The Oscars, which have finally favored Chinese films again after 18 years, seem to be facing the impact of the film industry and social rifts.
Author | Wang Xinwan
Edit | Stone can
(This article involves some spoilers for "Young You" and "Sunshine")
On the evening of March 15, Beijing time, the 93rd Academy Awards announced the list of shortlisted films, and "Young You" was nominated for Best International Film.
Some people are happy, some people are angry, some people are very confused.
The reactions of the first two need not be repeated. On the one hand, as a commercial drama, the success of the film is obvious to all, and the performance of "drama bone" Zhou Dongyu and film newcomer Yi Yanqianxi are remarkable; on the other hand, the voice of the Internet accusing "Young You" of plagiarizing Keigo Higashino has always existed, and doubts about its originality are endless.
And the most confused people want to ask the question: Why is it?
Movie "Young You"
This problem is related to another movie - the Taiwanese film "Sunshine". At the 93rd Oscars, China sent a total of three films to participate, namely "Win the Championship" in the mainland, "Young You" in Hong Kong, and "Sunshine" in Taiwan. Collective narrative films such as "Win the Championship" have always been difficult to be favored by Hollywood, while "Young You" and "Sunshine" focus on the individual, which is more in line with the narrative philosophy of Western individualism.
In terms of commerciality, artistry, and social significance, the two films have their own highlights, regardless of their superiority. From the Douban score, "Sunshine" has 8.5 points, slightly higher than "Young You" 8.3 points. In terms of reputation, although the spread of "Sunshine" is not very widespread, at least it has not encountered the question of "plagiarism" and "melting".
It can be seen that the failure of "Sunshine" and the shortlisting of "Young You" are bound to cause many people to wonder. To solve this doubt, we must start with the Oscars themselves.
As we all know, there are many film festivals and awards around the world, each film festival has its own focus when selecting winning films, for example, the three major international film festivals in Europe - Cannes, Berlin, Venice, will pay more attention to the artistry of the film, of which Cannes is more commercial, Berlin tends to be political and social, and Venice is avant-garde.
What are the key words for the Oscars? Industry, America, some sort of faction.
Industry means standardized film production mode and learnable film technology; and the best international film (also called "best foreign language film"), seeing that the name is the Oscar award designed for foreign films, is actually the central idea of "the United States", the purpose is to enhance the communication between foreign films and American films, and promote the better development of the American film industry - these two points invariably point to the importance of business.
The main story line of "Young You" is very simple, in a word, it is a story of mutual redemption between a boy and a girl who has been bullied, and the main plot and emotional line are clearly exposed. In terms of commercial achievements, "Young You" grossed 1.558 billion yuan in the mainland and reached 1.92 million US dollars in North America, becoming another Chinese film with a million-dollar opening after "The Wandering Earth" and "Nezha's Devil Boy Descending".
What is Sunshine about? In an ordinary family, Ah Wen and Sister Qin have two sons, the eldest son Ah Hao Pin is both excellent in learning and excellent, and the younger son Ah He is rebellious and rebellious, because of a slashing incident, he entered the juvenile auxiliary nursing home. The father, Arwen, pinned all his hopes on his eldest son, Ahao, but Ahao chose to commit suicide. At the same time, the families of the victims in the slashing incident continue to come to the door to make claims, and Ah He's girlfriend Xiaoyu appeared at the door of her home pregnant. In the storm, the family's life does not know where it will go.
Movie "Sunshine"
You will find that the story of "Sunshine" is difficult to summarize in one sentence, it involves many social issues such as adolescent depression, crime, and the original family, and there are complex and hidden emotions between the father and the eldest son, the father and the second son, the second son and his friends in the film - these elements are artistic, but there is still a distance from the general audience's viewing needs, so it is difficult to call "Sunshine" a commercial film.
As for "some kind of faction", it is not difficult to understand. It has become an indisputable fact that the Oscars prefer films that focus on marginalized people. Judging from the films that have won the best picture award in the past three years ("The Shape of Water", "Green Book", "Parasite"), the Oscars do not shy away from showing their tendencies, and the films that speak out for the disabled, blacks, poor and other vulnerable groups are more likely to win the final favor of the judges, even if they are slightly inferior in artistry and commerciality.
