should be discussed. reelshort, written by
sir, puts the domestic tycoon in the shell of an American drama and harvests overseas markets, allowing us to see that the earthy style is the best in the world.
The copyright of Liu Cixin's "Three-Body Problem" was sold overseas. After it was launched on Netflix, it became the top hit in many regions. The English version of "The Three-Body Problem" book took advantage of the trend to land at the top of Amazon's science fiction list.
Jia Ling posted a photo with Daniel Wu .
It turns out that the copyright of "Hello, Li Huanying" was bought by Sony and will be adapted into an American version. Jia Ling's trip was to go to Sony to direct the filming of "Li Huanying".
These three things don’t seem to be related.
But if you think about it carefully, does this all count:
Film and Television goes overseas.
No matter what form it is, whether it is a short play or an adaptation.
There is another more direct one:
Domestic films have appeared on overseas big screens.
"Feng Shen", " Flying Life 2" and " Mr. Red Carpet " will be released during the Chinese New Year to create overseas versions of the Spring Festival; It will also be released overseas in mid-to-late February. It’s time to talk about the topic of
.
Chinese people are always looking forward to this and are very sensitive to it. What is mentioned repeatedly today:
Cultural export.
Maybe there is no need to say it so seriously.
is:
What kind of story do we want to tell the world.
How we want others to see us.
And how far have we gone on this road.
01
Good news comes frequently.
"Flying Life 2" won the box office championship of the 2024 Spring Festival Chinese-language movies in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It is said that the aisles of Canadian cinemas were packed with people.
"Feng Shen" covered 140 theaters across France and screened nearly 500 times. It was only released for two days and temporarily ranked first in the single-day box office in Europe. It broke the early showing record of Max Linder, one of the most famous independent theaters in Paris since the epidemic.
"Deep Sea", also released in France, broke the record for the number of screenings of Chinese animated films in France, with more than 150,000 moviegoers, setting a new record for Chinese-language films in France in the past three years.
In its first week of overseas release, "Article 20" topped the global weekend box office with total box office; "It's Hot" entered the North American box office hot list, earning a box office of US$840,000 on 200 screens.
Words such as "championship", "top" and "record-breaking", soaring box office data and festive battle reports are superimposed, and it is easy for people to have the illusion:
A proper wave of Chinese cultural exports, giving foreigners a little shock .
Are you shocked?
However, after analyzing calmly, it is not as good as expected.
data can speak.
On imdb, 3,700 people gave "Fengshen" a score of 6.8, 1,800 people gave "Deep Sea" a score of 6.8, and 1,500 people gave "Hot and Spicy" a score of 6.9.
The number of people who rated "Flying Life 2" (7.2 points) and "Article 20" (6.9 points) were 510 and 399 respectively.
From this you can see how many overseas fans the movie actually reaches.
In addition, the ambiguous question is, how many overseas audiences who enter the cinema to watch domestic films are Chinese and international students, and how many are real foreigners?
Currently, except for "Fengshen", there are no clear official statistics for other domestic films released overseas.
Based on relevant information from previous years, we can deduce clues.
Whether it is the 2018 academic paper "2003-2017: Overseas Commercial Distribution of Chinese Films", the "China Film News" report at the end of 2022, or the "Global Times" interview with China Film Group in October last year.
They all clearly pointed out that the main audience for domestic films overseas is the local Chinese.
Under such circumstances, it may not be possible to talk about real cultural output.
is more like "screen output":
brings domestic large screens to overseas Chinese so that they can watch domestic films.
The same is true among the bustling domestic dramas going overseas.
"Nirvana in Fire", the so-called "winner of Korea's monthly ratings championship".
actually won the monthly championship of a certain Korean channel, China TV, a TV station dedicated to local Chinese paying to watch.
This has become the domestic network’s “Chinese TV series are driving the ‘Han Wave’ in South Korea.”
It is easy for culture to go abroad.
It is difficult to stay and fight loudly. How can
02
be considered a successful and effective cultural output?
box office? Hot search? Topic? Clicks? It’s hard to say.
sir has a simple criterion: whether
has formed a business card and left a memory in the hearts of foreign people.
In early March, an old foreign man refreshed the screen.
Akira Toriyama passed away due to illness. His "Dragon Ball" and "Arale" accompanied countless people born in the 80s and 90s through their childhood. Fans around the world held commemorative activities.
Even if you have never watched Akira Toriyama’s animation, you will still see traces of Akira Toriyama in Hong Kong movies.
