This Friday, which was released at the same time as "Frozen 2", has become a "box office dark horse" in the North American market, and has even been hyped as an "Oscar hot" phenomenon-level Chinese American movie "Don't Tell Her", more than you think Worthy of attention.
Judging from the current situation, it is difficult for the film to get a high box office in China. On the one hand, referring to last year's popular Chinese-American movie "Pink Romance", it only won 11 million yuan in the box office. In contrast, "Don't Tell Her" is much less well-known. On the other hand, the film has only received a small number of theater releases, and its sales are worse.
Even so, perhaps with the help of "Don't Tell Her" in North America, the spring of Chinese American movies has officially begun.
▲Stills of "Don't Tell Her"
In 2018, the all-Asian cast of "Golden Romance" "accidentally" ignited the North American market, costing 30 million North US dollars, can sweep the global box office of 238 million US dollars, of which North American 174 million US dollars The proportion reached 73.2%, and the Rotten Tomatoes score reached 91%.
North American audiences showed great interest in this film that shows the "life of the rich in Asia". Since the film’s popularity, Chinese and Asian-themed films have undergone major changes in the North American market. More and more Chinese- and Asian-themed films have been put on the agenda of major filmmakers, such as Marvel’s "Shangqi" and Netflix’s "Starcraft". In response to heavyweight works such as Cowboy and Tiger Tail, Chinese and Asian filmmakers have gradually improved their attention and career in Hollywood.
's "Don't Tell Her" in 2019, although it has not become a "boom movie" at the level of 100 million yuan, it has made a more significant breakthrough in the quality of word-of-mouth, and has even been listed as an "Oscar Hot" movie, which undoubtedly further promotes the Chinese. , The weight of Asian filmmakers in Hollywood.
"Don't Tell Her" hot offensive opens the door to Hollywood Asian American movies?
said "Don't Tell Her" is a North American "phenomenal film" for good reason. First, according to the Los Angeles Times, "Don't Tell Her" is the first "pure" Chinese-American film invested by a Hollywood company in the past 25 years (Chinese actors, more than 50% Chinese lines).
▲ "Don't Tell Her" Stills
Director Wang Ziyi was selected by "Variety" as one of the directors to watch in 2019. Like Zhao Ting, she has become a well-known Chinese female director in Hollywood. In fact, the story of "Don't Tell Her" is adapted from the personal experience of director Wang Ziyi in 2013. The
film shined at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019 and won awards such as "Most Audience Favorite". With a high price of US$7 million, A24 overwhelmed giant companies such as Netflix and Amazon, and won the global distribution rights, which aroused many concerns. On July 12, it was released quietly in 4 theaters in North America, but it broke the box office record for single studios in the United States in 2019 with a box office record of $88,000 in the first weekend.
Afterwards, like "Golden Romance", the film quickly ignited public opinion in North American media. Four months after its release, it still maintained the freshness of rotten tomatoes at 99%, with a Metacritic score of 89. As of press time, "Don't Tell Her" has a North American box office of 17.6 million U.S. dollars and a global box office of 19.6 million U.S. dollars. In contrast, the film has an investment of only 3.5 million U.S. dollars.
Although "Don't Tell Her" and "Palatinate Romance" are both Chinese-American films, they are quite different. First of all, the latter won US$174 million in the box office in North America and US$238 million in the world’s “hot” movies, while the latter is only a “dark horse movie” in terms of box office. But the advantage of "Don't Tell Her" lies in word of mouth. The Douban score of the film is 7.6, while the former score is only 6.1.
▲The poster of "Golden Romance"
Chinese audiences are tired of the vulgar Cinderella story of "Golden Romance" and cater to American audiences in a "flattering style". I appreciate the "sincere and delicate Eastern emotional story" in "Don't Tell Her", and even compare it with "The Wedding Banquet" and "The Joy Luck Club" 25 years ago.
Now, "Don't Tell Her" is the first to be nominated for the Sundance Film Festival Jury Award, the most popular award by the audience. It has been nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay at the Gotham Independent Film Festival and has risen to the list of "Oscar Hot Films".
