‘2012′ takes China’s filmgoers by storm
The film’s positive depiction of the country has it poised to become the biggest U.S. movie ever there. But some think it’s all part of auteur Roland Emmerich’s courting of a huge emerging market.
“Welcome to the People’s Republic of China,” declares an officer of the People’s Liberation Army as he crisply salutes an American novelist (played by John Cusack) who has just fled the United States, which — like much of the world — has been destroyed by an environmental catastrophe.
'2012' breaks box office record in China
[John Cusack and Lily Morgan, left, in Columbia Pictures' '2012.'
“It is just like a love letter from Emmerich to China,” one enthusiastic Chinese wrote about “2012” on Sohu.com, a popular host for blogs.
Since opening in China on Nov. 13, the global blockbuster has grossed about $65 million in local currency, according to distributor Sony Pictures Entertainment. That puts the studio’s end-of-the-world epic on track to top, by Friday, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” as the most successful foreign film ever released in China. Last summer’s “Transformers” grossed about $65.8 million at the Chinese box office, beating “Titanic’s” 1998 record of $52.7 million.
“It really has been unbelievable,” says Jeff Blake, vice chairman of Sony Pictures. “The revenues from the market just keep improving all the time.” Blake says “2012″ is playing in nearly 2,000 Chinese theaters — 1,300 of which have state-of-the-art digital projectors. “It’s the biggest release for the film outside of the United States,” Blake says. “The infrastructure is really exploding in China.”
On a recent Thursday afternoon outside the cinema at the Joy City department store in Xidan, a popular shopping district in central Beijing, about a dozen young couples and students stood in line. Another group sat in the carpeted lobby area, sipping Coke and eating caramel popcorn while waiting for their movies to start. Most of them were there to watch “2012,” which was playing to crowded auditoriums every half-hour.
L-r, Morgan Lily, Amanda Peet and Liam James in Columbia Pictures' '2012.'"
Sellouts common
“During opening weekend, we added extra showings,” said theater ticket collector Liu Ming, 23. Liu said many people still have not seen the film because evening shows are always sold out.
Although it was panned by critics, “2012″ has captured the Chinese imagination.
In the movie, the world is facing a massive environmental crisis, and the kindly American president (played by Danny Glover) is powerless to save his citizens.
The planet’s core is overheating so quickly that the Earth’s crust disintegrates, sending tidal waves of water across the globe. California is among the first to go when an earthquake rips the state into pieces and sends Los Angeles crashing into the ocean. Soon the whole planet will be underwater. In the face of imminent annihilation, the G-8 countries hatch a plan to build a series of massive arks, and China is the only country capable of building the rescue boats in time.
“That’s closer to the truth of what China’s like. I hope there will be more scenes like that in Hollywood,” said Shi Ying, a 20-year-old computer science student who works part time at the movie theater’s gift shop.
Although she was not pleased with the depiction of the Chinese as pitiless mercenaries charging astronomical sums to save lives (in the movie, each seat on the arks costs 1 billion euros), Shi found the scenario somewhat plausible.
“At the end of the world, China will build an ark,” she said. “There will be the same question of money, and China will also be very pragmatic.”
In a country that carefully selects and censors all foreign movies (only 20, including those from Hong Kong, are allowed in each year), “2012″ is one of the first blockbusters to pass Chinese censors without having any content cut.
Making the cut
“Mission: Impossible III” went through weeks of censoring before hitting theaters. Last year, Warner Bros. didn’t even attempt to bring “The Dark Knight” to China, citing “pre-release conditions” and “cultural sensitivities.” In the movie, Batman attempts to capture a gangster in Hong Kong.
Even “Kung Fu Panda” inspired a lawsuit from a Chinese artist who complained that the fat, lazy protagonist was an insult to China’s national symbol, the panda.
The Chinese have long felt sensitive about portrayals of China as a mysterious land of martial arts and ancient folklore.
“The movies usually show old China,” said Tong Xue, a 30-year-old government employee who saw “2012″ with his girlfriend. “What they should show is modern China, its improvement and its cultural heritage.”
In contrast to the dithering Western leaders (an Arnold Schwarzenegger sound-alike playing the California governor reassures the public that the worst is over, just as the state is swan-diving into the Pacific), the Chinese take command of the situation in “2012.” When the global destruction starts sooner than scientists predicted, China, being the industrial behemoth it is, still manages to finish the arks in time.
In the film, Chinese soldiers are shown gently guiding Tibetans out of a village that is soon to be turned into a top-secret government base, yelling into a megaphone: “The party and the government will help everybody rebuild your homes.”
At some movie theaters, Chinese audiences have burst into applause at the scene in which a Chinese army officer welcomes the family of the hero, played by Cusack, whose plane has just crashed into the Himalayas.
Some see Emmerich’s inclusion of China as a ploy to access the growing mainland market. Chinese box-office receipts totaled $630 million in 2008, up 27% from the previous year, according to government figures.
But not everyone thinks that China’s role in “2012″ is entirely flattering.
“Only China, an autocratic state with an unending source of cheap labor, can produce the arks,” wrote one Web user on a popular Chinese Internet forum called Douban.
Others point out that it’s a Chinese soldier who leaves Cusack and his family to die because he didn’t fork over the billions in euros for seats on the ark.
“It makes China look like it just cares about money and that China is all about industry,” gift shop clerk Shi said.
