In a market where low-budget comedies can often earn 500 million at the box office, "Unbreakable"'s mere 30 million at the box office is somewhat shabby. You know, "Let's Run!" released on the same day Brothers made more than 400 million, although many people wondered if it was a movie after all.
This year's Oscar list is so long, but the majority of fans can really see not much in theaters. At the same time, although there are so many anti-Japanese dramas in China, when it comes to the closely related Pacific battlefield, domestic audiences will only feel familiar and unfamiliar. The last movie about the Pacific War released on the big screen in China may have to be traced back. It's 2002's Wind Whisperer.
Director Jolie recalled the moment when he decided to take over the film and said: "I thought I would gradually fade out of the film industry and take care of children at home, but I really can't bear to let such a story slip away from me."
As the director talked about later It is said that "war can bring out the best of human nature, and it can also reflect the filthiest side." Because of the real power, the story of "Unbreakable" itself is not bad, Julie's friendship with the protagonist and even her personal persistence In fact, it is clearly written between the lines. But why can't it become another box office blockbuster in China? The festive atmosphere approaching the Spring Festival in anticipation of a change of music movie may explain some of the reasons, but it doesn't seem to tell the whole story.
If you go back in time to the era of "Saving Private Ryan" at the end of the 20th century, even using the most traditional narrative method, creating a real hero who is in the same camp as us can easily win emotional resonance in China, especially in the domestic Viewers have cultivated collective nostalgic memories of war heroes on the big screen for years.
But when audiences in the world's second-largest movie market are accustomed to Hollywood's dazzling stunts and editing skills, no honest storytelling can stand alone.
Last year, there were 66 films in the Chinese market with a box office of more than 100 million yuan, so the 117 million box office of "Fury" about the European battlefield of World War II at the end of last year was not too bad, but it was not really a prize. The taste of domestic audiences has picked up, and watching war on the screen is far from just expecting fights and fearlessness.
Most of China's past war films were red films with revolutionary historical themes. The stereotyped protagonists were often brave, but the films often lacked the portrayal of human nature. However, in 2007, "Assembly" created a precedent for Chinese war films. This kind of big scene The war drama and the exploration of the redemption of human nature finally appeared on the domestic screen, so, what new selling points does "Unbreakable" rely on to attract people?
If the film was compressed by one-third and the protagonist's proposition about "forgiveness" was brought into full play, it might have become a good work, but it didn't do it. Many fans on the Internet have commented on the film as "a combination of juvenile pie, 12 years a slave, and chariots of fire", but the hasty ending that should have been a climax is really frustrating.
When so many Chinese movie fans are now picking out a few Oscar-winning films for comparison, what they expect is not a good story, but a surprise.
(Originally published in China Daily, the compiled text has been edited.)
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