Brief introduction of Asian film style and representative works

In 2003, while China films continued the process of film industrialization, the pattern of Asian films also changed quietly. Japan's big studio system, which was once brilliant in the 1960s, inevitably declined. The Thai genre movies, which once flourished in the 1970 s, began to recover; Iranian films, which have been popular since the 1990s, are stagnant. Moreover, there are indications that Korean filmmakers are at the forefront of Asian films with extraordinary boldness of vision.

South Korea

More than 60 Korean films this year are not worth mentioning. Neither Samurai nor Chrysanthemum, nor the popular film memories of murder, can prove that Korean films are in a high-speed development stage. What is worth mentioning is the overall style of Korean filmmakers. It can be said that in 2003, Korean filmmakers are trying to create a brand-new pattern for Asian films with an extraordinary spirit.

To prove this, we only need to look at two international film festivals held in Asia: Busan Film Festival in South Korea and Tokyo Film Festival in Japan. On the closing day of the Tokyo Film Festival, it was said that the organizers still had nearly 100 foreign press cards, and no one came to collect them. The Tokyo Film Festival is steady and steady every year, and the participating films are generally mediocre and lack of competitiveness, which shows the embarrassing position of Japanese films at present. How about Busan Film Festival? Like the Rotterdam Film Festival in the Netherlands, it has set up a funding scheme for young directors. Making movies costs money, so Busan Film Festival has obvious attraction to young filmmakers all over the world. Busan Film Festival has even had a certain impact on the three major European film festivals, which shows the current status of Korean films in Asia. In addition, from the opening film to the final award results of this year's Busan Film Festival, many films have very sensitive themes, some involving the Korean army, and some involving the sexual problems of the elderly and teenagers. The acceptance of these films reflects the unique spirit of the film festival to some extent.

The opening film of this year's Busan Film Festival is Jin Jide's Coastline. Although many film critics were surprised by this choice, the opening films in previous years were generally conservative, while Jin Jide's films were generally regarded as more avant-garde. The bold move of this year's Busan Film Festival also implies its own courage. Shoreline is about the South Korean military scandal, timid soldiers and civilians killed by mistake, which is the core of the film controversy. This kind of film against the traditional military image is absolutely rare in the history of Korean film.

If the popularity of these sensitive films is just an accident, which is not enough to reflect the courage of Busan Film Festival, then some long-term practices of the film festival can make people believe that this film festival does have its own special charm. Busan Film Festival has a short history. It is only seven years since 1996 was established. In 7 years, it has become a film festival that Asian and even global filmmakers are keen to patronize. Busan International Film Festival is different from other film festivals.

In addition, starting from 1997, Busan Film Festival also held a commercial activity called PPP(PusanPromotionPlay). The whole PPP function can be divided into three aspects: one is to discuss the business opportunities and outlets of the local film market; The second is to find enough funds for new films planned by filmmakers from all over Asia; In addition, awards have been set up to subsidize some film shooting plans in cash. It was through the Busan Film Festival that Guan found the capital investment for Song of Eternal Sorrow. This year, China director Liu Hao also received financial support for his new film The Game of the Forbidden City. If we go back, as early as 1998, Lou Ye also got the later funds of Suzhou Creek through PPP. It is precisely because of such activities that so many filmmakers are willing to attend the Busan Film Festival, because for film directors, getting sponsorship money is sometimes more important than winning prizes.

As for awards, the only competition award at Busan Film Festival is the New Trend Award. This is also its most valuable award, specially designed to encourage the new generation of Asian filmmakers, and only the first or second works directed by newcomers are accepted. The Korean Film Award, which aims to encourage filmmakers who have made outstanding contributions to Korean films, is open to filmmakers outside Korea. This year, this award was awarded to a Frenchman, because the Douville Asian Film Festival he founded has played a positive role in making Korean films go global. These details can show the open mind of Korean filmmakers. It is worth mentioning that seven North Korean films were approved for release in Busan this year. Almost all of these films are landmark works of North Korean movies, including the movie "No Happiness, No Worry" in the mid-1980s, which has the first kissing scene in the history of North Korean movies.

Japan

Compared with the rise of Korean films, the future of Japanese films seems bleak. Since 1990s, many major Japanese studios have started to close down. Previously, the works of Japanese films in the golden age of 1950s, represented by Rashomon, were basically produced by Matsuzaka, Daying, Dongbao and Dongying. All the movies starring Gao Cangjian that we are familiar with are typical big-budget movies. 1999, Gao Cangjian and his old partner, director Yasuo Furuhata, collaborated on his 202nd work, Railway Man, which tells the nostalgic story of a webmaster who is about to be abandoned in Hokkaido, and symbolically implies the decline of the once brilliant big studio system. This is also the case. Most members of the film crew also retired after the filming.