2012 breaks Chinese Box Office Record
《2012》是一部关于全球毁灭的灾难电影，它讲述在2012年世界末日到来时，主人公挣扎求生的经历。改片被称为《后天》的升级版，投资超过2亿美元，是灾难片大师罗兰·艾默里奇（Roland Emmerich）的又一力作。
剧情介绍
杰克逊·柯蒂斯（约翰·库萨克饰）带着孩子去黄石公园度假，却发现曾有美好回忆的湖泊已经干涸，而这个地区也成为了禁区。充满疑惑的他在黄石附近的营地偶然认识了查理。查理告诉他由于人类历史上最大一次太阳爆发的影响，地球自身的平衡系统已经面临崩溃，人类即将面临空前的自然灾害。查理说有些国家已经在联合秘密研制并建造可以躲避这个灾难的方舟。杰克逊以为他是个疯子，就一笑而过走开了。
然而第二天，灾难就发生了。强烈的地震，巨大的火山爆发让眼前熟悉的家园变成了人间炼狱。在地球的其他地方，各种各样的自然灾害也以前所未有的规模爆发。杰克逊和众多家庭一样踏上了求生之路。面对全球性自然灾害不知何去何从的他突然想起查理提到过的方舟和地图，于是决定前往方舟基地寻找生存的机会。
在寻找和前往方舟基地的过程中，杰克逊一家经历了生死考验。最终他们终于到达方舟基地。然而已经制造完成的方舟数量远远不能满足从世界各地闻讯涌来的受灾人群。谁去谁留已然成为挑战整个人类的道德抉择。面对灾难，来自不同国家的人类做出了最重要的抉择：“所有人都是平等的，都有平等的生存机会！”最后人们终于在方舟中度过了这一全球性的灾害，获得了继续繁衍和发展的希望。
解放军代替美军，成为了世界警察
《2012》影片的开始就展示了世界末日来临前，各国承受灾难的场景，其中地震的部分就取自中国的汶川大地震。
据悉，去年影片拍摄期间，导演艾默里奇一直关注着汶川地震的救灾情况，并被无数感人的救灾故事所深深撼动，这也是艾默里奇选择由中国面孔来演绎《2012》中地震情节的主要原因。在提前公布的剧照中也可以看到熟悉的解放军战士在灾区保护群众撤离的场面，正式的影片中甚至可以听到解放军对着喇叭保证，“党和国家一定会帮助大家重建家园的。”
精彩对白
Jackson Curtis: When they tell you not to panic, that's when you run!
杰克逊：他们告诉你不要惊慌的时候，你就该跑了！
Yuri:Engine start!
尤里：发动引擎！
《Engine starting》
<引擎开始启动声>
中国解放军：这是一个绝好的机会，可以创造更多工作的机会，党和国家一定会帮助大家重建家园的。
【奇迹之刻（2012世界末日主题曲）歌词】
亚当.兰伯特-奇迹降临的时刻 ('Sensational' by Adam Lambert)
it's late at night and i can't sleep(夜已深我无法入睡)
missing you just runs too deep(对你的思念太深)
oh i can't breathe thinking of your smile(想念你的笑容我几乎不能呼吸)
every kiss i can't forget(每个亲吻我都无法忘记)
this aching heart ain't broken yet(每颗疼痛的心还没有碎)
oh god i wish i could make you see(上帝我希望我能让你了解)
cuz i know this flame isn't dying(因为我知道激情还没有消退)
so nothing can stop me from trying(所以没有什么能阻止我努力)
baby you know that(亲爱的你知道)
maybe it's time for miracles(也许已是奇迹降临的时刻)
cuz i ain't giving up on love(因为我不能对爱放弃)
you know that(你知道)
maybe it's time for miracles(也许已是奇迹降临的时刻)
cuz i ain't giving up on love(因为我不能对爱放弃)
no i ain't giving up on us(我不能放弃我们)
i just want to be with you(我只想与你在一起)
cuz living is so hard to do(因为生存是如此不容易)
when all i know is trapped inside your eyes(当我只知道要沉沦在你的眼里)
the future i cannot forget(对于未来我无法忘记)
this aching heart ain't broken yet(这个疼痛的心还没有碎)
oh god i wish i could make you see(上帝我希望我能让你了解)
cuz i know this flame isn't dying(因为我知道激情还没有消退)
so nothing can stop me from trying(所以没有什么能阻止我努力)
baby you know that(亲爱的你知道)
maybe it's time for miracles(也许已是奇迹来临的时刻)
cuz i ain't giving up on love(因为我不能对爱放弃)
you know that(你知道)
maybe it's time for miracles(也许已是奇迹来临的时刻)
cuz i ain't giving up on love(因为我不能对爱放弃)
no i ain't giving up on us(我不能放弃我们)
baby can you feel it coming(亲爱的你能感觉到它的来临吗)
you know i can hear it, hear it, the souls(你知道我能听见它听见它灵魂听得到)
baby, you feel, they feel you(亲爱的你感觉他们感觉到你)
you know it's time(你知道是时候了)
baby you know that(亲爱的你知道)
maybe it's time for miracles(也许已是奇迹来临的时刻)
cuz i ain't giving up on love(因为我不能对爱放弃)
you know that(你知道)
maybe it's time for miracles(也许已是奇迹来临的时刻)
cuz i ain't giving up on love(因为我不能对爱放弃)
you know i ain't giving up on us(你知道我不会放弃)
you know i ain't giving up on(你知道我不会放弃)
oh i ain't giving up on us(我不会放弃)
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