A STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF CHINESE MARTIAL ARTS ON HOLLYWOOD MOVIES.doc

a study of the influence of chinese martial arts on hollywood moviesabstractwith the development of the globalization, the art circle has changed a lot. the research has been made on the movies center of the worldhollywood and the birthplace of martial artschina by reading magazines, books, and internet . china is a civilized country with five thousand years history. chinese culture, especially chinese martial arts is having a constant impact on other countries in the world. in the movie industry, chinese kungfu movies have a great influence on the western movies. firstly, the thesis introduces the general information about the development and characteristics of hollywood movies which have been the overlord of the worlds film circles relying on their wonderful stories, developed industry, huge investment, famous stars and strong advertisement. then, it illustrates the history and category of chinese martial arts. at last, it explores the influence of chinese martial arts through the analysis of some great hollywood representative action movies and kungfu actors. the thesis aims at finding out how and why chinese martial arts have such an influence in many different aspects from the newly produced hollywood movies. it intends to broaden peoples horizon about american culture, chinese culture and the relations between the two cultures, so as to lead people to treasure our own precious cultural heritage. key words: hollywood movies; influence; chinese martial arts; chinese kungfu movies摘要随着全球化的迅速发展，艺术娱乐界发生了翻天覆地的变化，而这其中有许多值得人们去了解的文化现象。本文通过收集杂志、书籍和网络等媒介的相关信息来研究全球电影界的巨头好莱坞和武术文化的发源地中国。中国是一个有着上下五千年文明历史的文化大国。中国文化，特别是中华武术从古到今对世界各国各产业产生着不断的影响。在电影方面，当代的中国功夫电影对西方电影产生了重大的影响。文章首先综述了好莱坞电影的发展状况和特点。其次，本文阐述了中国武术的发源、历史、特点和种类。最后，文章通过分析近年来好莱坞经典的动作片和知名动作影星，来探究中国武术文化如何和为何对好莱坞电影各个方面的影响、渗透和帮助。文章目的在于扩展人们的视野和知识，进而对当今中西方娱乐艺术文化特别是好莱坞电影的全面认识, 从而得出好莱坞近年来的成功离不开中国武术文化因素的加入，进而认清中美文化的关系，认识到中国文化的强大魅力和生命力，并且懂得热爱和珍惜本国武术传统文化。关键字：好莱坞电影; 影响; 中国武术文化; 中国功夫片contents. introduction1. general information about hollywood movies22.1. history and development of hollywood movies22.2. an introduction to great movie companies (studios) in hollywood32.3. characteristics of hollywood movies4. chinese martial arts and the influence on hollywood movies53.1. history and category of chinese martial arts53.2. the influence of chinese martial arts on hollywood movies73.2.1. the progress of the influence73.2.2. comments on the influence of chinese martial arts83.2.3. hong kong action movies influence93.2.4. chinese kungfu in hollywood movies103.3. the influence of chinese martial arts on hollywood movie-makers12. representative actors and movies of chinese influence in hollywood134.1. representative actors134.2. representative movies15. conclusion20references22. introductionon account of its fame and culture identity as the historical centre of movie studios and movie stars, the word “hollywood” is often used as a representative for the cinema of the united states. hollywood movies are outstanding in the field of the entertainment and arts and most of those movies have impressed and influenced the people all over the world. what is the secret of the success? why did hollywood movies develop so fast? actually, each hollywood movie is not made by one company, but produced and released by different companies (studios). hollywood cinema has been the overlord of the worlds film circles. for a century, it has been the most important purveyor of culture and entertainment in the usa. and the movies are always influenced by other cultures.in different periods, hollywood movies have different themes and characteristics, and they are always trying to absorb any great and different cultural elements from other countries, so that it can attract more audiences and make more money. for example, many great hollywood action movies contain chinese elements. chinese culture, especially chinese martial arts, is having a constant impact on other countries in the world, and chinese kungfu movies, especially hong kong action movies have a great influence on hollywood movies. at the beginning, hollywood seldom considered chinese elements, and this situation lasted until the 1970s when the first chinese kungfu movie legend, bruce lee, who went on to make movies for hollywood studios, which literally swept the world into a kungfu mania. then, jackie chan was playing minor roles in hollywood in the 1980s. from the late 1990s to the early 21st century, lots of chinese movie talents started moving into hollywood. these included directors such as john woo, lee ang, woo yeun ping, actors like chow yuen fat, jet li, and actresses like zhang zhiyi, joan chen and many others. furthermore, some well-known hollywood directors such as oliver stone and quentin tarantino have expressed tremendous enthusiasm for chinese martial arts. through all those representatives, we can find that chinese martial arts has a great influence on hollywood movies in many aspects, and chinese culture, which is an essential part to hollywood movies, has made great contributions to the development and the success of hollywood. . general information about hollywood movieshollywood is a district which situated northwest of downtown los angeles, california. due to its fame and culture identity as the historical centre of movie studios and movie stars, the word “hollywood” is often used as a metonym for the cinema of the united states. here is some information about hollywood movies.2.1. history and development of hollywood moviesin the 1880s, the american entrepreneurs started experimenting with their movie-making skills to produce movies. although the effects and contents of those movies are tough and simple, they brought a lot of surprises and happiness. the great train robbery is noteworthy. gradually, with the growth of hollywood industry, it produced about 400 movies