The Los Angeles Times commented: "This is the inevitable result of "Golden Romance" when it was released in 2018.Netflix also launched the Chinese-American comedy movie "Two Big No Guess" this year, and more and more Chinese-American movies will appear in the future.
After the commercial success of "Golden Romance" and the artistic achievements of "Don't Tell Her", the situation of Chinese American movies has gradually improved under the haze of Hollywood "aesthetic fatigue" and "big IP sequel, derivative". This is also 25 The result of the joint efforts of Chinese filmmakers over the past few years. Twenty-five years of
Asian filmmakers and Asian American films The history of
Chinese and even Asian American filmmakers in Hollywood is "discriminated". In the past century, from "Fu Manchu" to "Tiffany's Breakfast" to "Sixteen Candles", North American attacks and misunderstandings against Chinese and even "Asian people" have always existed. Although Hollywood has begun to face its own history of racism in recent years, the focus of the dialogue is still the differences between black and white representatives.
Asian actors are still confined to narrow and simplified roles. In recent years, Asian American movies have appeared frequently, and Asian directors have also frequently directed Hollywood blockbusters. Lin Yibin's "Fast and Furious" series, Wen Ziren's "Sea King" series , Zhao Ting's "Eternal Race" has become a blockbuster work that has attracted global attention.
▲ "Aquaman" poster
But this does not mean that Asian American-themed works, and Asian directors have already succeeded in Hollywood. In fact, behind this lies a more difficult living and creative environment. According to a report published in 2017 by the School of Communication at the University of Southern California, Asian Hollywood directors have seen little change in the past 10 years. Among the 1,100 films surveyed, Asian Hollywood directors accounted for only 3.4%, of which 31 were male directors and 3 were female directors. Asian directors, like female and black directors, have not undergone substantial changes. Hollywood The diversified artistic creations that have been advocated for many years are meaningless.
The report pointed out that between 2007 and 2017, only Wen Ziren and M. Knight Samalan directed more than 5 works. Zhu Haowei and Lin Yibin directed 4 films in this interval. 65% of Asian directors have directed a film only once during the entire time period.
In 2017, only 5 of the 109 Hollywood film directors were from Asia, accounting for 4.6%. This number is lower than 5.7% of Asians in the U.S. Census. The 4.6% figure is even lower than the 5.6% in 2013, which reached zero in 2014.
The living environment of Chinese and Asian film creators in Hollywood is difficult. Filmmakers can only survive through cracks for a long time. Race issues, cultural barriers, creative analysis, etc., are all between Asian film creators and need to overcome difficulties. The gap.
Zhu Haowei, the director of "Golden Romance", when looking for investment for "Golden Romance", Wendi Deng was the first to find him and the screenwriter Guan Kaiwen. The first sentence in the door was: "Let's turn the heroine Rachel into a white man. Well, who would watch a movie full of Asians?"
▲ Stills of "Pink Romance"
"Fast and Furious 5" director Lin Yibin needed 25 when he was looking for investment for his debut "Hot Mochi" Ten thousand U.S. dollars. A financier once said, "If Lin Yibin allows Americans to replace Asian Americans in the film, give him 2 million US dollars."
But as mentioned above, because of Hollywood's "aesthetic fatigue" And the reduction of creativity caused by the frequent occurrence of "big IP sequels and diffraction works", and many other factors, this shift is gradually taking place in Hollywood.
Movies starring and directed by African Americans from 2017 to 2018, including "Quadi", "Escape from Breaking City" and "Black Panther", are all critically acclaimed blockbusters, and there will be black women starring in the future" The Little Mermaid Princess" and "007" series.
This has changed the Hollywood company’s view of popular movies. In the past years, major producers regarded these works as risky projects, but now there are a large number of new executives, such as ABC’s Sammy. Falvi expressed his hope that the new multi-ethnic character will promote the diversification of the storytelling.
Warner Bros.'s Kevin Tesuhara helped Kevin Guan's best-selling novel "Crazy Rich Asians" become a "popular movie" with a new role.
For the promotion of Hollywood Asian filmmakers and Asian films in recent years, "Pink Romance" and "Don't Tell Her" and "Internet Mystery Trail" are the three most important works.
