From the opera-film Dingjun Mountain (1905) to the propaganda films of the Cultural Revolution, mainland China’s film history has been rich since its infancy and continues to develop in fascinating ways. Since the early days of the global movie market, China has struggled to categorize its approach to film both politically and economically. As with other forms of media, film became a nationalized industry in the PRC in the 1950s,tasked with promoting the values of Chinese communism.
Although the industry, like many others, was opened to "free-market" forces in the 1980s, the CCP remained committed to influencing the production of film (Su, 99). To this day, the Party retains tight control of what shows up on screen and, to an extent, the capital-flow around the industry (Frater).
In the years since the film industry’s liberalization, the Chinawood-Hollywood relationship has been in constant flux. Though the PRC has consistently attempted to compete with Hollywood films in their domestic market, it opened up to the possibility of using Hollywood to its advantage in the late 20th and 21st centuries. Rather than struggle in vain to overpower the Hollywood machine, the CCP switched tactics, and in 1994, introduced 10 revenue-sharing American productions to the box office per year (Su, 94). This quota was increased each year, and in 2019, 38 Hollywood movies were imported to China (Zeitchik). Using the revenue from Hollywood movie ticket sales, China has revitalized its film industry; in fact, they have saved the studios from the near bankruptcy they were facing before this reform (Su, 96). Consequently, the Chinese film industry has grown exponentially so that by 2010, the PRC became the world’s third largest film producer behind the US and India (Su, 94).
Though some see Chinese studios struggling to match Hollywood’s revenue, there is one week where domestically produced films unquestionably win: Lunar New Year. The phenomenon of the Chinese New Year Film likely originated in Hong Kong, and is still associated with the city today. Therefore, it is worth mentioning that the historic Cantonese-Mandarin culture divide persists and, predictably, extends to the film industry, manifesting in differently themed/focused films being produced in Hong-Kong and Guangzhou versus in the rest of Mandarin China (Liu et al). However, though there remains a unique Cantonese film culture, the seat of which lies in Hong Kong, the New Year film has become far more universal over time. As of now, it is the biggest time for the Chinese box-office, raking in a record $860 million from Feb 4th-10th alone in 2019 (Davis). On the other hand, the divide between styles of New Year films may be growing stronger.
Many Hong-Kong natives report an aversion to seeing mainland Chinese films, especially with the city’s churning political turmoil and pro-Western sentiment in recent years. Some are put off by the role of the Chinese government in the film industry-- to be fair the "free" United States whose flag people had been waving also uses Hollywood as a massive propaganda wing. The Dept. of Defense essentially subsidizes war movies via access to military equipment, locations, and expertise for films in exchange for the final say over scripts in order to curate an image of American Military intervention that justifies imperialism (Second Thought). But in this region of China, a bastion of liberal sympathy, there is anecdotal evidence as well as box office stats to suggest that Hong-Kong residents much prefer local movies with a uniquely Hong-Kong quality (Frater).
2020 Lunar New Year alone was predicted to generate as much as 1 billion dollars in ticket sales, so it was an especially devastating blow to the Chinese film industry when the Lunar NY weekend releases were cancelled due to the outbreak of coronavirus (Brzeski). In fact, the distributor of one of the movie’s share values “dropped 21% in the four-trading-day week” and another “fell 13%” (The Guardian). Not only is this turn of events financially devastating, it is also presumably very disappointing to Chinese people.
To the Hong-Kongers, this cancellation of a long and joyous tradition may even feel like
an additional jab from the PRC. Regardless, the cancellations serve only to further demonstrate one of the obvious entertainment downsides of Coronavirus. Though China's total box office revenue for 2020 was down by a staggering 68% from the previous year, it still reached over 3 billion USD, while the US box office limped along at 2.28 billion (Shackleton; Yiu). However, this lunar new year (2022) is a massive improvement. In fact, holiday ticket sales have already reached 1.2 billion USD (Heng).
Historically, the Chinese box office generates lots of revenue from Hollywood imports. Box Office
Mojo cites Paw Patrol, Encanto, and The Matrix:Resurrections as box office toppers along with Chinese films like military action flick, Water Gate Bridge (BOM). In fact, it seems like Hollywood movies just keep gaining popularity (I would guess, to the chagrin of many government officials and Chinese movie industry professionals).
How will Chinese releases continue to fair opposite Hollywood imports?
The future of the global movie market hangs in the balance.
Brzeski, Patrick. “Chinese New Year Film Releases Canceled in Response to Coronavirus Outbreak.” The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Jan. 2020, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/chinese-new-year-film-releases-canceled-response-coronavirus-outbreak-1272282.
“China's Biggest Box Office Weekend Scrapped amid Coronavirus Crisis.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 23 Jan. 2020, www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jan/23/china-new-year-film-releases-scrapped-coronavirus-crisis.
Davis, Rebecca. “China's Lunar New Year Box Office Sets Record, Despite Rampant Piracy.” Variety, 13 Feb. 2019, variety.com/2019/film/news/piracy-wandering-earth-chinese-new-year-1203138142/.
Frater, Patrick. “Hong Kong and China Box Office to Take Separate Directions at Chinese New Year.” Variety, 22 Jan. 2020, variety.com/2020/film/asia/hong-kong-china-box-office-separate-directions-at-chinese-new-year-1203473523/.
“Hong Kong Box Office Weekends For 2020.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/by-year/2020/?area=HK.
Lui, Hui, et al. “‘Guangzhou Film’ and Guangzhou Urban Culture: An Overview.” Early Film Culture in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Republican China: Kaleidoscopic Histories, edited by Emilie Yueh-yu Yeh, University of Michigan Press, 2018, pp. 134–155. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt22727c7.9.
Su, Wendy. “Cultural Policy and Film Industry as Negotiation of Power: The Chinese State's Role and Strategies in Its Engagement with Global Hollywood 1994-2012.” Pacific Affairs, vol. 8, no. 1, Mar. 2014, pp. 93–114. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43590825.
Tartaglione, Nancy. “Chinese New Year Films Cancellation Could Mean A $1B+ Loss For Global Box Office In 2020; What's The Impact On Hollywood.” Deadline, 24 Jan. 2020, deadline.com/2020/01/chinese-new-year-films-cancellation-impact-global-hollywood-box-office-analysis-1202838847/.
Zeitchik, Steven. “The Trade War's Unlikely Victim: Hollywood.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 June 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/06/14/trade-wars-unlikely-victim-hollywood/
Shackleton, Liz. “China Box Office Topped North America in 2020 Thanks to Quicker Post-Lockdown Recovery, Strong Local Titles.” ScreenDaily, 13 Jan. 2021, https://www.screendaily.com/features/china-box-office-topped-north-america-in-2020-thanks-to-quicker-post-lockdown-recovery-strong-local-titles/5156165.article.
Yiu, Enoch. “China Displaces Us as the World's Biggest Box Office Market in 2020.” South China Morning Post, 1 Jan. 2021, https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3116128/chinas-box-office-expands-worlds-largest-defying-year-disastrous.
Heng, Cheryl. “China's Holiday Box Office Soars to Record as Covid Restrictions Limit Travel.” South China Morning Post, 23 Feb. 2021, https://www.scmp.com/business/money/spending/article/3122812/chinas-lunar-new-year-box-office-revenues-soar-third-record?module=perpetual_scroll_0&pgtype=article&campaign=3122812.
No comments:
Post a Comment