30 Years of Screen Circulation： China Films Expect a New ＂Opening＂

Special topic: news network for 30 years of reform and opening up

Synthesis of some domestic movie posters in recent 30 years. Songsong cartography

　　"My sister looks for my brother to shed tears, but I don’t see my brother’s heart is sad. I hope to see my relatives through my eyes, and flowers will bloom for several years …" Today, people over 40 years old in China should be familiar with this melody. In 1978, the episode of the movie Little Flower, Sister Looking for Brother’s Tears, was sung all over the country. This film has changed the expression form of previous war movies, and let people hear the footsteps of China’s film recovery with fresh breath. Thirty years later, this song is still a lyric classic in the depths of many people’s memories.

　　After the "Cultural Revolution", a "golden age" was ushered in.

　　In 1978, major film studios in China resumed filming. At that time, the mass cultural life was still relatively simple, and watching movies became the first choice for most people in China. Although only more than 50 films were produced in 1979, the audience reached 27.9 billion times, with an average of 70 million times a day, creating an unprecedented historical record.

　　In the early days of reform and opening-up, a series of "scar movies" such as The Legend of Tianyunshan, Middle-aged Man, furong town and Handcuffed Passengers changed the rigid posture of movies during the Cultural Revolution and brought the feelings, life and fate of little people to the screen. Little Flower, Trembling of Life, Laughter of Distressed People, romance on lushan mountain, etc. have also made new explorations in theme and film language. By the mid-1980s, comedies, rural films, romantic films, opera film, children’s films and other types of films were in full bloom, and China’s films ushered in an unprecedented creative climax. People are very enthusiastic about watching movies. Every year, millions of letters are sent to vote for the Golden Rooster Award and the Hundred Flowers Award. Periodicals related to movies are also "expensive in Luoyang" for a time. "The cultural life in the ten years of the Cultural Revolution was too oppressive and heavy, and the whole people needed a kind of catharsis and release. Movies became the most suitable carrier." Chen Shan, a professor of literature at Beijing Film Academy, said.

　　Rao Shuguang, director of the China Film Art Research Center, pointed out that humanitarianism has become the theme of artists’ long-term thinking and performance in the decade after the reform and opening up. On the aesthetic level, the fourth and fifth generation film directors "joined forces" to set off and promote the "revolution" of China’s film language, to some extent, changed the pattern of China’s films falling behind the world’s films, and left a large number of classics for China audiences. "It is no exaggeration to say that this stage is not only the golden age of the fourth and fifth generation film directors, but also the golden age of the whole China film."

　　Industrialization sets off a wave of entertainment.

　　With the popularity of television and the rise of other new media, movies are under increasing impact. Yin Hong, director of Tsinghua University Film and Television Communication Research Center, pointed out that "TV programs have gradually replaced the original social criticism, publicity and education functions of movies. In the new social environment, the audience of movies has become smaller, more inclined to urban audiences and young audiences, and the entertainment function of movies has been enlarged. "

　　In January 1993, the then Ministry of Radio, Film and Television issued "Several Opinions on Deepening the Mechanism Reform of the Film Industry at Present", and the film production and circulation mode of exclusive operation and unified purchase and marketing formed over 40 years was broken. In 1997, the film management agency introduced the "single license" system, allowing film and television units outside the traditional film studios to apply for film production rights. In the 21st century, film has been clearly defined as an industry, and all the qualifications for its production, distribution and projection have been liberalized, the entry threshold has been further lowered, and the scope of investment and financing has been continuously expanded.

　　Rapid social changes and market shocks have made filmmakers start to change their survival strategies, and strive to find a balance point in the conflict between personalization and audience acceptance, artistry and box office income. "From multi-function to entertainment, China films have gradually recognized their own position in the process of industrialization, which is a development road that keeps pace with the times," Yin Hong said.

　　In the 21st century, a series of commercial films, which hold high the banner of entertainment, have made great achievements at the box office, from the huge investment in House of Flying Daggers and Golden Flower in the City, to the low-cost production of Crazy Stone and Chicken and Dog Restless.

　　Go abroad and spread China culture.

　　In the mid-1990s, China’s film market was once in a downturn. In order to change this depressed situation, in January, 1994, the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television authorized China Film Company to import 10 films every year and distribute them in China by sharing accounts. At the same time that imported blockbusters entered China, China’s films were also reported frequently abroad.

　　As early as 1988, a film "Red Sorghum" won the highest international honor ever for China films-the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival. In the following years, works such as "The Ghost Girl", "Animal Year", "Chrysanthemum Bean", "Hanging the Red Lantern", "Red Pink" and "The Good Man of the Three Gorges" won international awards in succession, and China films gradually won a certain international status.

　　In terms of overseas market share, China’s films are getting better and better.

　　In 2002, Hero was shown in more than 2,000 theaters in the United States, becoming the first truly global China film. According to official data released by the United States, among all foreign films released in the United States from 1981 to 2005, Hero ranked third at the box office. Since then, commercial blockbusters such as "House of Flying Daggers" and "The Promise" have caused a lot of controversy, but objectively they have greatly expanded the overseas market space of China films, gradually entered some Asian countries’ markets, and even entered mainstream cinemas in Europe and America.

　　Rao Shuguang said that commercial blockbusters have aroused the enthusiasm of China audiences for movies and brought a large number of audiences back to cinemas, which is of positive significance to promoting the development of film industrialization in China. "Today’s China movies have the highest degree of internationalization and the highest international status of all art forms in China," Yin Hong said. "It is undeniable that many of the international influences of China culture are brought by movies."

　　However, experts also pointed out that it is impossible for commercial blockbusters to become the mainstream operation mode of China films. Under the current situation, it is an unavoidable problem for the sustainable development of China films to intensify the industrialization of films, cultivate a healthy market and form a benign development mechanism.

　　Our reporter Liu Yang.

Editor: Zhao Xuanxuan