系列文章《亚洲电影巡礼》正式启动啦!这个电影之旅,总共包括中国、韩国、印度以及伊朗四站,让大家尽情体验亚洲各国电影的不同特色和美丽风情。首先是我们熟悉的第一站——
It may look like it’s a thousand years old, but it’s not. It contains some of China’s biggest palaces, but it’s no historic monument. Built just ten years ago, Hengdian is China’s biggest film studio – the Hollywood of the East.
Some of China’s biggest 1)blockbusters were shot here. These films have conquered the world. They’re the international face of Chinese cinema. But for every international blockbuster, there are hundreds 2)waiting in the wings. Many excellent Chinese movies play in cinemas at home, but only a few make it abroad. Yet the foreign market is 3)crucial for the Chinese film industry. Some directors use the Hollywood style to grab the international audience; others put a different 4)spin on things.
Chris Berry (Professor): The Chinese have had to come up with their own blockbusters. Martial arts action films are the answer to this. Not only are the stories they tell well-known to Chinese audiences, and the 5)genre well-established, but it’s also, thanks to Bruce Lee and people like that, a genre that’s well-accepted around the world.
这里看起来有上千年的历史,其实并非如此。这里有几座全中国最宏伟的宫殿,却不是什么历史古迹。建成不过十年的横店是中国最大的电影片场——简直就是东方好莱坞。
中国最卖座的几部电影就是在此地拍摄的。这些电影征服了世界。它们是中国电影国际化的一面。但是,每一部卖座的国际电影背后,都有几百部电影在等待机会。许多优秀的中国影片在国内影院上映,但只有少数几部可以销往国外,而外国市场对中国电影业来说非常重要。(因此)有些导演拍摄好莱坞式的电影以吸引国外观众,其他人则另辟蹊径。
克里斯·贝里(教授):中国人必须拍属于自己的大片。功夫动作片就是一个好点子。不仅是因为中国观众很熟悉电影中的故事,功夫片也是类别明确的电影体裁,而且多亏了李小龙等诸位动作明星,这类电影受到全世界观众的欢迎。
The Fifth Generation “第五代”的繁荣
After the Cultural Revolution, film schools reopened. The first graduates of the Beijing Film Academy, known as the Fifth Generation, 6)kick-started the film industry. Red Sorghum was one of the first post-Cultural Revolution films to gain recognition outside of China. Eyebrows were raised when it won prizes in film art houses abroad.
Berry: It marks the point where the Fifth Generation goes from a modernist, difficult art cinema into more of a narrative storytelling mode. It was Zhang Yimou’s first film, his debut film. And with it, we discovered that he was not only a great 7)cinematographer, but a natural storyteller.
In 1991, Zhang Yimou upped the 8)ante.
Recognizing foreign opportunities, he risked
9)censorship at home with his story about the sexual tensions that 10)consumed a rich man’s household.
Berry: The results are very 11)exotic, colorful films, films set in the ancient Chinese past with the famous red lanterns that…and various strange 12)rituals that Zhang Yimou invented, in fact, don’t really exist in China.
Zhang Yimou used his imagination to appeal to the international market, but he never lost sight of the Chinese audience. In The Road Home, director
Zhang Yimou experiments with 13)panache. He 14)reverses 15)conventional cinematography – the present in black and white, while the past is in color. Zhang Yimou uses a simple love story to capture China’s lost innocence.
With its 16)nostalgic portrayal of a simpler time, The Road Home pulled 17)heartstrings in China. But even as Zhang Yimou was appealing to the Chinese audience, a very different film 18)burst on the scene. In 2000, a new kind of Chinese cinema was born.
It was a Taiwanese director, Ang Lee, who found the key to global blockbuster success. His Crouching Tiger, Hid
den Dragon brought new images and a new style of storytelling to an international audience.
Zhang Yimou’s response to Ang Lee’s success was Hero. Zhang Yimou combined magical storytelling with his trademark cinematography. With spectacular scenery, stunning cinematography and beautifully 19)orchestrated music, Hero seduced audiences around the world.
Zhang Weiping (Film producer): Hero’s biggest
contribution was showing the film industry the
immense potential of the Chinese market.
Feng Xiaogang (Director): I think the progress and development of Chinese cinema should start with the Chinese people.
Feng concentrated not on historical epics, but on films about real people to whom the Chinese
audience could relate. It was a risky strategy. Feng went against a proven 20)formula.
Successful directors like Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou’s films are historical, Feng Xiaogang’s are 21)contemporary. They use 22)allegory; he uses comedy.
Berry: Feng Xiaogang is possibly China’s greatest UNKNOWN film director – outside China, that is. He makes popular urban comedies that are actually at least as successful as Zhang Yimou’s films.
