Abstract Films with worldwide appeal generate the biggest revenue since the end of 20th century. Under this circumstance, the film industry has been increasingly aware of the importance of making films for the largest possible audiences, which results in “The Heat Remake”. This thesis is a study of two representative pairs of Sino-US remakes, of which display different social cultures compared with their counterparts. Under a comparative cross-cultural approach, the paper shows some cultural conflicts between China and America reflected in the films and then delves into the reasons, analyzing in how film makers from two different cultures interpret the same story transcending national boundaries. Inspirations like construction of cultural identity and extension in film cooperation, which are conducive to Sino-US cultural communication, will be given to future film makers in the end.62038

Key words: Sino-US remakes; a comparative cross-cultural approach; conflicts; inspirations

摘要20世纪末以来，由于优秀电影产生的巨大效益，电影行业工作者越来越重视电影的潜在市场，掀起了一股“翻拍热潮”。本文主要以两对具有代表性的体现不同社会文化的中美跨国翻拍电影为例，通过跨文化对比的方式，展现电影中反映出的中美两国存在的一些文化冲突并说明原因所在，分析不同文化背景下，两国电影人对于同一故事的不同处理，从而提出两点对于今后电影工作者的启示——文化特性的塑造和电影合作的深化，以期实现中美两国之间更好的文化交流。

毕业论文关键词：中美翻拍电影；跨文化对比；文化冲突；启示

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

3. Remakes and Cultural Conflicts 3

3.1 Definition of Remake 3

3.2 Cultural Conflicts Accompanied by Remaking 3

4. Cultural Conflicts between Chinese and American Remakes 4

4.1 High Context versus Low Context 5

4.2 Collectivism versus Inpidualism 7

4.3 Extended Family versus Nuclear Family 8

4.4 Perceptual Education versus Rational Education 9

5. Inspirations to Film Makers 10

5.1 Construction of Cultural Identity in Remaking 10

5.2 Extension in Film Cooperation between Two Cultures 11

6. Conclusion 12

Works Cited 14

1. Introduction

“As films spread across borders, producers also saw in foreign films material they could steal, adapt or remake for their own local audiences” (Chua, 2005: 122). That’s why it’s prevailing to see “the free flow of cinematic products across national, geopolitical, cultural, and linguistic borders” ( Li Jinhua, 2011: 7) both in China and America, especially in recent years. In order to maintain its entertainment leadership in the unstable balanced power between itself and the vibrant Chinese cinemas, Hollywood appropriates and remakes some good Chinese films to persify and enrich its cultural production, and so does China for purpose of prospering its film industry. Transnational exchanges like these allow us to look into the future of Sino-US relationship in the next decades.

This thesis is a study of two representative pairs of Chinese and American film remakes. As it is widely accepted that the same narrative will be read and analyzed differently when it migrates to a different cultural structure, under a comparative cross-cultural method, the dissertation analyses each pair of transnational film remakes to see how different cultures interpret the same script or story. From the perspective of intercultural communication, it looks at some cultural conflicts between China and America toward high context and low context, collectivism and inpidualism, extended family and nuclear family, perceptual education and rational education, plus the roots behind them. With meticulous comparison and contrast, inspirations like construction of cultural identity and extension in film cooperation, which are beneficial to film makers can be obtained. That is to say, how to bring cultural universality and identity into harmony? It is critical for a remake to get this harmony, which determines its success or not while entering into another market. Taking this one step further, it makes sense in Sino-US cultural communication.