4 ms·

Yeah I remember when Japan was hot (manga/anime) then it was S Korea (Haliu wave), at least in South East Asia. But the soft power war is not so clear cut thoug

by jansho 10y ago

Yeah I remember when Japan was hot (manga/anime) then it was S Korea (Haliu wave), at least in South East Asia. But the soft power war is not so clear cut though. Like Viki streams mostly K-dramas but it's owned by Japanese company Rakuten. China on the other hand is definitely playing that game. Like only last month they banned most imported children's picture books, especially from SK and Japan, and they've pumped a lot of money into their content industry to match their nationalistic agenda and S Korea's. Hollywood seems to be helping too :)

Animats 10y ago
China is getting better at this, but it's not going well. Too many Chinese movies are period pieces, fantasies, or are not set in China, because the censorship on present-day topics is strict. China's movie censorship is explicit; at the beginning of a movie you'll see the golden dragon logo of the censorship authority. This limits the topics of movies. There are feature films produced directly by the People's Liberation Army, such as "Sky Fighters". This is the Chinese version of "Top Gun". It's not very good, because the entertainment takes second place to the propaganda. It's possible to do a good feature film which is also propaganda; "Strategic Air Command" with Jimmy Stewart is one such. But China isn't there yet.
- jansho 10y ago
  Hmm. I know that propaganda and originality don't go well together, but strangely I've always felt that Chinese cinema got it right. I may be biased as I come from an Asian family. For sure they're different from Western cinema, most notably it's usually less cynical and multifaceted, and more linear and nationalistic. But there's such an adventurous spirit (those martial arts sequences help!) that I can look past all that. Perhaps because I'm Asian too, those anti-colonial sentiments are also more easily related. But I don't know, maybe their creative machine really is running out of steam. I haven't really watch much recently (currently on a Scandi kick!) But I do recommend you to explore the classics like Once Upon a Time in China and Infernal Affairs.

by jansho 10y ago

Animats 10y ago

China is getting better at this, but it's not going well. Too many Chinese movies are period pieces, fantasies, or are not set in China, because the censorship on present-day topics is strict. China's movie censorship is explicit; at the beginning of a movie you'll see the golden dragon logo of the censorship authority. This limits the topics of movies. There are feature films produced directly by the People's Liberation Army, such as "Sky Fighters". This is the Chinese version of "Top Gun". It's not very good, because the entertainment takes second place to the propaganda. It's possible to do a good feature film which is also propaganda; "Strategic Air Command" with Jimmy Stewart is one such. But China isn't there yet.

jansho 10y ago
Hmm. I know that propaganda and originality don't go well together, but strangely I've always felt that Chinese cinema got it right. I may be biased as I come from an Asian family. For sure they're different from Western cinema, most notably it's usually less cynical and multifaceted, and more linear and nationalistic. But there's such an adventurous spirit (those martial arts sequences help!) that I can look past all that. Perhaps because I'm Asian too, those anti-colonial sentiments are also more easily related. But I don't know, maybe their creative machine really is running out of steam. I haven't really watch much recently (currently on a Scandi kick!) But I do recommend you to explore the classics like Once Upon a Time in China and Infernal Affairs.