WASHINGTON - VOA's famous Chinese director Zhang Yimou's new film "The Great Wall" has been hailed by Chinese media as "a milestone in the combination of Chinese themes and Hollywood production and operations." Although the film did well at the global box office, it was a box office failure in North America. Why is this hugely expensive film with various blockbuster elements so unappealing to American audiences? What lessons does it hold for future blockbuster collaborations between Hollywood and China? Guest: Robert Daly, director of the Kissinger Institute for Sino-US Relations, an American think tank, Wilson International Scholars Center very poor. I thought that my 15-year-old son would like "The Great Wall", a magical film that beats and kills, but I don't know that even my son can't watch it, he thinks it is too artificial. The strong political overtones and poorly written script of "The Great Wall" are the main reasons for the film's failure. Zhang Yimou previously said that "The Great Wall" is a "popcorn" movie, but I don't think this film has even reached the standard of "popcorn", and the level is low from various perspectives. Dai Bo said that "The Great Wall" not only has no connotation, but also seriously lacks a sense of humor. Although some Hollywood blockbusters lack connotation, they are clear about their "entertainment film" positioning, willing to self-irony, fun and good-looking. The problem with the Great Wall is that it is China Part of "soft power" has certain political goals, so viewers can find all the Chinese characters in the film to be particularly serious without a sense of humor, constantly emphasizing morality, trust, and patriotism to Western characters. These characters are not like real-life characters, but rather like symbols created by the CCP. Debow believes the film is unwatchable for Americans. First of all, the monsters in the film have no character, and the audience is confused about the purpose of these monsters. Second, the characters in the film are all "heroes of the world", which are too "high and complete" and cannot resonate with the audience. Third, the foreign characters in the film lack characterization, which makes people feel that they are all symbols, and many lines make people laugh when they hear it. In contrast, the reason why Americans like Stephen Chow's films is because Stephen Chow shoots "a story that he wants to tell and that he loves to listen to", not for making a film specifically for foreigners. Because of their lack of understanding of foreign stories and narrative art traditions, Chinese directors basically fail when they make films "for the West." Dai Bo said that recently, many Hollywood movies have tried to add Chinese elements, but this is only to attract the attention of Chinese audiences. Chinese elements are just decorations for movies, and there are not many American movies with real Chinese connotations. Chinese directors and screenwriters should stop blindly catering to American preferences, and should make more stories of good quality that they want to tell. Routines cannot succeed, and artists should not go against their talents. Dai Bo finally said that Zhang Yimou's directing of the film did not have a good reputation in China, and some film critics directly claimed that "Zhang Yimou is dead". Since Zhang Yimou made "Hero", his political color has become increasingly intense. It can be seen that he is catering to the relevant Chinese authorities and trying to convey the message that "China is great, you should respect China" to the audience.
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