Two Brothers, a French Movie about twin baby tigers separated at birth, made its China debut in Beijing Saturday, preluding the French Culture Year which is scheduled to officially start on Sunday.

The movie was shown in Chengdu, the capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province, on Friday when French President Jacques Chirac visited there as the start of his China tour.

"The box office on that day surprisingly reached 100,000 yuan (US$12,092)," said Weng Li, vice manager of the film exhibition and distribution arm of China Film Group, the movie's distributor in China, "We believe this movie will succeed in the Chinese market."

The movie of French director Jean-Jacques Annaud tells a story about two tiger brothers living in the rain forest of Southeast Asia. They were separated at birth, meet each other when they grew up and together escaped back to the forests.

According to a survey made by the China Film Group after a preview on September 23, 80 out of 100 audience members gave a top grade to the movie.

The opening ceremony was held in a zoo here, and the film company adopted two baby tigers in the zoo.

Jean-Jacques Annaud is well known by Chinese movie fans for his sexy film The Lover and The Bear, another lovely movie about animals.

From Sunday, 51 French impressionist paintings will be on display in the China Art Gallery, as the kick-off celebration of French Culture Year.

On the same day Beijingers will listen to a concert of French musician Jean Michel Jarre at the front gate of the Forbidden City in downtown Beijing while an exhibition on the life of Charles de Gaulle will also open here. 
 
(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2004)