文化大革命之后,电影学院重新开放。北京电影学院的第一批毕业生就是“第五代”电影人。他们急起直追,希望重振电影业。《红高粱》是文化大革命后第一批获得国际肯定的中国电影之一。它在国外的艺术影院频频得奖,令人大为意外。
贝里:这部电影标志着第五代电影从晦涩艰深的现代主义艺术电影转变为更有叙述性的故事形式。这是张艺谋的第一部电影,他的处女作。这部电影让我们认识到他不仅是一名优秀的电影摄影师,还是天生的讲故事能手。
1991年,张艺谋下了更大的赌注。他意识到国外的机遇,冒着在国内被审查禁播的风险,拍了一部讲述情爱风波如何毁灭一户富贵人家的电影。
贝里:结果他拍出了一部极具异国风情、绚烂多彩的电影。故事的背景设在旧中国,有著名的红灯笼……和各种稀奇古怪的习俗仪式。这些其实都是张艺谋自己凭空虚构出来的,中国根本没有这样的风俗。
张艺谋运用想象力吸引国际市场的目光,但他从没忘记中国的观众。在《我的父亲母亲》这部电影中,张艺谋潇洒地作出尝试,彻底颠覆了传统的电影摄影——用黑白拍摄现在,用彩色拍摄过去。他通过一个简单的爱情故事捕捉中国失去的纯真。
《我的父亲母亲》以怀旧的手法描绘出一个淳朴的年代,拨动了万千中国观众的心弦。不过,虽然张艺谋在国内观众当中非常受落,银幕上却绽放出另一部截然不同的电影。2000年,一种全新的华人电影诞生了。
正是台湾导演李安发现了全球大片的成功秘笈。他拍摄的《卧虎藏龙》为国际观众带来了全新的华人形象和叙事方式。
对李安的成功,张艺谋则以《英雄》回应。张艺谋把神奇的叙述技巧与其标志性的拍摄手法结合在一起。壮丽动人的风景、令人惊叹的摄影以及编排优美的配乐,《英雄》让世界各地的观众为之着迷。
张伟平(制片人):我觉得《英雄》最大的功劳,应该是——它让中国的电影人看到了中国国内的电影市场的这种……存在的这种巨大的潜力。
冯小刚(导演):我觉得电影要繁荣,要发展,要使中国电影辉煌,我觉得要立足在中国本土。
冯小刚的工作重点并不是史诗式的历史片,而是能够引起中国观众共鸣的现实人物电影。这个策略非常冒险,与那条已被验证的成功法则背道而驰。
陈凯歌、张艺谋等成功导演拍的是
历史片,冯小刚拍的则是现代片;他们的电影充满寓意,他的片子则是连场喜剧。
贝里:冯小刚可能是中国最伟大的“无名”导演——这个“无名”是指他在国外毫无名气。他的都市喜剧很受欢迎,和张艺谋的电影比起来也毫不逊色。
The Sixth Generation “第六代”的困境
Unlike the Fifth Generation directors, young Chinese filmmakers today find their inspiration in the present, not the past.
Berry: Where the Fifth Generation made historical films, they chose to make contemporary films. Where the Fifth Generation went to the rural areas of China, and to the borderlands where 23)ethnic minorities lived, they stuck to the cities. The results are 24)nitty-gritty, everyday, contemporary Chinese stories.
Many films of Sixth Generation directors never reach the cinema. Their frank depictions of present day life frequently 25)fall foul of the censors.
Censorship is not the only problem Sixth Generation
filmmakers face. There are only around 3,000 cinema screens in the whole of China, so many viewers rely on DVDs.
Berry: People don’t go to the cinema very often in China these days because of 26)pirate DVDs. In China, for one movie ticket you could probably buy six or seven DVDs. Who’s going to go the theater in that situation?
与第五代导演不同,如今年轻一代的中国电影人从“现在”而不是“过去”中汲取灵感。
贝里:第五代导演拍历史片,他们选择的却是当代电影。第五代导演前往中国的农村,到少数民族居住的边陲地带拍摄,他们则坚持在城市里拍电影。结果他们拍出了发生在现今中国的、实实在在的日常故事。
许多第六代导演的电影根本进不了电影院。他们对当代生活的直白描绘经常无法通过电影审查。审查制度还不是第六代导演面临的唯一难题。全中国只有大约3000家电影院,所以许多观众只能依靠DVD看电影。
贝里:因为盗版DVD的存在,许多中国人现在都不大上电影院了。在中国,买一张电影票的钱差不多能买到六七张(盗版)DVD。在这种状况下,谁还会上电影院呢?
A New Chance 新的机遇 
Despite many obstacles over the past 25 years,
Chinese cinema has come a long way. Now, another generation of filmmakers is ready for 27)heady times in the new China. The Beijing Olympics Generation is the next revolution in Chinese cinema.
Things are changing. Kekexili is one of the new 28)breed of Chinese films. It deals with formerly sensitive subjects – 29)poaching and crime. Yet, it was passed by the censors.
Lu Chuan (Director): Our generation has a different way of expressing our creative vision. You’ve seen Kekexili; you might have noticed it’s really different. First of all, we hope to make only mainstream films. And we believe young directors should step into the mainstream too, so that they can make movies and influence people, and support the local film industry.
These are exciting times for the Chinese film industry. The promise of the future is great.
Chen Kaige (Director): I do believe that Chinese cinema has potential to progress. Of course, there are still a lot of obstacles to overcome.
虽然在过去25年里遇到不少困难,中国电影其实已经取得了长足的进步。现在,新一代电影人跃跃欲试,准备迎接新中国又一个激动人心的时期——“北京奥运世代”是中国电影业的下一场革命。
情况已经不可同日而语了。《可可西里》是其中一部新一代中国电影。它探讨的话题在过去属于敏感题材(盗猎和犯罪),却通过了电影审查。
陆川(导演):那么,现在就是,像我们这批导演……就是我们跟他的创造不太一样。因为你也看了《可可西里》,你可能觉得的确是不太一样的电影。我们首先就是……我们希望拍得的都是主流电影。因为我们希望就是,我们年轻导演应该进入主流,去拍电影,然后去影响大众,去支持中国的电影工业。
对中国电影界来说,这是一个令人振奋的时代。中国电影的前景一片光明。
陈凯歌(导演):所以我当然认为中国电影应该是有比较好的发展的前景。当然,我们也还要克服很多很多的困难。
