2023 is an important year for Chinese movies. The recovery of the industry, uneven film schedules and box office, creative achievements and shortcomings, the improvement of originality of high-grossing films, the "inversion of word-of-mouth and box office" of realistic themes, the routines of commercial films, the enjoyment of literary and artistic films, The "expensive ticket price" of movie tickets, "chaos of purchasing on behalf of others", "chaos of big data killing"... these topics have all caused widespread discussion. At the end of the year, looking back at the Chinese movies over the past year, there are gains, expectations, and shortcomings. However, I believe that Chinese movies that have been on the road will continue to move in the right direction in the new year with the support and encouragement of the audience. march.
Which movie is the choice of the year in 2023?
"Feng Shen Part 1: Chao Ge Fengyun", from the mediocre market response at the initial stage of its release to the miraculous counterattack after the crew's frequent road shows across the country, "Feng Shen" itself has also experienced a process of "Feng Shen", although The box office is not the highest, but "Fengshen" pays tribute to and uses classical mythology and even traditional culture, allowing it to withstand the test of word-of-mouth and push domestic fantasy blockbusters to a new level.
"Man Jiang Hong" is the first dark horse to come out in 2023. It has achieved remarkable results during the Spring Festival. While adding to the festive atmosphere, it directly made the entire schedule popular. The film is entertaining enough to arouse the curiosity of the audience, and the successive twists at the end have become the biggest highlight of the film. Zhang Yimou's box office appeal has been enhanced through this film. Chen Yu's script has been generally recognized, actor Lei Jiayin performed well, and the overall strength of "Man Jiang Hong" is good.
"The Wandering Earth 2" is a hit at the box office, but the popularity of the topic has dropped a lot compared to the first one. Chinese science fiction blockbusters are in urgent need of newer and more localized creativity; "The Vanishing Her" opened the way for topical marketing, with strong genre color and high attention. The degree of popularity has also brought great controversy; "All or Nothing", a realistic theme meets the doomsday environment of telecom fraud in northern Myanmar, has created a high box office, and its educational significance is greater than its entertainment value; "30,000 Miles to Chang'an" and "The Deep Sea" are "national "The Light of Man" in 2023, and the former is slightly better because it activates the feelings of Tang poetry in audiences of all ages; "Unknown" seamlessly integrates the two opposites of commercial films and literary films, and is the most distinctive personality in 2023 blockbusters; "Space Exploration Editorial Department", "Yong'an Town Stories Collection", "The Mistake by the River" has a strong literary and artistic temperament and is a niche favorite; "The Three Brigades" is the finale at the end of the year, with full stamina...
The annual selection of Chinese movies in 2023. The above-mentioned movies will have different choices due to different audience groups, different aesthetic preferences, etc., and if these movies are judged as a whole in a large evaluation system or a longer time dimension, " The chance of winning "Fengshen Part 1: Chaoge Fengyun" will be higher.
Emphasis on originality, a common choice between commercial blockbusters and literary films
Whether it is a first film or a small- to medium-cost production, including literary and artistic films, emphasis on the cultural origin of the story, highlighting the personality elements of the creator, and focusing on establishing multiple connections with the audience have become the unanimous choice of many domestic films in 2023. The "" "Emphasis on originality" has received a positive response in 2023. The phenomenon of following the trend of themes, the trend of remakes and other phenomena that go against the "original spirit" have been restrained a lot.
Drawing nutrients from Chinese history, culture and classical literature has greatly increased the originality of domestic films. These three films, "Fengshen Part 1: Chaoge Fengyun", "Man Jiang Hong" and "Chang'an Thirty Thousand Miles", are enough to support Starting from 2023, the original pattern of domestic films is different from some films in the past that like to seek inspiration from the treasure house of traditional culture but the presentation is unsatisfactory. The following distinctive characteristics can be seen in these three films: the dramatic extraction of the story is more direct; The thinking about the archetypal story is more profound; the film is more closely aligned with the aesthetics and values of contemporary audiences. This sign makes people full of optimism about the future of domestic films that rely on tradition and classic stories.