a year at the summit of its popularity, with an audience of 90 million americans per week.during the golden age of hollywood (1920-1950), the film industry was at the peak of its success. each film was unique in its own flavor, since the movie makers were all artists and creative people. some classic movies that enriched the industry were “gone with the wind” “casablanca” “wuthering heights” and other masterpieces.since 1960s, hollywood radically shifted focus and began to produce an increasing number of anti-establishment films and take great influence on the young audiences. during the mid and late 1970s, they introduced new filming techniques and strategies and developed upon the prevailing ones. films like “jaw”, “god father”, “e.t.”, “star wars ”, “superman”, “titanic” and other modern blockbusters have no doubt added a new dimension to hollywood. in recent years, the disaster films (deep impact; titanic; the day after tomorrow; i am legend and 2012); and 3d films (avatar; bolt; alice in wonderland) are very popular and rising rapidly. this is the new trend of hollywood movies at present. hollywood has claimed to be the nations fifth largest industry attracting 83 cents out every dollar americans spent on amusement.2.2. an introduction to great movie companies (studios) in hollywoodas a matter of fact, each hollywood movie is not made by one company, but invested, produced and released by different companies (studios). hollywood cinema has been the overlord of the words film circles relying on its wonderful stories, developed industry, huge investment, famous stars and strong advertisement. there are more than 12 companies (studios), and here are some eminent ones, such as metrogoldwynmayer inc., or mgm (米高梅公司), paramount pictures corporation (派拉蒙公司),twentieth century fox film corporation (二十世纪福克斯公司),radio keith orpheum(雷电华公司) , universal studios (环球公司),columbia pictures industries, inc. (哥伦比亚公司).new line cinema(新线公司), warner brothers（华纳兄弟公司）, the walt disney (迪斯尼公司), dreamworks (梦工厂公司) and so on .2.3. characteristics of hollywood moviesin fact, the characteristics of hollywood movies could be concluded as: hi-tech, productive, critical, imaginative, innovative, unconventional, and diverse which can be illustrated as science-fiction, action, art, foreign, drama, comedy, documentary, horror, adventure, romance and so on.besides, they have some other sensitive and unique characteristics. in culture, hollywood imposes american entertainment and its language on the world, regardless of local cultures and languages, and domestic film industries. in politics, hollywood promotes a biased and peculiarly american view of the world. it portrays a simplistic good vs. evil view of international conflicts, in which stereotyped and negative images of muslims, russians, south americans, etc. are presented as the enemies of freedom and progress. (蔡卫, 游飞, 2004) in economy, the sheer size and financial power of hollywoods major studios allow them to dominate foreign cinemas regardless of domestic industries which cannot compete with them. . chinese martial arts and the influence on hollywood movieschina is a civilized country with five thousand years history; china is a country of martial arts and it has one of the longest histories of continuously recorded martial arts tradition in the world and there are hundreds of styles. chinese martial arts, commonly called kungfu or wushu, are as old as the cultural heritage of china itself.3.1. history and category of chinese martial arts chinese martial arts have been in existence for over 5,000 years. in ancient times, in order to survive, the chinese had to hunt, defend themselves from other tribes, and protect themselves from fierce wild animals. they slowly developed simple movements of punching and kicking, and used simple weapons, such as the stick. during the wars between the tribes, the chinese martial art techniques were developed and refined. because of many wars, the techniques of the martial arts were developed constantly. the experience and heritage of these techniques are passed down from generation to generation, to man and woman alike.“over the past two thousand years, many distinctive styles have been developed, each with its own set of techniques and ideas. there are also common themes to the different styles, which are often classified by “families” (家, jia), “sects” (派, pai) or “schools” (门, men) of martial art styles. there are styles that mimic movements from animals and others that gather inspiration from various chinese philosophies, myths and legends. some styles put most of their focus on the harnessing of “qi” (气) energy, while others concentrate solely on competition and exhibition. each style offers a different approach to the common problems of self-defense, health and self-cultivation.” (nick browned, 1994)as far as chinese martial arts is concerned, it is necessary to talk about “martial morality”. traditional chinese schools of martial arts, such as the famed shaolin monks, often dealt with the study of martial arts not just as a means of self-defense or mental training, but as a system of ethics. wude (武德) can be translated as martial morality and deals with two aspects: morality of deed and morality of mind. morality of deed concerns social relations; morality of mind is meant to cultivate the inner harmony between the emotional mind (xin, 心) and the wisdom mind (hui, 慧). the ultimate goal is to reach no extremity (wuji,无极) (closely related to the taoist concept of wu wei), where both wisdom and emotions are in harmony with each other. (康戈武,1995).chinese martial arts can be divided into various categories: for example, external (外家拳) and internal (内家拳). it can also be categorized by location, such as northern (北拳) and southern (南拳) , which refer to what part of china the styles originated from, separated by the yangtze river. the main perceived difference between northern and southern styles is that the northern styles tend to emphasize fast and powerful kicks, high jumps and generally fluid and rapid movement, while the southern styles focus more on strong arm and hand techniques, and stable, immovable stances and fast footwork. there are distinctive differences in the training between different groups of the chinese martial arts regardless of the type of classification. chinese martial arts is now an essential element in chinese traditional culture. 