China’s Film Industry and Soft Power

• Main Authors: Ping-ju Huang, 黃品儒
• Other Authors: Chang, Hsien-chao
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/qe4tx9

碩士 === 國立中山大學 === 中國與亞太區域研究所 === 102 === In the view of Chinese government, cultural industry and hard power are the basics of soft power. The Chinese government put more and more emphasis on the strategic value of cultural industry, especially film industry. In 1994, a new Chinese government policy imported ten foreign films per year. Since then, China’s film industry has experienced globalization era and the competition with Hollywood blockbuster. The U.S. blockbuster hit the Chinese box office with a high record. The lavish and commercial features of the U.S. blockbuster became the origin of the Chinese word “da pian”. Before joining the World Trade Organization, Chinese people concerned about the survival of China’s film industry by opening the film market further. However, after 12 years of World Trade Organization membership, China’s film industry survived and became stronger under the protection and guidelines of the Chinese government’s industrial policies. Under the pressure of globalization and competition with foreign films, China’s film industry needs to be more competitive. Therefore, producing da pian and commercializing the main melody films are the new strategies for Chinese film to raise influence and promote soft power. Film co-production is the main measure for China to gain the resources which are favorable for Chinese film’s soft power. The main melody film’s promotes government’s ideology. Commercializing the main melody film is a new strategy for China to make the main melody film closer to the audience. This paper reviews three representative commercialized main melody films ideological feature, including, “Confucius”, “Jian Guo Da Ye”, and “Hero”. In the internal film market, Chinese film relies on Kong Fu movies and elements excessively. The international image of Chinese film is changeless. “Hero” is considered as the most successful Chinese film in the international market. Yet, Chinese Kong Fu movies are declining in the international market. One of the major reasons is the Hollywood’s monopoly on the international film market. In conclusion, although China is not successful on promoting its film soft power so far, China is using its hard power to gain resources that build up its film soft power under the principle of China’s national interest.