Movie "Parasite"
But at the same time, this "left" sentiment is relatively restrained and restrained. Fans who follow the Oscars will find that in the past three years, there have been one or more high-profile but ultimately failed to come out on top nominations every year, such as "Three Billboards" competing with "WaterLess", and "Joker", which competed with "Parasite". The former depicts a desperate mother whose daughter is raped and murdered and whose justice is never served, while the latter shows society's repression of the individual and ultimately radical riots– plots that are "left" and more rebellious and disturbing.
So, in the face of them, the progressive Oscar took a small step back and chose a relatively gentle landing point.
In this way, the Oscar nomination for "Young You" instead of "Sunshine" is more understandable. "Young You" opposes school bullying, pays attention to marginalized teenagers, the theme is clear, the final ending is attributed to the rule of law and true feelings, correct and safe; the complexity of "Sunshine" means divergence, the overall thinking of the patriarchal family, the death of the eldest son Ahao reflects the doubts about the education system and evaluation standards, and the relationship between the younger son Ahe and the buddy dish head shows the depth of human nature.
Depth means the blurring of the subject matter, and the vagueness points to de-sloganization, and this is not the tendency that oscars want.
Since the 92nd Oscars, Chinese films have been "marginal players". The only Chinese-language film to win a successful award after being shortlisted is the 73rd Ang Lee martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
It was 2001, 20 years ago.
Movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
Ang Lee is the director with the most Oscar nominations for Chinese films, with a total of three times, namely "Wedding Banquet" nominated in the 66th, "Eating Men and Women" nominated in the 67th, and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" which finally won the award. The number of nominations is comparable to that of Zhang Yimou, corresponding to the 63rd nomination of "Ju Dou", the 64th nomination of "Big Red Lantern Hanging High" and the 75th nomination of "Hero". In addition, there is also Chen Kaige's "Farewell to the King" nominated for the 66th Oscar.
And "Young You" nomination, it has been 18 years since the last Time Chinese Film was nominated for an Oscar.
Judging from the quality of domestic oscar-winning films in recent years, it does not represent the highest level of domestic films. For example, "Nezha's Devil Boy Descending", although it has gained fame and fortune in China, it has not yet reached a height comparable to Disney and Pixar. Other excellent domestic films that seem to have an "Oscar face" from all sides, such as "Carnival", "I Am Not a Medicine God", etc., are limited by the number of films participating in the election and have not been eligible for selection.
18 years without the Oscar, the quality of domestic films is still not hot on the one hand, many restrictions and trade-offs in film selection are on the other hand. But even if a good movie can break through these barriers, it is not easy to win. What makes the audience feel the most regrettable is Chen Kaige's pinnacle work "Farewell to the King" - a well-known film, which not only occupies an unshakable position in the history of domestic film, but also holds back the palme d'Or and golden globe awards at international film festivals.
But it still didn't end up favored by the Oscars.
That year's Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film went to a Brazilian film called "Four Thousand Gold Lovers" It is rumored that Chen Kaige also asked the Oscar judges that year, why did "Overlord Farewell" fail? The judges replied that "Farewell to the King" is a very good movie, but it has won many awards before the Oscars, and the judges did not see the promotion of this movie before the Oscars began, they believe that "Farewell to the King" does not need the Oscar to prove themselves, so they finally decided not to give the award to "Farewell to the King".
Even without this vignette, it has always been an indisputable fact that the Oscars have always had a mediocre interest in Chinese films. Although the West has appreciation and curiosity about Eastern elements and Chinese martial arts, when it comes to awarding awards, it is often hesitant to move forward. As a result, the final award-winning "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is particularly precious.
In 2001, Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon won the historic award for Best Foreign Language Film. This is the first time that a Chinese-language film and an Asian film has won this award. In addition, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon won the best cinematography, best art direction and best original score of the year.
"In this film about revenge, honor and martial arts, Ang Lee interprets the two parallel love stories with their own interests and endless aftertaste, and the film celebrates the martial arts spirit of poetry, so that people can appreciate Chinese culture while also experiencing Shakespearean tragedy", for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", an article in the New York Times once gave such a high evaluation.