3.2. the influence of chinese martial arts on hollywood moviesthe influence of chinese martial arts on hollywood movies can not be illustrated in a few words and the influence is not in one aspect. the martial arts influence the hollywood movies in many aspects slowly and gradually. 3.2.1. the progress of the influencehollywood began to consider chinese elements more from the qing dynasty, and it set up the basis of the impression left behind, which is usually distorted and ugly. this situation lasted until the 1970s when china began to open to the whole world. as china is a huge market, hollywood gradually began to try to cater to china. at first, it wasnt obvious, just the occasional appearance of the first chinese movie legend, bruce lee, who went on to make movies for hong kong and hollywood studios that literally swept asia and the rest of the world into a kungfu mania. then, jackie chan (shanghai knights; rush hour) was playing minor roles in hollywood productions in the 1980s. then, from the late 1990s to the early 21st century, lots of chinese movie talents started moving into hollywood. these included directors such as john woo 著名动作导演吴宇森，提出“动作美学”的理念 (face off; broken arrow), lee ang (crouching tiger, hidden dragon; incredible hulk; brokeback mountain), actor chow yuen fatt (crouching tiger, hidden dragon; the killer), actress zhang zhi yi (crouching tiger, hidden dragon; the geisha) , martial arts director, woo yeun ping 好莱坞著名武术指导袁和平，人称“八爷”，他为中国武术进军好莱坞做出巨大贡献。 (matrix; kill bill), actor as well as chinese famous martial artist jet li (lethal weapon 4 ; the mummy: tomb of the dragon emperor) and many others. martial arts themes can also be found on television networks. some american tv shows tried to convey the philosophy and practice in chinese martial arts. the use of chinese martial arts techniques can now be found in most tv action series, although the philosophy of chinese martial arts is seldom portrayed in depth. 3.2.2. comments on the influence of chinese martial arts“hollywood films are increasingly showing the influences of chinese cinema,” says director zhang yimou. thanks to his two international hits, hero and house of flying daggers, zhang has become one of chinas most high-profile directors. the particular style of martial arts in these pictures appeared in many us movies, especially in quentin tarantinos kill bill. “because of the influence of chinese martial arts movies, hollywood movies are changing,” zhang told the bbcs the culture show. “the actions in the movies are more beautiful, more rhythmic, and they use some enhanced special effects in the movies. i think its a great thing.” zhang said he had already noticed aspects of asian films in western cinema, particularly since the success of crouching tiger hidden dragon in 2000. to western audiences, crouching tiger hidden dragon, for example, is seen as something very refreshing to see man-powered flight. but now there are more and more of these kinds of movies, american movies have also begun to adopt these kinds of scenes with people flying. so after watching lots of these movies, people get used to seeing this exaggerated artistic style, and it wont be so strange any more.chinese martial arts is forever a famous word in hollywood as well as in the whole world, and chinese kungfu movies are a great showcase and reflection of chinese martial arts and many of them had attractive storylines, great acting skills, strong production and strong social themes. it is these chinese movie making talents that spread our culture to the world.3.2.3. hong kong action movies influencehong kong action cinema is the principal source of the hong kong film industrys global fame. it combines elements from the action film, as codified by hollywood, with chinese storytelling and aesthetic traditions, to create a culturally distinctive form that nevertheless has a wide appeal. in recent years, the flow has reversed somewhat, with hollywood action films being heavily influenced by hong kong genre conventions.all of these developments not only made hong kong the dominant cinema in asia, but aroused westerners interest. woos the killer (1989) had a limited but successful release in the us. in the 1990s, westerners with an eye on alternative culture became common sights in chinatown video shops and theaters, and gradually the movies became more available in the mainstream video market and even occasionally in mainstream theaters. western critics and scholars also began to take hong kong action cinema seriously.with the aid of a new generation of north american filmmakers, hong kong came to define a new vocabulary for worldwide action cinema. quentin tarantinos reservoir dogs (1992) drew inspiration from city on fire and his two-part kill bill (200304) was in large part martial arts homage, borrowing yuen woo-ping as martial arts director. robert rodriguezs desperado (1995) and its 2003 sequel once upon a time in mexico aped woos visual styles. the wachowski brothers the matrix trilogy (19992003) of science-fiction-action blockbusters borrowed from woo and wire fu movies and also employed yuen behind the scenes. martin scorseses the departed (2006) was a remake of the infernal affairs trilogy (2002-2003) by andrew lau and alan mak.in modern times, chinese martial arts have generated the genre of cinema known as the martial arts movies. the movies of bruce lee were helpful in the initial burst of chinese martial arts popularity in the west in