Weak tea doesn’t sell

淡茶不易卖
A Chinese-American film star explains why blandly globalised fare flops 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 Marvel 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 converging. In fact China’s film world is becoming more distinctive 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 precisely 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。