NOTES ：
（1）NO FIGURES WERE PROVIDED FOR NUMBERS 17-23IN 1998AND NUMBERS 15-24IN 1997.（2）ONE U.S.DOLLAR IS EQUIVALENT TO APPROXIMATELY 8.2RMB.（3）THETOP 2FILMS IN 1999WERE FENG XIAOGANG'S "BE THERE OR BE SQUARE"（BUJIAN BUSAN）AND ZHANG YIMOU'S "NOT ONE LESS"（YIGE DOU BUNENG SHAO）。
（4）THE TOP 3FILMS FOR 1998WERE FU HONGXING'S DOCUMENTARY "ZHOU ENLAI'SDIPLOMATIC TROUBLES"（ZHOU ENLAI WAIJIAO FENGYUN），FENG XIAOGANG'S "PARTY A ，PARTY B"（JIAFANG YIFANG），AND YE YING'S "A TIME TO REMEMBER"（HONGSE LIANREN）。
（5）THE TOP 5FILMS IN 1997WERE XIE JIN'S "YAPIAN ZHANZHENG"（THE OPIUMWAR ），FENG XIAONING'S "HONG HEGU"（RED RIVER VALLEY），WEI LIAN'S "DA ZHUANZHE"（THE TURNING POINT ），ZHANG YIMOU'S "YOUHUA，HAO HAO SHUO"（KEEP COOL ），ANDLEI XIANHE AND KANG NING'S "LIKAI LEIFENG DE RIZI"（THE DAYS WITHOUT A HERO ）。
SOURCE：FOR 1999，SEE DIANYING YISHU （FILM ART）NO.3，2000，PP.4-5；FOR 1998，SEE DIANYING YISHU （FILM ART）NO.3，1999，PP.4-5；FOR 1997，SEE DIANYING YISHU（FILM ART）NO.3，1998，PP.4-5.
The number one film for 1999was Feng Xiaogang's Bujian busan （Be There orBe Square ）。Feng has been completely unabashed in his desire to beat Hollywoodat its own game ，to make only commercial films that audiences will pay their ownmoney to see.He has thus far made three highly successful films and，despite somecritical vilification in the Chinese press regarding the "vulgarity"of his aesthetic，Feng's strategy has thus far been the most successful at the box office.（55）Onedifficulty Feng has faced is the regional appeal of his films ，marked as theyare by the extensive use of Beijing slang.They have been much less successful outsidethe north ，for example in Shanghai or Guangzhou.
The second most successful film in 1999was Zhang Yimou's Yige dou buneng shao（Not One Less）。Zhang of course is the leading "Fifth Generation"filmmaker.His films often win prestigious international awards but have faced outright bans（for example "To Live"）or critical displeasure at home.While "Not One Less"was chosen best film at the Venice International Film Festival -after being snubbedat Cannes because of its allegedly pro-government propaganda -it represents a departurefor Zhang.He is unlikely to continue making films on similar themes（an upliftingtale of a temporary teacherat a poor village school who will go to any lengthsto prevent even a single dropout）。Moreover ，given Zhang's international reputation，and his previous problems with government censors ，his financing normally is obtainedabroad."Not One Less ，"as with many recent Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige films，was supported by Columbia/Tristar.As with Feng Xiaogang，Zhang has been a frequentcontributor to the Chinese press，offering suggestions for post-WTO strategy.Eachof these leading directors has been forthright in criticizing the other's approach.
The third most successful film in 1999was Bao lian deng（The Lotus Lantern ），an expensive animated film that China hopes will be able to compete internationallywith Japanese anime and the best of Disney animation.Leading Chinese actors，includingJiang Wen and Ning Jing ，voiced the major characters.Moreover，voices were dubbedin Japanese and English at considerable expense in an effort to tap into these majoroverseas markets.The story is based on Chinese mythology and resonated well withlocal audiences ，but the film is unlikely to be successful beyond China's borders.