In 2023, literary and artistic films are divided into "high box office" and "strong personality" routes, but the overall emphasis on originality is consistent. High box office literary and artistic films include "Unknown", "Deep Sea" and "The Mistake on the River", Although these three films give people the impression of commercial films in terms of production and marketing, their essential "artistic film narrative" temperament will eventually eliminate their commercial film models. This is a phased manifestation of the pursuit of high box office by artistic films over the years. , its direction is to eventually achieve a box office comparable to that of commercial films, while also ensuring that the literary and artistic core and form of the film are not destroyed by commercial taste. Among these three films, "The Mistake by the River" is considered a dark horse. Its skillful use of multiple favorable factors such as "crime genre" + "Yu Hua's original work" + "up-and-coming director" + "actor performance" pushed it to the top It has created a fast track for box office revenue, making the obscurity of the story itself less important.
"Universe Exploration Editorial Department" focuses on the "flying saucer" sentiments of the 1980s and the precise depiction of the character's spirit, which is very attractive; "Yong'an Town Story Collection" focuses on small town life and cinephilia culture (cinema is culture) A term that refers to the obsession with movies and fans’ more professional understanding of movies - Editor’s note), the "three-in-one" industry comedy, which is absurd and real, and full of unique viewing pleasure. These two movies are full of "original" charm, and they are unavoidable for domestic films in 2023.
Highly productive realistic themes, ambiguous realism
The box office of the summer season in 2023 will exceed 20 billion yuan. The three reality-themed movies released in the summer, "She Lost", "All or Nothing" and "The Octagon" not only set the tone of the schedule, but also laid a distinct reality-themed foundation for the entire year's films. color. In addition, movies with realistic themes or focusing on realism such as "School Dad", "Parrot Killing", "Walking in the Angry Sea", "Third Brigade", "I Am a Mountain", etc. are also constantly reinforcing that 2023 is a great year for reality-themed movies. However, unlike "Chinese science fiction", "Chinese history", "Chinese mythology" and other themes that have gained widespread recognition without much controversy, "Chinese reality" themes have also faced many controversies and even criticisms while playing a major role in the box office. The realism content in realistic themes may be one of the reasons for controversy and criticism.
"She Disappeared" was authorized by the parties involved in the "Pregnant Woman Falling off a Cliff in Thailand Case" and was considered to be quite alarming. However, as the film's box office surged, criticisms arose that the film benefited from "sexual conflicts" and engaged in "gender opposition". It is also believed that the film's catering to hot social topics caused the film to quickly cool down after its popularity. The high topicality is a double-edged sword for "The Disappearance of Her". While it brings high box office revenue, it also consumes people's patience to seriously face the core value of the film. This movie has become a masterpiece of "emotional consumption", with an score of 7.5 and currently 6.2. This decline in reputation also means that its realism elements are insufficient or severely obscured.
The realistic theme style of "Desperate" is stronger than that of "She Disappeared". If the fictional plot of "She Disappeared" makes the work full of drama, then "Desperate" is highly consistent with the details of the telecommunications fraud in northern Myanmar. And the subsequent fight against telecom fraud in northern Myanmar has become a national concern, which makes this film of immediate practical significance and is considered to be the most "amazing" reality-themed film in 2023. Compared with "The Lost Girl", "All or Nothing" has more realism, but the film's shortcomings such as narrative shortcomings, plot bugs, and flat characters have been revealed over time, and it will inevitably be considered a film in the end. As an "emotional consumption" product, the consequence of poor quality is that the audience has a repulsive attitude towards the following movie "Parrot Killing" with the same theme, thinking that "Parrot Killing" is riding on the popularity of "anti-fraud".
"In the Octagon", adapted from the "Fighting Orphans" incident in Liangshan, has attracted much attention because of its realistic theme directed by director Wang Baoqiang. However, the final result of the film is based on Wang Baoqiang's personal transformation and life achievements. The story itself It did not trigger the public to think more about society, so the realism of "The Octagon" was too much summarized as "inspirationalism". The instrumental use of realism made it difficult for the audience to "The Octagon" Remember and discuss longer.
