European films have had their worst year in nearly a decade. Only a limited number have been able to attract audiences beyond their national borders.
According to the European Audiovisual Observatory, a mere 6.3 per cent ofadmissionsto European films were in EU countries outside their home markets, a decrease from nearly 10 per cent last year. Interest in European films is alsodwindlingin America, where they took a market share of 3.3 per cent in 2003. The spyspoofJohnny English and the romantic comedy Love Actually, both British-American co-productions, were the only "European" films to appear in the European Top 20. They reached eleventh and fourteenth placerespectivelyin an annual ranking topped by the children's animation Finding Nemo, which sold more than 37.7 million tickets. Finding Nemo was followed by The Matrix Reloaded and Pirates of the Caribbean at 31.9 million and 29 million respectively. Johnny English registered 13.8 million admissions, while Love Actually attracted 12.6 million. Even European films as critically acclaimed as Good Bye Lenin!, the German comedy about a family forced to pretend that the Berlin Wall had not fallen, and Calendar Girls, about a group of Women's Institute members whostrippedfor charity, sold only 9.2 million and 5.1 million tickets respectively throughout Europe. In contrast, American films increased their domination by 1.6 per cent, accounting for more than 72 per cent of the EU market. The first two films in the Lord of the Rings trilogy attracted more than 54 million admissions. The observatory, which was set up as a public-service body in Strasbourg in 1992, is the only centre of its kind to gather andcirculateinformation on the audiovisual industry in Europe. Its report, European Cinema Trends 2003, concludes: "2003 was the worst year for the circulation of European films since 1996, the first year for which detailed analysis is available. Only a limited number of European films can be described as having real popular potential beyond their national borders." It estimates that 954 million tickets were sold in the 25 EU member states in 2003, 45 million fewer than in 2002. Production volume across the 25 countries increased by 3 per cent in 2003, with 752 European films shot last year. (Agencies)
| 歐洲電影業經歷了近十年來最不景氣的一年。僅有為數不多的幾部電影能夠吸引本國以外的觀眾。 根據歐洲電影觀察組織的統計,歐洲電影的票房收入中僅有6.3%來自國內市場之外的歐盟國家,這比去年下降了近10%。美國觀眾對歐洲電影的興趣也在不斷減少,2003年,歐洲電影在美國電影市場份額只有3.3%。 由英美聯合拍攝的描述特工的喜劇片《憨豆特工》和浪漫愛情喜劇《真愛至上》是唯一入選20部歐洲最佳電影的“歐洲”影片。這兩部影片在年度電影排行榜上分列第11和第14位,名列榜首的是兒童動畫片《海底總動員》,它售出了3770多萬張門票。排在《海底總動員》之后的是電影《駭客帝國2:重裝上陣》和《加勒比海盜》,它們分別售出了3190萬和2900萬張門票。《憨豆特工》的觀眾有1380萬,《真愛至上》吸引了1260萬名觀眾。 即使備受稱贊的歐洲影片《再見列寧》和影片《日歷女孩》在整個歐洲也僅售出了920萬和510萬張門票。《再見列寧》是一部德國喜劇片,講述了一個家庭不得不假裝柏林墻沒有倒塌的故事。《日歷女孩》講述的是女子學院的一群學生為了慈善而拍攝裸體日歷的故事。 相反,美國電影進一步鞏固了它們在歐盟電影市場的主導地位,它們在歐盟電影市場所占的份額增加了1.6%,超過了72%。《指環王》三部曲的前兩部吸引了5400多萬名觀眾。 歐洲電影觀察組織是一個公共服務組織,1992年在法國斯特拉斯堡成立,它是本行業中唯一一個收集和傳播歐洲電影產業信息的中心。它發表的一篇報道《2003年歐洲電影趨勢》斷言:“2003年是自1996年以來歐洲電影發行最糟糕的一年。能夠在國外稱得上具有真正受歡迎潛力的電影為數不多。” 該組織估計,2003年歐盟25個成員國總共售出95400萬張電影門票,比2002年減少了4500萬張。2003年,整個歐盟25個成員國的電影出品總量與去年的752部電影相比增加了3%。 admissions: 門票 dwindle: 減少 spoof: 哄騙 respectively: 分別地 strip: 脫掉衣服 circulate: 傳播 (中國日報網站譯)
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