｢메콩강 작전(湄公河行動)｣의 성공과 ‘신주류영화(新主流電影)’에 대한 두 가지 기대

Abstract

『Operation Mekong』, in which China’s Police Special Force wipe out drug criminals in the Golden Triad region, obtained a great commercial success in China in 2016. It is different from the others before to show that Chinese police and army carry out military actions abroad in this film. In addition, It emphasized China’s international status and role, and embodied a very capable China that protects the safety and interests of its citizens with strong military power. The success of the film inspired Chinese government officials to summon the concept of ‘Chinese mainstream film’. It refers to a Chinese film that exerts both ‘economic effect’ and ‘social effect.’ Meanwhile, Chinese film officials and scholars expected that ‘Chinese mainstream film’ would solve two problems of Chinese films, such as creating Chinese national images and entering the foreign market of Chinese films. Considering ‘Chinese mainstream films’ so far, the latter problem has not been successful, and the former can be seen as half success and half failure. The goal of creating Chinese national images was achieved for Chinese audiences, but not for foreign audiences. This seems to be a natural result. This is because ‘Chinese mainstream film’ has been focusing on showing off China’s power and emphasizing its legitimacy. If this trend is not changed, It will not be realized in the future for Chinese films to enter the foreign Film market successfully.