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Hollywood and the Chinese Film Market: Crosscultural Communication Or Commercial Transaction?

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Hollywood and the Chinese Film Market: Crosscultural Communication Or Commercial Transaction? Hollywood and the Chinese Film Market: Crosscultural Communication or Commercial Transaction? Yafei Lyu A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Cultural Studies The University of Canterbury 2020 Abstract Globalisation as a cultural as well as an economic phenomenon has led to more frequent communication and exchange across cultures. Hollywood has long been familiar with exporting American cultural values internationally as a means of soft power, but faces particular challenges in its attempts to enter the Chinese film market, the largest and potentially the most lucrative audience in the world. In order to be released and screened in China, Hollywood films must comply with a strict set of cultural policies. These include a quota system, which permits the importation of foreign films on a revenue-sharing basis, but limits them to 34 films per year, censorship by the film regulating sector in China before distribution and exhibition, and an uncertain release schedule. China has been the fastest-growing film market since 2008, hence, despite the restrictive cultural policies that they encounter, Hollywood producers, attracted by the promise of increased revenue, have developed various aesthetic and commercial strategies to please the Chinese film regulators and audiences in order to gain access to the Chinese film market, such as producing Chinese-themed Hollywood films, incorporating plots about China, casting Chinese renowned actors in cameo roles, adding Chinese film locations, placing Chinese products, and seeking China-US co-productions. For the large Hollywood studios, these methods provide effective strategies to circumvent Chinese cultural policies in the film sector; for China, they offer methods to export its cultural soft power and change the Orientalist stereotypes and images of China which have long circulated in the international community. As a result, the depiction of China and Chinese culture has become more positive and diverse in recent Hollywood blockbusters. In fact, the complicated interplay between Chinese cultural policies and Hollywood’s strategies for circumventing these policies illustrates how, through compromise, competition and collaboration, both in economic, political and cinematic terms, China and the United States negotiate the dynamic process of crosscultural exchange. i Acknowledgements I would like to first thank my previous supervisor, Dr. Adam Lam, who offered me the template for writing a research proposal, helped me decide the research topic and guided me to form the general framework of my thesis. Though he left the University of Canterbury at the end of 2017, he still offered me great help in my thesis writing. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my current supervisor, Dr. Alan Wright, who helped me adjust the structure of my thesis, and revised my thesis time and time again, section by section, chapter by chapter. Every time, he offered me very detailed comments, then I could revise my thesis accurately towards those problems. He has played a significant role in completing my final thesis. I am really grateful for what he has done. I also would like to thank my co-supervisor, Professor Anne-Marie Brady. Because Chinese politics is her primary research interest, she often offered me a different perspective on analysing problems in the film sector. In addition, I would like to thank my friends and fellow students. We communicated frequently. They often shared their own experiences in PhD studies. I have gained plenty of support and lessons from them. Especially, I would like to show my appreciation to Kara, who helped me edit my thesis thoroughly. Her meticulous editing is crucial to my final thesis. I really appreciated her work. At last, I would like to thank my parents and my brothers, though they are living in China. Without their support, I could not finish my PhD study. ii Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 How Hollywood Films have been Imported to China ..................... 23 1.1 Early Relations and Communications between China and American Film Studios ........................... 23 1.2 Formation and Reform of Official Film Institution in China .............................................................. 30 1.3 Cultural Policies Hollywood Films Encounter When being Imported to the Chinese Film Market ... 43 1.31 Quota System ................................................................................................................................ 44 1.32 Film Censorship System ............................................................................................................... 54 1.33 Uncertain Release Schedule .......................................................................................................... 59 Chapter 2 Hollywood’s Domination in the Global Film Industry and the Growth of the Chinese Film Market ................................................................................ 65 2.1 Hollywood’s Domination in the Global Film Industry ....................................................................... 65 2.11 American Government Support for Hollywood ............................................................................ 66 2.12 Hollywood’s Efforts to Bridge the Cultural Gap .......................................................................... 77 2.13 Hollywood’s Economic Mode of Oligopoly ................................................................................. 80 2.2 China’s Approaches to Countervail Hollywood’s Dominance in World Film Industry ...................... 82 2.3 Growth of the Chinese Film Market in Recent Years ......................................................................... 86 Chapter 3 Hollywood’s Strategies to Circumvent the Cultural Policies of the Chinese Government from an Artistic Perspective ............................................. 90 3.1 Chinese-Themed Films ....................................................................................................................... 92 3.2 Positive Plots about China in Hollywood Films ............................................................................... 111 3.3 Cameo Roles for Renowned Chinese Actors in Hollywood Films ................................................... 121 Chapter 4 Hollywood Strategies to Circumvent the Cultural Policies of the Chinese Government from a Commercial Perspective ..................................... 133 4.1 Chinese Film Locations in Hollywood Films ................................................................................... 133 4.2 Chinese Product Placements in Hollywood Films ............................................................................ 137 4.3 Co-productions between China and Hollywood ............................................................................... 150 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 169 Bibliography ...................................................................................................... 179 Appendix I ......................................................................................................... 205 iii Figures Figure 1 ........................................................................................................................................................... 2 Figure 2 ......................................................................................................................................................... 94 Figure 3 ......................................................................................................................................................... 94 Figure 4 ......................................................................................................................................................... 96 Figure 5 ......................................................................................................................................................... 96 Figure 6 ......................................................................................................................................................... 96 Figure 7 ......................................................................................................................................................... 99 Figure 8 ......................................................................................................................................................... 99 Figure 9 ....................................................................................................................................................... 100 Figure 10 ..................................................................................................................................................... 100 Figure 11 ..................................................................................................................................................... 100 Figure 12 ..................................................................................................................................................... 101 Figure 13 ..................................................................................................................................................... 101 Figure 14 ....................................................................................................................................................
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