In art, there is a saying that "what belongs to the nation is what belongs to the world". Facts have proved that this view is relatively reasonable. As the most national martial arts film genre, it has also become a genre with the most international influence in Chinese films. Of course, martial arts films as popular culture are not made to cater to the tastes of a few professionals, so it is difficult for them to win international film awards. However, genre film itself, as a standardized artwork, has strong commerciality, and its value should be recognized by the vast audience of movie fans rather than a small number of film festival judges. In this regard, Chinese martial arts films are undoubtedly very successful internationally. As of today, China's most influential international movie star is kung fu superstar Bruce Lee, and China's highest-grossing movie internationally is Ang Lee's martial arts film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." It can be seen that martial arts films are the main force of Chinese films in the overseas commercial market. At the same time, martial arts movies are not completely missed by awards. For example, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" won four awards including the Oscar for best foreign language film, and "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers" were also awarded by American "Entertainment". Weekly Magazine's Best Movie of the Year. Therefore, martial arts films have their own unique artistry while achieving commercial success. Another aspect of the international influence of martial arts films is to promote Chinese Kung Fu to the world. The word "kongfu" entered the English dictionary, and Kung Fu itself has become one of the symbols of the Chinese people in the world. Last year, Hollywood set off a "Kung Fu craze", from "Kung Fu King" starring Chinese actors to "Kung Fu Panda", an animation based on China's national treasure, which has achieved good box office results. The international charm of Chinese Kung Fu is evident.
Why do martial arts films with national characteristics have such an important impact internationally? The reason is that, firstly, because justice overcomes evil, and the theme of promoting national integrity is a common discourse in the world, and secondly, because the kung fu actions in martial arts films are highly ornamental and can attract audiences. Below, the author takes the movie "Jingwumen" as an example to analyze the above two points in detail.
The movie "Jingwumen" starring Bruce Lee is of groundbreaking significance in the history of Hong Kong film. This breakthrough is mainly reflected in the subject matter. In the past, the new martial arts films in ancient costumes represented by Zhang Che and Hu Jinquan were all based on gang battles and grievances and grievances, and the background of the story was also in ancient times. On the other hand, "Jingwumen" arranges the background of the story in the era of modern times, when the imperialist powers carved up China. The main content of the film is also that Chinese fighters represented by Chen Zhen, played by Bruce Lee, fought against the Japanese imperialist aggressors and won honor for China. Compared with traditional martial arts films, modern kung fu films represented by "Jingwumen" can obviously resonate more widely. After all, the concepts of "jianghu" and "chivalry" in ancient China have deep Chinese cultural heritage, and it is difficult for foreigners to understand this. However, the concept of national justice is known to everyone, and there is no big difference between Eastern and Western cultures in this respect. Therefore, the national integrity contained in "Jingwumen" is easy for international friends to understand and accept. of. Especially since the film was filmed in 1972, at the time when nationalist movements in various countries in the world were rising and nationalist consciousness was awakened. Therefore, the nationalist ideas that are emphasized in the film are even more in line with the trend of the times. As a genre film, a very important requirement is to guide the viewing trend of the times and be "fashionable". As a film that embodies the spirit of the times, "Jingwumen" has well internationalized the traditional genre of the nation and won international acclaim. Some people may ask, why are Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Heroes, which are historical themes, also successful internationally? This is because the two films themselves are not traditional themes of rivers and lakes, but themes understood by international friends. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is the theme of good and evil, and in the end, good is infected with evil by sacrificing oneself, which reflects a fearless spirit. "Hero" is the theme of anti-war and peace, which is in line with the main theme of world peace and development today. The image of the King of Qin is very similar to the role played by the United States in the world, so it has resonated with American audiences and world audiences. It can be seen that if traditional martial arts films want to take an international route and achieve worldwide success, the most important thing to do is to keep the theme of the film from falling out of the way, and to innovate the theme of the film from an international perspective. Make it understandable and acceptable to the international community and overseas audiences.
The most brilliant place in the movie "Fist of the Warriors" is Bruce Lee's martial arts. A major feature of modern kung fu films is that their martial arts displays and action performances are displays of real kung fu, rather than relying on special effects to create them. And Bruce Lee's tough martial arts routines brought a great visual impact to the audience and improved the viewing value of the film itself. It can be said that watching "Jingwumen" is to watch Bruce Lee's martial arts, and other aspects such as plot performance are slightly inferior to it. In the film, Bruce Lee's kung fu is fast and fierce, his movements are flexible, and his moves are light and powerful. In particular, he entered the Japanese karate hall alone, defeated dozens of apprentices and coaches in the hall by himself, and smashed the signboard of the "Sick Man of East Asia". Not only did he show Jeet Kune Do kung fu, but also the use of nunchakus. People can see heartily. Some people say that just watching Bruce Lee's nunchaku kung fu is worth the ticket price, which shows how wonderful the Kung Fu scenes in the film are. Especially for foreign audiences, they are unfamiliar with Chinese Kung Fu, so they are more easily fascinated by Bruce Lee's Kung Fu performances. Today, there are still many foreigners who are quite fascinated by Chinese Kung Fu, and the vast majority of Chinese actors in Hollywood are Kung Fu superstars. It can be seen that Chinese Kung Fu still has a considerable market overseas. At the same time, we should also see that there is still a big gap between China's film stunt production and Western developed countries. Therefore, if our martial arts films want to enter the international market and be successful, they should show more of the real kung fu of Chinese martial arts. This is the advantage of our martial arts films.
Chinese martial arts movies have always been a popular genre among audiences. The martial arts movie itself has also developed and progressed with the development of the times. Especially with China's opening to the outside world and its entry into the WTO, Chinese films should also enter the international market and occupy their own place on the world film stage. And martial arts movies are the main force for Chinese movies to go global. In the process of internationalization of martial arts movies, we must pay attention to maximizing our strengths and circumventing our weaknesses, and give full play to our unique advantages, that is, we must maintain the tradition and innovate, so that Chinese martial arts movies can truly be loved by audiences in other countries in the world. Really turn the national culture into the world's culture.
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