Turtle style Qigong helps Tang Bohu win the beauty back.
Super Sayan hairstyle, Sandra Ng has dressed it, and Zhang Weijian has also dressed it.
In April, another foreign old man’s movie was about to be released, and everyone was running around and cheering: Finally, they could watch it.
Hayao Miyazaki's "final masterpiece", "How Do You Want to Live" (and the re-release of "Howl's Moving Castle").
and the new sequel to the childhood IP "Digimon 02" hiding in the corner. Even though they know that there are new people on the stage, they still can't help but contribute movie tickets to the old faces that pass by.
And they are just a few pearls in the childhood memories of those born in the 80s and 90s. If we count them in detail, there are a lot more.
animation and two-dimensional animation have become a resounding business card of Japanese pop culture to Chinese audiences (and even world audiences).
South Korea also distributes business cards to audiences around the world, and even has a proprietary term recognized at home and abroad, "Korean Wave".
k-pop idol culture has set off "fan culture" among young people.
Korean idol dramas, there is always one that will poke your "love brain".
Korean movies are bold, daring, exciting and large-scale.
Even Thai film and television dramas have left an impressive cultural calling card to Chinese audiences, "Screaming Chicken", or making others become "Screaming Chicken".
Domestic film and television have also had such cultural business cards.
Let’s not talk about the kung fu business cards of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, etc., nor the Chinese film business cards of Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, and Ang Lee’s generation.
is talking about a news that Sir saw during the Spring Festival, #Taiwan New Year Marathon Series Zhen Huan Chuan#.
If you talk about other movies and TV series, they are all out to "make money".
And "The Legend of Zhen Huan" is a real hit.
"The Legend of Zhen Huan" is a meaningful cultural symbol in Taiwan Entertainment.
Before the broadcast of "The Legend of Zhen Huan", Taiwanese puppets were very popular on both sides of the Taiwan Strait; after the broadcast of "The Legend of Zhen Huan", mainland costume dramas entered the horizons of Taiwanese audiences and actors.
Taiwanese puppet actors such as Ming Dao and Chen Qiaoen have gone to the mainland to film movies, causing an outflow of Taiwanese entertainment talents; mainland costume dramas continue to be exported, and in 2015, "The Legend of Wu Mei Niang" became Taiwan's annual ratings champion.
It is no exaggeration to say that "The Legend of Zhen Huan" allowed Taiwan Entertainment to see for the first time the unique development potential of mainland film and television: costume dramas where power and love are intertwined.
The investment and production volume of mainland TV dramas are even more unimaginable for Taiwanese TV dramas.
This cross-strait exchange is also like the epitome of domestic film and television going overseas:
It is always the costume series that knocks on the other door.
Just like the first domestic drama that Netflix aired for a fee, it was "The Legend of Zhen Huan".
An important direction for domestic film and television dramas to go overseas is Southeast Asia.
Southeast Asian audiences like Chinese dramas the most, and it is ancient puppets.
△ Thai video platform monomax Top three most popular Chinese dramas
The cool drama mode of "Strategy of Yanxi Palace" in 2019 has become popular all over the world, ranking first on the Google TV drama hot search list, and what follows is the strictest ancient order.
Costume dramas have no time to grow, explore, and develop, and they have already aged prematurely. They can only be reduced to the cloak of sweet and sadomasochistic love in the modern logic, and they lack the cultural connotation of the Chinese grand view of history and fatalism.
△ "The Desire of the Golden Branch", "The Legend of Zhen Huan" and "Step by Step Jingxin"
Behind each successful and effective cultural business card, it requires the concerted efforts of the cultural exporting countries in the upstream, midstream and downstream. The upstream of
is an effective policy support.
The starting point of the rise of Korean movies was after the second revision of the Film Promotion Act in the millennium.
An important item in this revision has laid the main tone of "Dare to make Korean movies":
abolished the censorship system and switched to a rating system.
1. "Available for All": Movies for all ages.
2. "Suitable for viewers aged 12 and over": Movies that are not suitable for viewers under 12 years of age.
3. "Suitable for viewers over 15 years old": Movies that are not suitable for viewers under 15 years of age.
4. "Suitable for viewers over 18 years old": Movies that viewers under the age of 18 (hereinafter referred to as "young people") cannot watch.
5. "Restricted screening": Movies that require certain restrictions on screening, advertising, and promotion.
- The second revised version of the Korean Film Promotion Act in 2000
is a masterpiece produced by the local film and television industry.