But it cannot be ignored that Ang Lee has received many years of Hollywood training, and many critics believe that the success of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was created by Ang Lee using the Hollywood industrial model. It's more like a Hollywood commercial film cloaked in oriental culture.
Fortunately, we don't need to be disappointed that Chinese films have always been difficult to "please" the Oscars. In recent years, many domestic directors have shined in international film festivals, such as the sixth generation of domestic directors Lou Ye and Jia Zhangke, who are quite popular with the three major international film festivals in Europe, and excellent Chinese films such as "Long Days on the Ground" and "Elephants Sitting on the Ground" have also won awards at the Berlin Film Festival, attracting many international attention.
Movie "Long Days on Earth"
After all, in today's world of various film festivals, excellent films, directors and actors are difficult to be buried, "as long as there is strength, everywhere is the stage."
More to worry about, it seems, is Oscar himself.
At the beginning of its founding, the Oscars were inextricably linked to the Hollywood film industry in the United States. The man who proposed the Oscars was Louis Meyer, one of the founders of MGM and also known as the "King of Hollywood."
Therefore, the Oscars, which grew up on hollywood as the soil, reflect not the peak of film art, but how Hollywood, as the highland of the world's film industry, is changing. Even though the producer-centered system gradually collapsed in the mid-20th century, Hollywood did not get rid of its strong commercial traditions, and eventually formed a director's capital system similar to the European director-centered system, which also took into account artistic creation and capital operation.
With the rise of the mass media, Hollywood has skyrocketed, not only creating many high-quality commercial films, but also creating a group of world-renowned directors and actors.
This is why the Oscars, as a film award in the United States, can attract the world's attention and even become an annual entertainment event. Due to Hollywood's mature business model, the advanced film industry in the United States, and the natural advantages of English as the world language, almost everyone has seen Hollywood movies, and everyone knows a few Hollywood stars to a greater or lesser extent. Ordinary viewers don't need to understand film theory, professional technology or industrial development, they just need to see the stars on TV, or discuss with their families after tea which movie will win, and the oscars are already completed for them.
When it comes to live television, it is impossible not to mention the Oscars' profit model. In addition to advertising cooperation, one of the Oscars' major revenue channels is to sell live broadcast rights, which cost as much as 70 million US dollars, with an average of nearly fifty countries broadcasting in nearly fifty countries per year.
What that means: The Oscars will never lose sight of the importance of ratings. However, there are data showing that the last three Oscars (i.e. the 90th, 91st, and 92nd) are the three lowest-rated ones ever, and the data has fallen below 30 million. In particular, the latest edition, the 92nd edition of Parasite, which won Best Picture, received only 23 million ratings — less than half of the Titanic's 57 million.
"Parasite" director Bong Joon-ho won the little golden man
The decline in ratings is not only related to the decline of television media, but also inextricably linked to the social reality of the United States. After 2016, the rift in American society is difficult to bridge, and the antagonism between people with different positions is becoming increasingly acute. As a concentration of filmmakers of a certain faction, the Oscar jury inevitably reflected their dissatisfaction with the current state of society in the selection of films, so in the past three sessions, many people have clearly felt that it has become a protest to let a film with the right faction win an award, and the Oscars have increasingly become the position for academic filmmakers to issue declarations.
But some TV viewers who once contributed to ratings are not on the same page as the Oscars. It's hard for conservative American viewers to spend another three hours sitting in front of the TV and watching the revelry of opposing factions.
By this point, Oscar's awkward situation was already evident. This film event, which has risen through commerce, has begun to decline because society has begun to decline, which may not have been expected by filmmakers.
Resources:
"The Great River Goes East: The Oscar Decade"
"Shining" Hollywood: A Classic Story of Chinese-Language Films Competing for Oscars
A Comparative Study of Best Picture and Nominated Film under the Academy Awards Mechanism
"< Boy You> Rotten Tomatoes Freshness 100%, North American Cumulative Box Office $1.83 Million"
"Unveiling the "Oscar", what are the rules of the oscar game? What is the profit model behind it?