Asian American films and Asian directors are changing the "environment" in Hollywood.
After the "Pink Romance" was released, according to TIME magazine, a large part of Hollywood screenwriters also received similar themes after "Pink Romance" Impact. A group of Asian American female screenwriters met to discuss the injustices they have encountered in their careers. It published a study showing that 64% of screenwriters of color said they have experienced prejudice, discrimination or harassment. The screenwriters of
said that they dared to think about and write films that belonged only to Asians after "The Golden Romance", which they did not dare to do ten years ago. "I don't care what people want right now," said Cindy Fang, the screenwriter of the hit Asian American drama "First Coming". "I just want to write what I want to write now."
▲ "First Coming" poster
"Don't Tell Her" screenwriter and director Wang Ziyi also has this persistence in the creation of subsequent films. In this semi-autobiographical film, "The first question that the American Film Chamber of Commerce asks is,'Is this a Chinese movie or an American movie?'" Wang Ziyi once said: Potential partners want to change the plot point or let the characters." Turn white".
But Wang Ziyi insists on keeping every detail, even if it means that this story will never enter the American cinema. This is also the essential difference between the film and the "banana-like" Asian American film in "Pink Romance".
Although, "Golden Romance" and "Don't Tell Her" are all Asian lineups, and both are adapted from the director's own experience. But the former, including directors and actors, are basically Chinese-Americans who have been in Hollywood for many years. The core of the story, the emotions of the characters, and the logical thinking are all "American". Of course,
, as a commercial movie, has box office pressure considerations, but this "Zuo Zongtang's chicken-like" American movie is obviously far from Chinese culture and Chinese audiences. The significance of
"Don't Tell Her" is also reflected in the change in the taste and creation of this "appropriate and pleased" American audience. There are Chinese actors in the film, and a large Chinese dialogue appears, which truly shows the Chinese people's own emotional expression. This is why there are arguments that compare it with the "Joy Luck Club" and "Wedding Banquet" 25 years ago. This undoubtedly really narrowed the distance with the Chinese audience.
▲ Stills of "Don't Tell Her"
Wang Ziyi finally found a producer who was willing to give her creative control. In January of this year, "Don't Tell Her" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and received enthusiastic praise. It was selected by the A24 film company that released films such as "Moonlight Boy" and "Miss Bird". The result of this concerted effort is that an Asian American film with more than 50% Chinese dialogue has the opportunity to compete for the 2020 Oscar. The biggest change for
is the actress Okafina, who participated in "Golden Romance". In an interview with TIME magazine, she said: "The changes have been too great, and my career has undergone a major turning point." Before
starred in "Pink Romance", Okafina was just an ordinary rapper and YouTube star. She, like many Asian Americans in movies and TV, has very few roles to choose from. Moreover, they only serve white stories or rely on Asian stereotypes.
And when "Golden Romance" hit the US$238 million box office worldwide, Okafina's career changed drastically. She made her voice for "Angry Birds 2" and will also play the leading role in the Marvel superhero movie "Shang Qi". She is also the actor of the heroine "Bi Li" in "Don't Tell Her", and because of this, she and Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Lopez, Renee Zellweger, Lupita Ni Yongao and Laura Dunn participated in the Oscar Best Actress Roundtable.
As Okafina's opportunities increase, many other Asian Americans have more and more opportunities in movies and TV. "Asian American actors came to me and said to me, ‘before I became the crazy rich Asian, I didn’t even have an audition opportunity-now I’m auditioning every day,’" Okafina said.
There will be no shortage of Asian American movies in Hollywood in the next few years. Disney's remake of the live-action "Mulan", the first Chinese Marvel superhero movie "Shang Qi", Netflix will release "Star Cowboy" adapted from an animated cartoon starring John Zhao, the male lead of "Network Lost", and "Tiger's Tail" directed by Alan Yang with John Zhao Lun and Li Hongqi.
"Golden Romance" "Internet Mystery Trails"After Asian American movies such as "Don't Tell Her", Chinese American filmmakers hope to open this door wider, because they know how much discrimination the Hollywood market has faced in the past decade.
