 3 placed the Qin emperor in the title role after being cursed by a witch. Based on a novel set in Afghanistan, The Kite Runner was filmed in China's Xinjiang because the Afghan war prevented the filmmakers from working there.

In addition to enjoying a win-win for culture and the market, China has in recent years also become a premier location for outdoor shoots. By opening up, ancient China has used the silver screen to reach out to the world.