Typically, China's main moviegoers are in their 20s, and their favorites are big action films or comedies.

Yin Hong, a scholar at Tsinghua University, says Youth is a representative work of Feng's career.

He says the movie accurately recreates history, thanks to the costumes and the sets.

It cost 35 million yuan to build the 1970s-style sets for the film in South China's Hainan province.

Zuo Heng, a researcher with the China Film Art Research Center, says Feng "shuns the dark side of history to produce a comparatively shallow tale".

Feng pioneered the concept of Chinese New Year hits with the comedy The Dream Factory, released in late 1997, paving the way for his rise into the rank of top directors.

But such comedies are regarded more as quick cash-earners than artistic works, making Feng struggle for long.

Over the past decade, Feng has been seeking a shift from comedy to serious themes, such as the 2006 war epic Assembly and the 2010 disaster drama Aftershock.

His 2015 arthouse film I Am Not Madame Bovary won a series of international awards, but failed at the box office.

To date his best commercial performance has come from Personal Tailor (2013) with 710 million yuan. So, Youth could be a turning point for the 59-year-old director, as investors need commercial balance for an artistic pursuit.

Zhang Weibo, head of Youth's promotion team and founder of the Beijing-based marketing company Bravo Entertainment, says the movie's performance so far may earn it longer screening time and bring in more revenues.

Usually a movie is screened for around a month in Chinese theaters, but hits can win a longer span, such as three months for Wolf Warrior 2, China's all-time top-grossing movie.

Contact the writer at xufan@chinadaily.com.cn