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Chinese film director Chen Kaige's 'Sacrifice,' a story of bloody murder and long-plotted revenge set against the sumptuous backdrop of an ancient Chinese court, is set to premier in U.S. theaters nationwide later this month in yet another attempt to bridge the gap between the Chinese and U.S. cinema markets.
中国导演陈凯歌执导的《赵氏孤儿》(Sacrifice)以富丽堂皇的中国古代宫廷为背景，讲述了一个关于血腥谋杀和经过长期谋划的复仇的故事。该片于7月底首次在全美院线上映，是又一次沟通中国与美国电影市场之间的鸿沟的尝试。
Mr. Chen, who catapulted to international fame following his 1993 film 'Farewell My Concubine,' said he doesn't expect 'Sacrifice' will be a box office smash in the U.S. 'U.S. audiences don't like subtitles,' he said, noting also that most artistic films fall flat with viewers who go to the movies for less demanding entertainment.
继《霸王别姬》(Farewell My Concubine)在1993年上映之后，陈凯歌在国际影坛声名鹊起。对于《赵氏孤儿》，陈凯歌称他预计该片在美国的上座率不会太高。他说，“美国观众不喜欢看字幕。”他还指出，大多数艺术电影都不能吸引为获得更轻松的娱乐享受而去看电影的观众的兴趣。
If it doesn't shine, 'Sacrifice' will join a growing procession of Chinese films that failed to engage Western audiences or gain overseas commercial success. Zhang Yimou's 'Flowers of War,' released in the U.S. in January, aimed to strike it big with U.S. movie-goers, tapping A-list actor Christian Bale to star as the main character in the story of schoolgirls trapped in Nanjing during the Japanese occupation. Yet the film only brought in $311, 434 at box offices in North America, according to online box office reporting service Box Office Mojo. (Mr. Zhang also downplayed prospects for his film in the U.S. prior to its release there.)
如果《赵氏孤儿》的表现不够出众，那么它将成为越来越多的一批未能吸引西方观众或是未在海外获得商业成功的中国影片之一。其中，张艺谋执导的《金陵十三钗》(Flowers of War)于今年1月份在美国上映，该片讲述了一群中国女学生在日军占领南京期间受困于城内的故事。该片请来大牌影星克里斯蒂安•贝尔(Christian Bale)担纲男主角，目的是要大举吸引美国观众。然而，据票房网站Box Office Mojo统计，该片在北美地区仅收获311, 434美元票房。（在《金陵十三钗》于美国上映之前，张艺谋对该片的票房前景也未寄予厚望。）
'Sacrifice,' made $30 million in China's box offices, according to film research firm EntGroup, jostling for space with the popular Chinese Western 'Let the Bullets Fly,' which made $85 million.
媒体研究公司艺恩咨询(EntGroup Inc)的数据显示，《赵氏孤儿》在中国收获了3000万美元票房，同期与其竞争的还包括大受欢迎的颇具西部片风格的中国国产电影《让子弹飞》(Let the Bullets Fly)，该片创下了8500万美元票房的成绩。
Mr. Chen says commercial success is a secondary consideration, though his most recent film, modern-era Internet drama 'Caught in the Web,' has raked in audiences in its first two weeks in China's theaters. The important thing is to make films that 'say something about the spirit of the Chinese people' he said, as China Real Time caught up with him to discuss Hollywood popcorn, Chinese politics and the movies he still wants to make.
陈凯歌执导的现代题材新片《搜索》(Caught in the Web)讲述了由网络人肉搜索引发的一系列故事，该片在上映头两周获得了很高的上座率。但是，他说商业上的成功只是次要因素，重要的是要拍出“展现中国人精神”的电影。
Here are edited excerpts:
《华尔街日报》“中国实时报”栏目近期采访了陈凯歌导演，请他谈论了对好莱坞“爆米花电影”、中国政治体制对电影创作影响的看法以及他依然想创作的电影类型。下文为经过编辑的采访选段：
China Real Time: How do you think Sacrifice will be received by U.S. movie-goers?
《华尔街日报》：您认为美国观众会对《赵氏孤儿》做何反响？
Mr. Chen: I'm not so sure it'll work for American audiences. So why did I pick this project? With the great progress China has made in the last three decades, we're sort of proud of what we did, but there is another side.
陈凯歌：我不太肯定它是不是符合美国观众的口味。那么我为什么要选择这部戏呢？中国在过去三十年取得了巨大的进步，我们对自己的成就有些感到骄傲，但是我们还要看到另一面。
Look at Beijing─I grew up here, but now I come here and am a stranger. I don't want to identify myself as someone who is from Beijing and to me it's a shame, really a shame. They give you a new Beijing and let the old one die. I totally disagree with this, because the soul of the city is gone with the physical stuff. We pay very little attention to what we respect and what we loved in the past with our culture.
比如说北京，我在这儿长大，但是如今我来到这儿却是一个陌生人。我不想把自己当作一个来自北京的人，对我来说这是一件让人羞愧的事，真的让人羞愧。他们给了你一个新北京，就让老北京消亡了。我完全不赞同这么做，因为这个城市的灵魂随着物质的东西消逝了。我们对自己尊重的东西以及过去喜爱的文化的东西给予的关注非常之少。
So that's why I want to pick up this project to tell people who we used to be in our past.
这就是我为什么选择这部戏的原因所在，我想告诉大家我们在过去是什么样的人。
China's film industry now has bigger budgets to work with, but it is still tough to compete with Hollywood blockbusters?
《华尔街日报》：如今中国电影产业可供支配的预算更多了，但是要与好莱坞大片竞争是否仍然很艰难？
What I can say is that we need to develop the market, if we want people to watch a variety of films; you need a variety of audience. This is a like a chain. Young people under 20, they go to McDonalds, they drink Coca Cola, they wear Nike and they watch Hollywood movies.
陈凯歌：我所能说的是，我们需要开拓市场，如果我们希望大家去看各种不同类型的电影，那么就需要有各种各样的观众，这就像一条链条一样。20岁以下的年轻人，他们吃麦当劳，喝可口可乐，穿的是耐克，看的是好莱坞电影。
You can't imagine the kids will say to you, 'Let's go to McDonalds, and then let's go to the Peking Opera.' No way. It's natural the young kids want to watch U.S. movies. The U.S movies are providing something interesting high technology, a feast of visual and sound effects, it's like playing a game.
你无法想象这些孩子会对你说，“我们去吃麦当劳，然后去看京剧。”绝对不可能。年轻人想看美国电影是很自然的事情。美国电影提供了一些有意思的东西，比如高科技，一场视听盛宴，就像打游戏一样。
What can we do? We are facing a big challenge from the invasion of Hollywood films. I think we should stay with the situation. We don't need to be scared or screaming like crazy saying 'The wolf is here!' I feel we should make more stories people can relate to and not just make big films to compete with Hollywood. You can have your own story to tell, which is wonderful.
我们能够做些什么？我们正面临好莱坞电影大举入侵所带来的巨大挑战。我认为我们应该保持镇定，没必要感到恐慌或者疯狂地大叫“狼来了”。我觉得我们应该创作更多能让大家觉得和自己有关的影片，而不是只创作一些大制作的电影来与好莱坞抗衡。你可以有你自己想说的故事，这一点很棒。