With the gradual decline of big studios such as Matsuzaka, it was replaced by the so-called "independent films" which developed rapidly. This kind of film has developed rapidly. In the second half of 1990s, a large number of young Japanese filmmakers who created independent films through various channels began to show their talents. In recent years, with the further development of independent films, a number of outstanding independent film directors such as Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Naomi Kawase and Shinji Aoyama have matured, and their works have been recognized by the international film industry.

At the 56th Cannes Film Festival this year, two Japanese independent films with high bid winning voices appeared: Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Bright Future and Naomi Kawase's Two Trees in Saro.

Female directors Naomi Kawase's "Two Trees of Salo" can be shortlisted for Cannes, which is not so much an artistic achievement as a subconscious maintenance of the tradition of "independence" in Cannes. Naomi Kawase's last work, The Sprouting Suzaku, won her the Cannes Academy Award. The success of this small-budget film benefits from Japan's increasingly perfect independent production system. With the help of the famous independent filmmaker Takesawa Moritou, the film was produced at a low cost and staged a midnight show in a cinema for several months, which not only fully recovered the cost, but also provided a good demonstration for independent films.

As for Bright Future, its cast is still considerable. There is an old actor Tatsuya Fuji, who is very familiar to the fans. He has starred in two masterpieces of Zhudao, Sensory World and The Dead of Love. There is also the younger Tadanobu Asano, who is a representative of contemporary Japanese films. At present, he can often be seen in the works of Japanese independent directors who have emerged in the international film industry. To be fair, it's not surprising that Bright Future was merged empty-handed at this Cannes Film Festival. Because this film has gathered some of the best actors in Japan, the plot is protracted, the theme is ambiguous, and there is almost no merit.

In the unification of cutting-edge independent films, audiences generally complain that Japanese films have no classics. Although "Artificial Paradise" won the "International Film Critics Award" at Cannes Film Festival and "snake of june" won the "Special Jury Award" in Venice last year, these films are hardly comparable to those produced by big studios in terms of scale and publicity. For example, this really cheered up the depressed Japanese film industry.

Kitano Takeshi can be regarded as the backbone of contemporary Japanese directors. This year, he won the "Best Director Award" at the 60th Venice Film Festival. Since then, he has won many international awards, including the "Audience Vote Award" of Toronto Film Festival. However, the significance of this film produced by Matsuzaka Company lies not only in winning the prize, but also in boosting the box office of Japanese local films.

Last year's Twilight Seibee brought the revival of Japanese "time drama". Ryoma Sakamoto, His Wife and Her Lover, Yoji Nakayama's "Retro" and Chuangzhun Shi's fashion of the times inspired Kitano Takeshi a lot. The entertainment effect of Zuotou City attracted a large number of young audiences, and Matsuzaka Film Company also saw the last glimmer of hope for the big studio.

Viet Nam

Some Vietnamese-themed films shine brilliantly in the international arena, and it is actually Vietnamese filmmakers behind them. Bao Dongni, a Vietnamese-American director, won the Golden Bear Award for Best Film at the Berlin International Film Festival. In recent years, Vietnamese director Zheng, who has attracted much attention in the international film industry, is a Vietnamese-American film scholar. Another representative is Chen Yingxiong, the most famous Vietnamese director. He filmed his first feature film "The Taste of Green Papaya" on 1993, which can be regarded as an important work in the history of Vietnamese film, and won the Golden Camera Award for Best Debut in Cannes International Film Festival, the Best Foreign Language Film in César Awards, France, and the Best Foreign Language Film Nomination in the United States. However, this is not so much a Vietnamese film as a French film-director Chen Yingxiong moved to France to study philosophy and movies when he was 14 years old; All the film production funds come from France; This film, praised by film critics as having oriental national temperament from image style to artistic spirit, was actually shot in a French studio.

In Chen Yingxiong, they gained international fame with Vietnam and Vietnamese movies, but the real Vietnamese movies are still struggling.

Thailand

The sudden emergence of Thai films began at 200 1. In that year, films such as Tears of Hei Hu, Ghost Wife, Queen of Siam, and The Dead Mother made their mark at several international film festivals, which made Thai films keep pace with China, Korean, Japanese and Iranian films in the Asian film version.

On June 10, 2003, the Thai Cabinet passed a resolution of symbolic significance to the Thai film industry. The government decided to refer to the practice of the international film market, classify Thai films and stipulate the consumer groups of films. Some movies will be forbidden to teenagers, some are not suitable for teenagers, and some must be accompanied by parents. Thailand's film industry is expected to enter a golden age in the next 20 years.

The background of the rapid development of Thai films is that the tastes of Asian film audiences have changed since the 1990s. They began to look for the fun of alternative movies outside Hollywood movies. From Japanese movies, Korean movies to Iranian movies, now it's the turn of Southeast Asian movies. There is a trap in this opportunity. If a large number of films with similar themes are put into production without control, it is inevitable to repeat the mistakes of Hong Kong films. Generally speaking, the current Thai films have begun to follow the path taken by Hong Kong films.