The high output of realistic-themed movies stems from encouragement from all aspects and the audience's support for this type of movies. After "I Am Not the God of Medicine" created the "myth" of realistic-themed movies, it is difficult for other similar movies to compare with it. , and this type of film has an ambiguous tendency in creation. The industry has developed a habit of adding new attributes in front of "realism", such as the popular "warm realism", and there is also the practice of putting urban, family, and emotional themes into the basket of realism. This is actually A kind of "off-brand realism" weakens the truthfulness, shock, vigilance and enlightenment value of realistic themes. Get rid of the "pseudo" and "dangling" in realism, especially not to put commercial interests ahead of realistic themes. This may be the issue that this type of film needs to face most at the moment.
The hot and cold schedules are uneven, and there are hidden worries in the prosperity.
The movie box office for the 2023 Spring Festival period (January 21-27) was 6.758 billion yuan, second only to the 7.842 billion yuan for the 2021 Spring Festival period, ranking second in the box office for the same period in Chinese film history; the "May Day" period (April The box office in the five days from 29th to May 3rd was 1.519 billion yuan, second only to the same period in 2019 and 2021; the box office in the summer season (June 1st to August 31st) was 20.62 billion yuan, setting a new summer box office record in Chinese film history ; During the National Day period (September 29th to October 6th), the total box office of movies reached 2.734 billion yuan, returning to the level of 2017, and there were no blockbusters. The box office champion movie had an unsatisfactory reputation, becoming the only one in the past five years that has not had a single. The film's box office exceeded 1 billion during the National Day release.
Judging from the situation of several important schedules this year, except for the National Day schedule, all other schedules can be described as "prosperous", but there are also hidden worries in the prosperity. Along with the excitement of the schedule, "the ticket prices are expensive" and "purchasing agents are chaotic". Complaints such as "big data kills people" are also frequently raised, including the most popular summer season. It is considered that if small and medium-sized budgets have no sense of presence in this period, it is also unhealthy to "charge into the battle" only by the first movie. If the market only has blockbusters , then investors and creators will be more focused on profit-making purposes, which will lead to a single type of film and similar styles, and may even spawn several giant companies to form a monopoly on production and voice. At the same time, the potential risks brought about by the long-term lack of presence of small and medium-sized companies are also worthy of attention, including: the entry threshold for new directors will continue to be raised, resulting in a lack of reserve talents in the industry; the lack of necessary encouragement and rewards, causing creators to narrow their horizons , talents and abilities are discounted...
The deserted National Day schedule has exposed some problems. Domestic films have been brought back to their original form during this period. Whether the movie is a real need of the audience has become a hotly debated topic during this period. Why the glory of the National Day stalls in the past cannot be repeated has become a situation that the industry needs to take seriously. The war films and cartoons that are the main genres in the National Day schedule are no longer enthusiastically sought after, and the other is collectively muted. This means that the single type of film arrangement will affect the enthusiasm for watching movies, and it also indicates a lack of creativity and innovation in works of the same theme. It’s easy for viewers to identify and abandon. This reminds the film industry that prime time slots do not necessarily lead to high box office. A good time slot also needs to be inspired by good works. Once a time slot leaves a bad impression on people, film producers and audiences will double-dodge it, and even more It is easy for this future schedule to become uninterested.
The 2023 movie schedule has entered the Lunar New Year period. Judging from the current situation, there is still a lack of strong blockbusters to lead the schedule. The subsequent Spring Festival schedule will be attributed to 2024. The Chinese film market is still tepid. Farewell to 2023 under certain circumstances. Although it will not affect the overall performance of domestic films throughout the year, it is true that the movies in 2023 will also leave a somewhat missing tail. As early as November 13, the box office of Chinese movies has exceeded 50 billion yuan. This is a good result and worthy of joy. However, we should also use this as motivation to set the goal to 2024 and even beyond. I believe that Chinese movies will have a bright future. s future.