Hong Kong film and television's "everything is excessive, everything is crazy" is that everyone involved in the creation is dedicated and dedicated.
html When "Flowers" was broadcast in early 2000, Wong Kar-wai became the "big devil in rectifying domestic entertainment."Xin Zhilei killed 4 times in just the final episode, Dong Yong shot 30 shots in one scene, and Mr. You Benchang is much thinner than before joining the crew.
But this is commonplace for Hong Kong actors.
Tony Leung Chiu-wai filmed "In the Mood for Love" and ate 26 bowls of wontons for one scene; Jacky Cheung performed an expression more than 60 times, and in the end he only got the sentence "Forget it".
Even Brigitte Lin and Maggie Cheung have to go through real beatings.
This has also created a situation in which Hong Kong films take the lead in cultural export.
In "Reply 1988", the opening scene is everyone watching "A Better Tomorrow 2" together.
Deshan's two best friends are called "Maggie Cheung" and "Wang Zuxian".
What about today?
has brought Korean films to the world stage, and we can confidently say that it is good local works that have been seen by the world.
Yes, there are many hits and masterpieces in domestic films and TV shows in the past two years.
At a time when epileptic dramas are rampant and the market is in short supply, do we still have the confidence to believe that domestically produced masterpieces are not just a flash in the pan, but a steady stream of success?
And the downstream of culture export also needs to allow "offended" audiences to embrace the real real world.
In the Korean movie "Joint Security Area", there is a detail.
The North Korean soldier played by "Cake Uncle" Song Kanghao is enjoying a Korean chocolate cake.
South Korean soldier Ri Soo Hyuk (played by Lee Byung-hun) saw it and asked him:
Maybe you want to defect from North Korea?
When Song Kanghao heard this, he immediately spat out the chocolate cake that he had not yet swallowed.
But after a while, the greedy man "defeated" the national justice, and he stuffed the drool-covered chocolate cake into his mouth again:
Our Republic
will produce the best sweets on the Korean Peninsula in the future
But before that
I'll just eat chocolate cake like this
On the surface.
This is a satire on the fragile self-esteem of the North Koreans, who are clearly lacking in supplies but still talk tough.
actually.
director Park Chan-wook doesn’t stand for anyone.
"My film actually wants to attack the excessive nationalistic tendencies of Koreans."
This is the intriguing part:
When cultural export meets nationalism, is it good or bad?
03
Liu Cixin proposed an ultimate law for the sociological operation of the entire universe in "The Three-Body Problem", The Dark Forest Law.
Different civilizations criticize each other and fight to the death. They spare no effort to eliminate others and defend themselves at all costs.
But today’s effective cultural output is exactly the opposite of this theory that many people believe in.
Those cultures with the strongest communication power are often not showing their own strength, but satisfying the other party.
For example, k-pop and Korean girl groups.
Do you watch it to absorb Korean culture?
Anyway, for a layman like Sir, all I care about is pleasing to the eye.
Let’s talk about Akira Toriyama, who passed away not long ago. Are his comics spreading the core values of Japanese culture?
In "Dragon Ball", Sun Wukong, Tianjin rice, and dumplings are all Chinese elements.
Fans around the world have no idea what "pure Japanese culture" is. They are just attracted by the wonderful comics.
Therefore, the term "cultural export" gives us a misleading feeling:
It seems that orthodox culture and pure thoughts must be promoted.
Otherwise, it is not considered a successful output.
sir remembered one thing.
In the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Zhang Yimou conquered the world audience with a grand visual feast, conveying the unique charm of China:
movable type printing, Chinese painting, Kunqu opera culture...
It is undeniable that Zhang Yimou successfully completed his task.
But then something happened that made him reflect.
After the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, there was also "London 8 Minutes" - that was an early appearance for London, the host city of the next 2012 Olympic Games.
is on that stage.
Beckham appears, there are London's red double-decker buses, there are African and Indian ethnic groups, and there is pop music.
made Zhang Yimou sigh:
Why don’t they have anything traditional?
does not have the most familiar British historical symbols: Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Shakespeare, the Knights of the Round Table, Newton under the apple tree, the first industrial revolution...
turns out to be a modern, mixed, and not "elegant" culture. , can also represent London.
They don’t mind exporting this kind of culture to the world at all.
And today, we asked for output. However,
always believes that the "purity" of is more important than output.
A major Hollywood IP with the most Chinese flavor, Kung Fu + Panda, was very popular in both China and the United States when it was released in 2008.
Many people are lamenting today:
"It's pity that our Chinese culture...is consumed by entertainment again..."
