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Chinese film director Chen Kaige's 'Sacrifice,' a story of bloody murder and long-plotted revenge set against the sumptuous backdrop of an ancient Chinese court, is set to premier in U.S. theaters nationwide later this month in yet another attempt to bridge the gap between the Chinese and U.S. cinema markets.
中國導演陳凱歌執導的《趙氏孤兒》(Sacrifice)以富麗堂皇的中國古代宮廷為背景，講述了一個關于血腥謀殺和經過長期謀劃的復仇的故事。該片于7月底首次在全美院線上映，是又一次溝通中國與美國電影市場之間的鴻溝的嘗試。
Mr. Chen, who catapulted to international fame following his 1993 film 'Farewell My Concubine,' said he doesn't expect 'Sacrifice' will be a box office smash in the U.S. 'U.S. audiences don't like subtitles,' he said, noting also that most artistic films fall flat with viewers who go to the movies for less demanding entertainment.
繼《霸王別姬》(Farewell My Concubine)在1993年上映之后，陳凱歌在國際影壇聲名鵲起。對于《趙氏孤兒》，陳凱歌稱他預計該片在美國的上座率不會太高。他說，“美國觀眾不喜歡看字幕。”他還指出，大多數藝術電影都不能吸引為獲得更輕松的娛樂享受而去看電影的觀眾的興趣。
If it doesn't shine, 'Sacrifice' will join a growing procession of Chinese films that failed to engage Western audiences or gain overseas commercial success. Zhang Yimou's 'Flowers of War,' released in the U.S. in January, aimed to strike it big with U.S. movie-goers, tapping A-list actor Christian Bale to star as the main character in the story of schoolgirls trapped in Nanjing during the Japanese occupation. Yet the film only brought in $311, 434 at box offices in North America, according to online box office reporting service Box Office Mojo. (Mr. Zhang also downplayed prospects for his film in the U.S. prior to its release there.)
如果《趙氏孤兒》的表現不夠出眾，那么它將成為越來越多的一批未能吸引西方觀眾或是未在海外獲得商業成功的中國影片之一。其中，張藝謀執導的《金陵十三釵》(Flowers of War)于今年1月份在美國上映，該片講述了一群中國女學生在日軍占領南京期間受困于城內的故事。該片請來大牌影星克里斯蒂安•貝爾(Christian Bale)擔綱男主角，目的是要大舉吸引美國觀眾。然而，據票房網站Box Office Mojo統計，該片在北美地區僅收獲311, 434美元票房。（在《金陵十三釵》于美國上映之前，張藝謀對該片的票房前景也未寄予厚望。）
'Sacrifice,' made $30 million in China's box offices, according to film research firm EntGroup, jostling for space with the popular Chinese Western 'Let the Bullets Fly,' which made $85 million.
媒體研究公司藝恩咨詢(EntGroup Inc)的數據顯示，《趙氏孤兒》在中國收獲了3000萬美元票房，同期與其競爭的還包括大受歡迎的頗具西部片風格的中國國產電影《讓子彈飛》(Let the Bullets Fly)，該片創下了8500萬美元票房的成績。
Mr. Chen says commercial success is a secondary consideration, though his most recent film, modern-era Internet drama 'Caught in the Web,' has raked in audiences in its first two weeks in China's theaters. The important thing is to make films that 'say something about the spirit of the Chinese people' he said, as China Real Time caught up with him to discuss Hollywood popcorn, Chinese politics and the movies he still wants to make.
陳凱歌執導的現代題材新片《搜索》(Caught in the Web)講述了由網絡人肉搜索引發的一系列故事，該片在上映頭兩周獲得了很高的上座率。但是，他說商業上的成功只是次要因素，重要的是要拍出“展現中國人精神”的電影。
Here are edited excerpts:
《華爾街日報》“中國實時報”欄目近期采訪了陳凱歌導演，請他談論了對好萊塢“爆米花電影”、中國政治體制對電影創作影響的看法以及他依然想創作的電影類型。下文為經過編輯的采訪選段：
China Real Time: How do you think Sacrifice will be received by U.S. movie-goers?
《華爾街日報》：您認為美國觀眾會對《趙氏孤兒》做何反響？
Mr. Chen: I'm not so sure it'll work for American audiences. So why did I pick this project? With the great progress China has made in the last three decades, we're sort of proud of what we did, but there is another side.
陳凱歌：我不太肯定它是不是符合美國觀眾的口味。那么我為什么要選擇這部戲呢？中國在過去三十年取得了巨大的進步，我們對自己的成就有些感到驕傲，但是我們還要看到另一面。
Look at Beijing─I grew up here, but now I come here and am a stranger. I don't want to identify myself as someone who is from Beijing and to me it's a shame, really a shame. They give you a new Beijing and let the old one die. I totally disagree with this, because the soul of the city is gone with the physical stuff. We pay very little attention to what we respect and what we loved in the past with our culture.
比如說北京，我在這兒長大，但是如今我來到這兒卻是一個陌生人。我不想把自己當作一個來自北京的人，對我來說這是一件讓人羞愧的事，真的讓人羞愧。他們給了你一個新北京，就讓老北京消亡了。我完全不贊同這么做，因為這個城市的靈魂隨著物質的東西消逝了。我們對自己尊重的東西以及過去喜愛的文化的東西給予的關注非常之少。
So that's why I want to pick up this project to tell people who we used to be in our past.
這就是我為什么選擇這部戲的原因所在，我想告訴大家我們在過去是什么樣的人。
China's film industry now has bigger budgets to work with, but it is still tough to compete with Hollywood blockbusters?
《華爾街日報》：如今中國電影產業可供支配的預算更多了，但是要與好萊塢大片競爭是否仍然很艱難？
What I can say is that we need to develop the market, if we want people to watch a variety of films; you need a variety of audience. This is a like a chain. Young people under 20, they go to McDonalds, they drink Coca Cola, they wear Nike and they watch Hollywood movies.
陳凱歌：我所能說的是，我們需要開拓市場，如果我們希望大家去看各種不同類型的電影，那么就需要有各種各樣的觀眾，這就像一條鏈條一樣。20歲以下的年輕人，他們吃麥當勞，喝可口可樂，穿的是耐克，看的是好萊塢電影。
You can't imagine the kids will say to you, 'Let's go to McDonalds, and then let's go to the Peking Opera.' No way. It's natural the young kids want to watch U.S. movies. The U.S movies are providing something interesting high technology, a feast of visual and sound effects, it's like playing a game.
你無法想象這些孩子會對你說，“我們去吃麥當勞，然后去看京劇。”絕對不可能。年輕人想看美國電影是很自然的事情。美國電影提供了一些有意思的東西，比如高科技，一場視聽盛宴，就像打游戲一樣。
What can we do? We are facing a big challenge from the invasion of Hollywood films. I think we should stay with the situation. We don't need to be scared or screaming like crazy saying 'The wolf is here!' I feel we should make more stories people can relate to and not just make big films to compete with Hollywood. You can have your own story to tell, which is wonderful.
我們能夠做些什么？我們正面臨好萊塢電影大舉入侵所帶來的巨大挑戰。我認為我們應該保持鎮定，沒必要感到恐慌或者瘋狂地大叫“狼來了”。我覺得我們應該創作更多能讓大家覺得和自己有關的影片，而不是只創作一些大制作的電影來與好萊塢抗衡。你可以有你自己想說的故事，這一點很棒。
