“THE WOLF AT THE DOOR”：HOLLYWOOD AND THE FILM MARKET IN
2015-09-16 01:20
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Far more serious was the ban on the showing of any American films from May toOcto
Far more serious was the ban on the showing of any American films from May toOctober 1999.This proved devastating to Chinese theaters ，already having a verypoor year even before the bombing.Many were reported on the verge of bankruptcy.Overall ，the film market declined 50percent compared to 1998.（45）A numberof film critics also used these results to refute those who argued that audienceswould not see Chinese movies so long as American imports were showing.Even in theabsence of the American films ，audiences were simply not interested in going tosee Chinese films.（46）But the Chinese government once again showed that commercialconsiderations were secondary to political imperatives. What was particularly interesting in the aftermath of the bombing was the changein press coverage of American films ，with the vilification in print lasting foraround four months.Beijing Youth Daily （Beijing qingnian bao），for example，indicted the American film industry for its complicity in paving the way，culturally，for American hegemonic interests.The most successful movies in the Chinese market-including "Titanic，""Saving Private Ryan，"and "Star Wars Episode I：The PhantomMenace"-were all seen as so-called "main melody films"（zhu xuan lu ），a termoften used for Chinese films that further the government's propaganda mission.Thesemovies were sent abroad for the purposes of cultural and economic imperialism ，presenting a worldview supportive of the United States and dominating commercialmarkets ，thereby driving out domestic films.At the same time ，the Beijing YouthDaily went on ，in the United States movies like "Red Corner"would aid Americanauthorities in creating an anti-China tide within their own market.（47）Thistheme was repeated in other publications as well.The leading trade journal forthe film industry -China Film Market （Zhongguo dianying shichang）-publishedan article entitled "Drawing Aside Hollywood's Veil"in which the author lamentsthe fact that American films have become so crucial to the survival of the Chinesetheaters.Attacking virtually every genre of American film，including science fiction，gangster，war and romance，the author concludes that it is necessary to "exposeand conduct …class repudiation of the hypocritical humanism of such films，whichmake people who watch a few of them prostrate themselves before American society."（48） The themes of hypocrisy and the hidden agenda deeply embedded in American culturalproducts were common ones at this time.One critic，adopting the title of the secondmost successful American film in China，wrote of "the vivid language of hegemony"（huoyu baquan）as a "true lie"that characterized American films and the "Americanspirit".The American hero always must represent the "will"of mankind，includingfreedom ，justice，and equality.American films shown in China，such as "Speed，""Waterworld，"and "True Lies"were cited as examples，although "IndependenceDay ，"too patriotic for the Chinese censors to approve as a theatrical releasebut available nevertheless in China's thriving marketplace and discussed in detailin film magazines ，came in for particular censure.The author concluded that Hollywoodfilms were like opium.Once entering the imaginary world of the film the viewerunderwent a form of hypnotherapy and was no longer capable of rational judgment.（49）Another critic saw an "invisible hand"（kanbujian de shou ）behind the"dreamland"（menghuan）presented by Hollywood.He lumped Hollywood films withsuch other American icons as Coca-Cola and McDonald's as links in a chain carryingAmerican cultural imperialism throughout the world，eventually taking over theminds of the target audiences.In Hollywood's formulation every region of the worldhas its special characteristics.Africa is presented as a barbarian land with manywild animals，while Asia is a land of spies and opium smokers.The only paradiseis the United States itself ，the land where beautiful dreams really do come true.（50） Not surprisingly，critics also went after the easiest target ，reinterpreting"Mulan，"which before the bombing had received generally good reviews.Writingin Popular Cinema （Dazhong dianying）one critic indignantly complained about "theAmericans'disfigurement of Chinese history ，their lack of understanding of theChinese environment ，their eternal inability to understand Chinese culture，andtheir skewed comprehension of the Chinese people".（51）The scatter shot attackon the film ranged from the "scandalous"（Mulan jumps on the Emperor，hugs himand swings him around ）to the bizarre （Mulan is said to look "Vietnamese"butit is also claimed that no characters in the film look "normal"）。Finally，theauthor concluded that the film's disrespect for Chinese cultural traditions is "unforgivable，as was the bombing of our embassy in Yugoslavia ，no matter what highfalutin diplomaticexcuses they cook up".（52） CONCLUSION Hollywood films entered the China market at a time when the Chinese film industrywas desperate for an immediate stimulus and long-term investment in a market thathad been on a steady decline.After six years it is still too early to offer a prognosis.Has Hollywood saved the Chinese film industry or further damaged it ？With WTOentrance now close at hand，these issues are currently under intense debate inthe Chinese press.In particular，industry professionals are examining variousstrategies to compete with the Hollywood product.While a detailed analysis of thesestrategies must be left to a separate article ，it is useful to conclude by examiningin brief the current state of the Chinese domestic film industry and some of thecompeting proposals being presented. First ，everyone acknowledges that the large majority of films produced inChina lose money.Indeed，70percent of Chinese-made films each year fail to recovertheir copyright and printing costs.Perhaps as many as 15percent are able to showsome profit ，although even this figure is questioned by some Chinese interviewees.（53）Table 5，which reports on the box office figures for Chinese films from1997-1999，is indicative of the difficulties most films have in finding an audience.In all three years，the majority of Chinese films brought in less than 1millionyuan（about US$120，000）at the box office，in most cases much less.In 1997and 1998only a few films were able to reach the 10million yuan mark ，and someof those were clearly "main melody films"subsidized by the organized purchase ofgroup tickets by state organs.Of most interest for our purposes are the resultsfor 1999.The average production cost of each domestic film that year was 3millionyuan，although many high profile films were of course much more expensive to produce.On average each film earned 600，000yuan，although if one factors out the fourmost successful films the average take for the remaining films that year was 300，000yuan.（54）Still，as many as eight films that year attained box office resultsof at least 10million yuan.Among the most successful films we can find in microcosmthe main competing strategies of Chinese filmmakers. TABLE 5 BOX OFFICE FIGURES FOR THE TOP 40CHINESE FILMS IN 1997，1998AND 1999 199919981997 TOP 2FILMS ：EXCEEDS 30MILLION RENMINBI（RMB ） NUMBER 3：EXCEEDS 20MILLION RMB NUMBERS 4-8：AROUND 10MILLION YUAN NUMBERS9-13：AROUND 5MILLION YUAN NUMBERS 14-20：JUST ABOVE 1MILLION YUAN NUMBERS 21-40：BELOW 500，000RMB TOP 3FILMS ：AROUND 10MILLION RMB NUMBERS 4-10：EXCEEDS5MILLION RMB NUMBERS 11-13：EXCEEDS 3MILLION RMB NUMBERS 14-16：EXCEEDS 1MILLIONRMB NUMBERS 24-40：BELOW 400，000RMB TOP 5FILMS ：EXCEEDS 10MILLION RMB NUMBERS6-7：EXCEEDS 3MILLION RMB NUMBERS 8-14：EXCEEDS 1MILLION RMB NUMBERS 25-40：BELOW 200，000RMB共2页: 1 [2] 下一页 论文出处(作者):
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