"The Joy Luck Club", the first Hollywood movie to use an all-Asian cast, was adapted from the autobiographical novel of Chinese Amy Tan.
She used her own experience and family feelings to show the transition between the old and the new, the cultural conflict, and the move toward understanding between the first and second generation Chinese immigrants, but she was scorned by others:
"If you don't understand Chinese culture, don't take random pictures."
"Kneel down. Let's make movies."
So much so that as soon as there is any disturbance, criticism and complaints based on the national cultural standpoint will start to spread.
After Lucy Liu announced the filming of "Beautiful Chinese", the unanimous reaction of netizens was:
"Just don't destroy the myth."
"Who cares, it's all for abc."
Even domestic IP exports have become a national sentiment. Sensitive skin.
"In the World" officially announced that Disney+ has bought the broadcast rights. The most popular voice on the Internet is not congratulations, but accusing Disney of being uneasy and wanting to see China as shabby and old:
After the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" was broadcast, it was What happened in the domestic public opinion field formed a closed loop with the Dark Forest Law in the book:
Some viewers stopped and cast their eyes on it to judge whether other people’s concepts, perspectives and cultural traditions follow our rules. Come march.
finally made it clear:
"The United States has stolen the Chinese people's story."
"Netflix just doesn't understand Chinese culture."
Going overseas has once again become a time of scrutiny, criticism, and quarrels.
But author Liu Cixin always wonders during interviews:
Is this really just a Chinese story? What I want to tell is a story about all mankind.
△ Liu Cixin was interviewed by the "Guardian"
Perhaps many people insist that the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" has deviated from the original work in their hearts after the magic changes, gender changes, "political correctness" and replacement with American values.
This can only be considered an American drama.
has nothing to do with Chinese culture.
But the question is, which culture can be spread to other countries and still (need to) remain completely pure?
The Japanese sushi you eat on the street may not be authentic; KFC will also introduce Chinese dishes such as snail noodles; does the Thailand that frequently appears in domestic movies fully reflect the real Thailand?
There are also some that are ridiculous.
Last year on Halloween, young people used their sense of humor and self-deprecation to stage a large-scale cosplay on the streets.
has the counterfeit Xiang Tai, the "Nanying" who is both spiritual and physical, and the cosplayer of Party B and the third child.
There is neither the jack-o-lantern, the most typical symbol of Halloween, nor trick or treat.
This is completely a spontaneous carnival for young people in the name of Halloween.
But what about the result?
Opposition voices have always said:
This is "cultural invasion."
This is the most ridiculous inequality:
Unorthodox Halloween is still Halloween.
But unorthodox Chinese culture is no longer Chinese culture.
Halloween appropriated by the Chinese is still an invasion.
But the Chinese IP that has been adapted by Hollywood is not exported at all.
As long as culture spreads, there will be translation, deviation and integration.
People who pursue "purity" too much are actually refusing to communicate.
And a culture can radiate to the whole world, not necessarily because of its own uniqueness, but because of its universality.
Let’s talk about Korean movies that have impressed even established Hollywood in recent years.
"Parasite" won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2020.
Do you see only Korean society?
What "Parasite" wants to show is not that "there used to be a country like this", but that due to social structural problems, people can only live as parasites.
This is a social development dilemma involving all mankind.
The popular "Squid Game" also exposed South Korea's economic downturn, class divisions, social injustice and other issues.
But these problems are also pain points for global audiences.
Found it?
The story that can truly reach the eyes of foreign audiences and become popular around the world is definitely not just the story of a certain ethnic group or a certain country.
Only by digging out the common denominators of human culture among a certain nation or country can it hit the hearts of more audiences from different cultures.
Perhaps we can also go back and review what Chen Chong, who was criticized for "hurting national sentiments", said at the Oscar awards ceremony.
In 1988, "The Last Emperor" swept nine Oscars, and Zun Long and Chen Chong appeared on the Oscar awards stage together.
This is an unprecedented highlight moment for a Chinese actor in the fame and fortune fair of Hollywood.
Zun Long and Chen Chong talked to each other, describing a future utopia: I think "The Last Emperor" should not be classified as a "Chinese movie."
Because the production company is American, the director is Italian, the producer is British, and the soundtrack was written by a Japanese, a Chinese and an American rock singer.
So, it is the world.
The world is still so big.
The road to the world is still so far.
Wherever our culture can go, it actually depends on how open our hearts can be.
The pictures in this article come from the Internet
Editorial Assistant: Unruly Eight-treasure Rice
