On Chinese films

羅淞譯

摘 要：With the continuous deepening of globalization at present， Chinese films continue to bear multiple missions of spreading Chinese national culture， establishing the international images， enhancing the international communication， etc. Every national culture must absorb the essence of foreign culture and integrate the advantages of its native culture to earn a place for itself in the communication of global culture.

關鍵詞：the new period； Chinese films； cross-cultural communication； strategy

中圖分類號：G642 文獻標識碼：B 文章編號：1002-7661（2015）07-035-01

Economic globalization facilitates the communication among different countries. And integrating different national cultures with each other has become a current developing tendency. At present， Chinese films are shouldering heavy responsibilities of cross-cultural transmission. In the course of cultural integration， Chinese culture has obviously gained recognition from most foreign countries. How to demonstrate Chinese cultural soft power in the cross-cultural communication has become an important topic for discussion.

1.Status quo of Chinese films cross-cultural communication

The cross-cultural communication of Chinese film can be dated back to the year of 1935 when the Chinese film Song of the Fisherman participated in Moscow international film exhibition. This is the first Chinese film to show Chinas social conditions and peoples living conditions to the whole world by images. Since the reform and opening-up， many Chinese films such as Red Sorghum， Chinese People， Zhao Yiman， Woman Sesame Oil Maker， The Story of Qiu Ju， Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon， etc. have won prizes in the worlds important film festivals.

The Chinese film has been confined in the propaganda of political ideology for a long time， which resulted in its relatively narrow international outlook. This situation has not been improved until the end of the last century. Compared with the international mainstream film markets， Chinese films pace of internationalization is obviously too slow. If one national culture wants to survive in the world， it must contact and communicate with foreign cultures. In todays society which emphasizes on the cultural soft power， Chinese films not only transmit the cultural intension of Chinese nation to the world， but also build the image of Chinese nation in the eyes of the world. Therefore， in the cross-cultural communication， Chinese films must absorb the essence of foreign ideas and foreign cultures and arts in order to output more unique Chinese national culture.

The Chinese film should first take a firm stand on its nationality in the course of cross-cultural communication. Only in this way， can it blend in with films all over the world. From the perspective of the world and the times， in order to find a place in the world， Chinese films should use national images characterized with human nature to gain the harmonious development of the art and commerce. Since the new period， on the basis of knowing Chinese and American cultures well， director Ann Lee has paid close attention to the conflicts and fusions between Chinese culture and American culture and has achieved an unexpected success. This kind of success has become an example of Chinese films cross-cultural communication. It is mainly about the thinking of the conflicts and fusions among different national cultures and different walks of life. And on the basis of this kind of thinking， reasonable cultural elements and special national signs are used in films for better expression.

2.Difficulties of Chinese films cross-cultural communication in the new period

First of all， we must aware that Chinese films are still at a disadvantage in the international film market and even our domestic market has been occupied by European and American films like Hollywood films. Although the export volume of Chinese films has had a sharp rising in recent years， compared with other countries， it still hovers about the lower level in the world. European and American films has almost monopolized Chinese films consumer market and few Chinese commercial films can compete with them. That is to say， China is always on the deficit stage in the film trade.

Then， it is obvious that Chinese films have not created their own cultural identity in the international film market. Whether a films cross-cultural communication is successful or not depends on that if it can gain the recognition of the international market. Facing with fierce competitions in international film industry， Chinese films are difficult to demonstrate their particular characteristics of film culture as a result of instability in the industry foundation. Two watersheds are formed in domestic film manufacturing – one is to abandon the characteristics of Chinese national culture and to blindly cater for the demand of international market； the other is to insist the expression of Chinese native culture but difficult to open up to the international market. In order to gain a firm foothold in the international film market， Chinese films should stick to and adhere to Chinese national culture. Only in this way can distinctive film products be created. A distinctive film product has various advantages such as gaining a market for itself， being popular in difficult kinds of crowd， creating its own cultural identity and achieving higher audience recognition. Therefore， forming its own cultural identity can supply the Chinese film with inexhaustible fuel in its cross-cultural communication.

At last， Chinese films of the new age are immature in their commercial operation mode. The immaturity of commercial operation mode is caused by not only the later start-up of Chinese film industrys marketization but also some political and historical reasons. It is reflected in several aspects as below： First， lacking risk assessment of the film market； second， small funding on commercial operation and lacking necessary market supervisory mechanism of funding； third， immaturity in the brand awareness of Chinese films and no brand effects are formed. Therefore， in all Chinese film production teams， the real elite filmmakers are very rare and precious， so are the excellent film productions.

3.The cross-cultural communication strategies of Chinese films in the new period

First of all， Chinese films should go with the developing trend of international film market and establish a commercialized developing mode with Chinese characteristics. If Chinese films of the new age want to gain a firm foothold in the international market， they must conform to the developing trend of contemporary international film market and in the meantime build a new developing mode in the aspect of film industrialization. Facing with the commercialized and capitalized international film market， earnings and box offices are the decisive factors to evaluate if a film is successful or not. To take the Hollywood film as an example， from the early market research and actors choosing to the hype before films first run， and then to the late commercial operation， every step is laid out meticulously in detail. This has formed a mature marketing pattern in Hollywood because every link is scheduled with the standard of market effects. The cross-cultural communication of Chinese films in the new period should draw lessons from foreign ripe experiences and connect with the actual situation of Chinese films of the new age. To adjust the industry and regulate the film market system can make Chinese films to turn losses into gains.

Then， the aesthetic demand of foreign audience is needed to be taken into account besides the seeking for culture orientation on the basis of emphasizing Chinese national cultures characteristics. Films such as The Hero， Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon， etc. in recent years carry on Chinese traditional chivalry culture and show Chinese value concepts to the world， which is expected by the foreign audience. Thus， they got an unexpected result after masterly commercialized operation. Only these meaningful and valuable films can be favored by the audience all over the world. Hollywood films express their general spiritual ideas through multiple film forms， which is the experiences Chinese films cross-cultural communication should draw lessons from in the contemporary new period.

Third， films in the new period must lay emphasis on scientific and technical innovation. In the current international film market， not only the culture competition but also the science and technology competition is fierce. Many films are highly involved in technological contents. It can be foreseen that the international film market competition in the future must be the culture and science and technology competition on the basis of its culture and commerce. Especially in the current new circumstances with the integration of experience economy and visual aesthetic culture， films must bring the audiences a visual feast through the application of high-tech means to challenge their sense at the extreme degree.

At present， the soft power of culture is the goal that every country in the world is chasing after. In the course of cross-cultural communication， films – a channel of reflecting one countrys cultural soft power – undertake the responsibility of transmitting native culture essence and demonstrate the value and connotation of national culture. Facing with the difficulties Chinese current films encountered in their cross-cultural communication， all Chinese filmmakers in the new period should actively explore a good way for the sustainable development of Chinese films cross-cultural communication in the new period. Therefore， the cross-cultural communication of Chinese films in the new period has a long way to go.

Bibliographyp：

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[2] Zheng Xie. The Venation and Tendency of Films and Television Plays Cross-cultural Communication [J]. Journal of Yun Meng， 2012 （02）.

[3] Ping Zhou and Zhengqi Zhang. South Korean Films Cross-cultural Communication Strategy and Its Inspiration [J]. Forum on Humanity and Literature， 2013 （00）.