In the wake of improving Japan-China
relations, the Studio Ghibli film, “Spirited Away” will release in Chinese
theaters for the first time. The reason that this 2001 film is only getting its
first public screening in China now is that China limits the number of foreign
countries that are allowed into the country. I did some peripheral reading
about this: Since the policy began in 1994, only 10 film imports were allowed
per year. However, that quota was slowly relaxed, and as of 2012, 34 per year
are let in. According to the main article, “My Neighbor Totoro” was released
last December to great success. It grossed $27.3 million in China, compared to $15
million in its native Japan.
I
researched how these foreign films are handled in China. One model of foreign
film distribution in China involves the distribution industry paying the
foreign film producers a flat rate, and then has the rights to all local revenue.
(If “Totoro” was released under this model, I wonder how much the Chinese
companies paid Studio Ghibli, since it ended up being so popular in China.)
This was just one model, but regardless, it seems like the Chinese film
industry/distribution companies get a hefty cut of the profits. Because of
this, I wondered why “Totoro” was released before the far more popular “Spirited
Away”, as the latter would likely generate more revenue. I also briefly looked
into the reasons the Chinese government censors foreign films, and while it is
quite complex, it seems they are generally against films which might extoll or
produce anti-Chinese sentiment, or encourage generally degenerate behavior, including
violence, drug use, and pornography. However, it seems the government also
shuns depictions of cults and superstitions. The movie “Spirited Away” heavily
features spirits from the Shinto religion, so I wonder if this made the
government hesitate. After a quick google search, it seems like the Chinese
government states that it supports “religious freedom”, while actually only allowing
for certain practices, which does not include Shintoism.
Regardless
of the difference between “Totoro” and “Spirited Away”, the latter is being
released now as China wants to get on Japan’s good side. Because of the
increasingly strained relations between the US and China, they are searching
for a new ally in Japan, which has the third largest economy in the world
behind the aforementioned countries. As two huge economies that are geographically
close to each other, Japan and China seek to aid each other financially to
ensure mutual success. The two countries have another common issue to deal with:
North Korea. While China currently trades with North Korea, Japan is not a fan,
due to the imminent threat of nuclear missiles, as well as the Japanese
hostages that remain in North Korea. In this time of complex political alliances,
anime is helping to bring together old enemies. The timeless power of story,
wielded deftly by Miyazaki and his team will smooth relations between China and
Japan, or so the two parties hope.
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