China’s Film Industry Finally Joins the Space Race

中國電影業(yè)終于加入了太空競賽

· BEIJING — China was a latecomer tospace exploration, and in the movies, it has been a latecomer to sciencefiction, too. That is about to change.

發(fā)自北京——中國是太空探索的后來者，而在電影業(yè)尤其是科幻片，也是一個(gè)后來者

The country’s first blockbuster set in space, “The Wandering Earth,” opensTuesday amid grandiose expectations that it will represent the dawning of a newera in Chinese filmmaking.

中國的第一部太空大片《流浪地球》在期待中國電影新時(shí)代來臨的翹首以盼中于周二開畫。

A preview of the film.CreditCreditVideo by Gavin Feng

The special effects — like the apocalyptic climatic changes that wouldoccur if Earth suddenly moved out of its cozy orbit — are certain to bemeasured against Hollywood’s, as ever here. And the preliminary reviews havebeen positive.

特效方面，比如假設(shè)地球突然離開其愜意的軌道而發(fā)生的災(zāi)難性氣候變化，毫無疑問會(huì)拿來同好萊塢同行做比較。而提前點(diǎn)映的評(píng)價(jià)是正面的。

“It’s like the coming-of-age of the industry,” Zhou said.

周的評(píng)價(jià)是“電影工業(yè)的瓜熟蒂落”

That has made the film, produced by Beijing Jingxi Culture & TourismCompany and the state-owned China Film Group Corp., a test for the industry.

上述挑戰(zhàn)使得這部由北京文化和國企中國影業(yè)出品的電影，成為了中國電影產(chǎn)業(yè)的吃螃蟹人。

Guo, who uses the name Frant Gwo in English, noted that Chinese audienceshave responded coolly to many of Hollywood’s previous sci-fi blockbusters.Studios, therefore, have been wary of investing the resources required to makeconvincing sci-fi.

英文名為Frant Gwo的郭導(dǎo)，特意指出中國觀眾對(duì)好萊塢之前發(fā)行的不少科幻大片反響冷淡，所以各出品方對(duì)制作一部有誠意的科幻片所需資源的投入慎之又慎。

The film’s budget reportedly reached nearly $50 million, modest byHollywood standards but still significant here in China. More than 7,000 peoplewere involved in the production. Much of it was filmed in the new OrientalMovie Metropolis, an $8 billion studio in the coast city of Qingdao, built bythe real estate and entertainment giant Dalian Wanda.

本片預(yù)算據(jù)報(bào)道接近5000萬美元，以好萊塢標(biāo)準(zhǔn)屬于中等投入，但在中國則是大投入。有超過7000人參與到影片的制作，大多數(shù)場景在位于青島的由地產(chǎn)營業(yè)巨頭大連萬達(dá)投資80億美元的青島東方影視城拍攝

He cited the most popular film in China last year: “Operation Red Sea,”an action drama loosely based on the Chinese rescue of several hundredcivilians from Yemen when war erupted there in 2015.

他以去年中國最火的電影《紅海行動(dòng)》舉例，這是一部動(dòng)作劇情片，大致基于2015年也門內(nèi)戰(zhàn)爆發(fā)時(shí)，中國救援?dāng)?shù)百位中國平民的事實(shí)改編。

“When we have the ability to go to war, we can make movies like ‘OperationRed Sea,’” he said, alluding to China’s military modernization in recentyears. “Only when China can enter the space era can we make works like ‘TheWandering Earth.’”

“當(dāng)我們有能力參展，我們才能制作《紅海行動(dòng)》這樣的電影，”他暗指近年來中國軍事現(xiàn)代化，“只有當(dāng)中國進(jìn)入太空時(shí)代，我們才能出現(xiàn)《流浪地球》這樣的作品?！?/span>

A film project based on Liu’s best-known work, the trilogy that began with“The Three-Body Problem,” was optioned and even filmed in 2015 but has sincelanguished in postproduction, reportedlybecause of technical challenges and costs.

基于劉慈欣最著名作品三體三部曲的電影項(xiàng)目在2015年立項(xiàng)并開拍，但自此之后便沉淪于后期制作階段，據(jù)報(bào)道還是由于技術(shù)挑戰(zhàn)和成本問題所致。

The conditions now seem ripe. Seeing the “The Wandering Earth” on thescreen, Liu said, was “soul shaking.”

現(xiàn)下的條件似乎已成熟。劉慈欣看過銀幕上的《流浪地球》后表示，“震撼心靈”。