Chapter 1967 1969 [The Decline of Hong Kong Films]
The time soon came to two thousand years.
In January, Universal Pictures released the film "Chocolate" starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp.
The film was invested and produced by David Brown Studio and adapted from the novel of the same name by the well-known writer Joni Harness. It tells the story of a mother and her six-year-old daughter who came to a small town to open a handmade chocolate workshop. .
?Her arrival added vitality to this closed town, but the conservative mayor believed that she had destroyed the harmony of the town and was ready to drive her out.
The arrival of a group of gypsy wanderers brought new twists and turns to the whole thing...
This is a romantic, warm, touching, and profound movie. It''s okay to think of it as a romance film, or as a drama about resisting power and exchanging freedom.
In short, the reputation of this movie is very good.
The Los Angeles Times commented, "The film shows a very high level of artistic sense and skillful narrative techniques."
"Daily Mail" commented, "This is a story about the struggle between convention and privilege, established rules and self-expression."
"Chicago Sun-Times" commented, "This is a seductive and extraordinary movie that melts eroticism and shows a sense of difference with ''delicious'' humor."
?Good reputation led to good box office. In the end, the film took a box office of US$76 million in North America and a global box office of US$150 million.
For a medium-cost film with an investment of only 20 million US dollars, this kind of box office revenue can be said to be quite good.
…
In January, it’s the Golden Globe Awards season again.
??The biggest hit during this year’s awards season is undoubtedly DreamWorks’ “Saving Private Ryan.”
?However, "American Beauty" produced by Xiang Nan and "Good Will Hunting" starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are also shortlisted for seven or eight awards, and the calls for winning the award are also very high.
??It’s a pity that Xiang Nan still chose to go home for the New Year and did not attend the award ceremony.
?This also seems to have caused dissatisfaction at the Golden Globe Awards, so that although "American Beauty" was shortlisted for multiple awards, it ultimately failed to win a single award and returned empty-handed.
It’s really a pity.
…
In February, Universal Pictures released the 2D animation "The Prince of Egypt" produced by DreamWorks Animation.
It is adapted from the story of Exodus recorded in the Bible. It tells the story of the Hebrew prophet Moses, who, under the guidance of God, led his people to escape Egypt and return to their homeland.
The reason why the first animated film adapted this story is because the three bosses of DreamWorks, Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg, are all Hebrews, so this story is very important to them. They have a very special meaning.
Even if it fails at the box office, it is no longer important to them.
??Fortunately, this movie was still very successful. In North America alone, the box office was as high as 105 million US dollars, and the global box office was as high as 216 million US dollars.
Compared to the investment of 60 million US dollars, it is considered a successful work.
…
In February, after spending the Spring Festival with his family, Xiang Nan went for a walk in Xiangjiang.
He originally wanted to meet Shanshan, but Shanshan was busy talking to the mainland about ATV''s launch in the Pearl River Delta, so he couldn''t meet him. However, Xiang Nan still saw Wang Jing.
“Director Wang, it seems that the box office of Hong Kong films has dropped a lot in the past two years.” After reading the financial report, he asked Wang Jing.
“Yeah, the special effects blockbusters in Hollywood nowadays are really great. The action movies that are our specialty in Hong Kong movies are like being dug out of the soil of their hometown compared with other people’s special effects blockbusters.
??And when we make special effects blockbusters, our investment is not as good as others, our technology is not as good as others, and even our creativity is not as good as others. So in the past two years, we have lost a lot of market share. "Wang Jing sighed.
Among the many movies in Hong Kong, action movies are the most popular. In the 1980s and 1990s, there were no decent action movies in Hollywood.
? Even in action movies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, the fighting scenes are ugly, without any skills at all, and are far less cool and sharp than those in Hong Kong action movies.
?Hong Kong action movies are as popular as Hollywood blockbusters in many regions. This is also the reason why Hong Kong films can compete with Hollywood films.
However, in recent years, Hollywood movies have made extensive use of computer special effects technology, which has completely made up for the shortcomings in action design, and the advantages of Hong Kong films are no longer obvious.
Without the advantage, it will naturally be difficult for Hong Kong films to compete with Hollywood films. Therefore, in recent years, the market has gradually shrunk and has reached a very serious level.
…
Xiang Nan also sighed.
?Although these years, he has been trying every means to delay the decline of Hong Kong films. But in the end, it is just a delay, and it cannot keep Hong Kong films young and popular forever.
After all, Hong Kong films have inherent disadvantages compared to Hollywood films, and even compared to mainland films.
First of all, the domestic market for Hong Kong films is too small and relies heavily on overseas markets. And the power of the Hong Kong government is too small to help Hong Kong Film.
Unlike Hollywood movies, in addition to the United States itself being the largest film market in the world, it can also use the power of the American government to enter markets around the world.
?Hence, in terms of market size alone, the two sides are more than one step behind;
The market is small, so naturally it cannot support a large industry. Just like European countries, because of their different languages ??and cultures, although they are economically developed, there are no large Internet companies in each country.
Secondly, there are too few talents in Hong Kong films. Hollywood is close to Silicon Valley, only three hundred miles away and can be reached in half a day. And Los Angeles itself also has several high-quality universities, such as Caltech, UCLA, University of Southern California, etc.
The talents in these universities have made very outstanding contributions to the development of Hollywood film technology.
?For example, when George Lucas formed Industrial Light and Magic, he hired more than a dozen Ph.D.s in mathematics, physics, optics, chemistry, and electricity.
?It is these people who produced exquisite special effects for "Star Wars" and made outstanding contributions to the development of Hollywood film technology.
Comparatively, although there are several universities in Xiangjiang, it is simply a dream to hire doctoral students in mathematics, optics, electricity, and chemistry to make movies.
Hence, from the 1980s to the 21st century, we can see that American film technology has undergone earth-shaking changes. However, due to the lack of talent in Hong Kong films, progress has not been obvious.
So comparing the two, there is a big gap between Hong Kong films and Hollywood films. They are simply products of two eras.
This caused it to gradually lose the favor of the audience. Even the audiences who previously supported Hong Kong films are now gradually being replaced by Hollywood blockbusters with grander scenes, more exquisite images, and more unique creativity.
Previously, Hong Kong films’ domestic and overseas box office revenue was about HK$3 billion, but now it has shrunk to less than HK$2 billion, losing one-third of the revenue. Moreover, the losses continue to expand.
??If Hong Kong films continue to improve, it is estimated that in a few years, the entire Hong Kong film market will shrink to a level that makes people cry.
(End of this chapter)