2019年经济学人 电影:淡茶不易卖(1)

 

China

《中国》版块

Chaguan

茶馆

Weak tea doesn’t sell 

淡茶不易卖

A Chinese-American film star explains why blandly¹ globalised fare flops² in China

一位美籍华人电影明星解释了为什么全球化在中国遭遇惨败

Even if it did not boast a character called Captain America, the superhero film “Avengers: Endgame” is a very obviously American spectacle. Beyond its swagger and expensive special effects, the Marvel³ comic book film series, of which this is the final instalment, celebrates flawed, individualistic superheroes. That the film just broke Chinese box-office records for its opening weekend could lead outsiders to assume that the American and Chinese film markets—the world’s two largest—are converging⁴. In fact China’s film world is becoming more distinctive⁵ and self-confident.

超级英雄电影《复仇者联盟:终局之战》即使没有“美国队长”这个角色，也是一个非常引人注目的美国奇观。漫威漫画系列电影的最后一部，除了华丽和昂贵的特效外，还颂扬了有缺陷的、个人主义的超级英雄。在中国，这部电影刚刚打破首映周末票房纪录，这一现象可能会让外界猜测中美电影市场正在趋同化，而中美电影市场是世界上最大的电影市场。事实上，中国电影正变得越来越独特和自信。

Hollywood producers have bet fair sums of money, over the years, on the idea that American and Chinese audiences are not so very different, and will laugh, weep and cheer at the same, carefully globalised movies. China has a habit of proving them wrong. The “Avengers” series has a large but distinctive set of fans in China, who often say they love the films precisely⁶ because they identify with its misfit heroes, struggling with a harsh, judgmental world.

多年来，好莱坞制片人已经投入了大量资金，他们认为美国观众和中国观众并没有太大不同，他们会为同一部精心打造的全球化电影欢笑、哭泣和欢呼。通常，中国会证明他们错了。《复仇者联盟》系列电影在中国拥有庞大而独特的粉丝群体，他们经常说，他们喜欢这系列电影，正是因为他们认同与所处环境格格不入的英雄们，他们在一个残酷、批判的世界中挣扎前行。

Over 1.7bn cinema tickets were sold in China last year, a domestic record. Most sales were driven by locally made hits in which the stories ranged from Chinese military heroics overseas (“Operation Red Sea”) to a bittersweet drama about cancer (“Dying to Survive”). Though Hollywood had a respectable 2018 worldwide, revenues in China for imported films were down year on year.

去年中国电影票房超过17亿，创下国内纪录。大部分销量都是由国产大片推动的，其中包括将中国在海外的军事英雄事迹的《红海行动》，以及一部关于癌症的悲喜交加的剧情片《我不是药神》。尽管好莱坞在2018年的全球票房表现不俗，但进口电影在中国的营收却在逐年下降。

1 blandly   

adv.温和地，殷勤地

参考例句：

• There is a class of men in Bristol monstrously prejudiced against Blandly. 布里斯托尔有那么一帮人为此恨透了布兰德利。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• \"Maybe you could get something in the stage line?\" he blandly suggested. “也许你能在戏剧这一行里找些事做，\"他和蔼地提议道。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 flops   

n.失败( flop的名词复数 )v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的第三人称单数 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• a pair of flip-flops 一双人字拖鞋
• HPC environments are often measured in terms of FLoating point Operations Per Second (FLOPS) . HPC环境通常以每秒浮点运算次数(FLOPS)加以度量。 来自互联网

3 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

4 converging   

adj.收敛[缩]的，会聚的，趋同的v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的现在分词 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集

参考例句：

• Plants had gradually evolved along diverging and converging pathways. 植物是沿着趋异和趋同两种途径逐渐演化的。 来自辞典例句
• This very slowly converging series was known to Leibniz in 1674. 这个收敛很慢的级数是莱布尼茨在1674年得到的。 来自辞典例句

5 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

6 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。