Finally ，the fourth most successful film in 1999was Guoge（National Anthem），a good example of a "main melody film"that glorifies wartime patriotism，self-sacrificeand other sterling virtues.Guoge represents the type of film the state would liketo promote，both domestically and internationally（it was one of five films chosenby the government to show as part of an exhibition of Chinese films in the UnitedStates in 1999）。Putting aside the fact that box office receipts were inflatedby subsidized ticket purchases，the film still brought in only 15million yuan ，despite winning major national awards.According to Kang Jianmin，the head of theXiaoxiang Film Studio that produced the film，Guoge cost 20million yuan.Indeed，the studio produced three films that won major national awards in 1999at a costof 24million yuan，but received only 5million yuan as their share of the totalbox office.The loss for the studio from their three most "successful"films totaledover 18million yuan.Although a number of factors were cited for this outcome，the most fundamental problem was that people simply were not interested in seeingthese films.As Kang put it ，"we emphasized ideology and art and did not pay attentionto the entertainment factor."（56）
This issue of art vs.politics vs.commerce is likely to remain the biggestobstacle to the development of a commercial market that can compete with Hollywoodfilms.Much of the debate and criticism regarding the failure of domestic filmsto find an audience starts from this premise.Perhaps the most extreme example ofthis problem -and one pointed to by frustrated film professionals -concerns themovie "Kong Fansen，"a film depicting the life of a deceased Han cadre who devotedmany years to improving conditions in Tibet and the betterment of Sino-Tibetan relations.It proved to be the biggest box office success in 1996，pulling in 30million yuan.An analysis of the box office from 20regions suggests，however，how misleadingbox office figures can be.Nationally ，only 5percent paid their own way intotheaters.In Beijing the figure was 0.5percent ；in Sichuan it was 0.2percent.
As the number of Hollywood films entering China increases to 20，30or 40per year，will domestic films maintain a reasonable share of the market？The resultsfrom other markets are of some interest.In Taiwan，a formerly thriving film industryhas been completely decimated.Despite having some of the world's most honored directors，including Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang ，Taiwan films simply have provided nocompetition to Hollywood in their domestic market.In Hong Kong ，one of the world'sgreat film markets and a major exporter of films to other Asian markets ，the resultsappear to have been a bit better，since the top two box office hits in 1998weremade in Hong Kong （"The Storm Riders"and "Who Am I？"），but only three of thetop ten were not from Hollywood.Moreover ，as everyone knows，many of the leadingHong Kong filmmakers，including John Woo ，Jackie Chan，Chow Yun-fat and JetLi have moved their professional careers to Hollywood.（57）
TABLE 6
DOMESTIC FILM SHARE OF MARKET IN SELECTED FILM-PRODUCING COUNTRIES
COUNTRY 198819941998
FRANCE 38.97%35%28%
ITALY 20%（1989）
15%N/A
GERMANY 16.7%10.35%9.5%
JAPAN 21%16.7%36%
SOURCE：Zheng Dongtian ，"Shengcun，haishi huimie：jinru WTO yihou de zhongguodianying"（To Be or Not to Be：Chinese Film after Entrance to the WTO ），Beijingguancha （Beijing Observation ）No.4，April 2000，p.51.
Zheng Dongtian，one of China's leading directors and a professor at the BeijingFilm Academy，has suggested that the issue facing the Chinese film industry canbe simply stated："To Be or Not to Be？"（58）As Table 6，from a recent articleof Zheng's reveals，the domestic market for European films has been declining between1988-1998under the onslaught from Hollywood.Only Japan has been able to increaseits domestic market in the last five years.Even there，however，only three ofthe top ten films in 1998were not from Hollywood.Zheng's solution is to make filmsHollywood is not able to make ，noting that even after American films were allowedback into China after the 6month ban in 1999，the five films released in a twomonth period earned much less than expected at the box office.By contrast，FengXiaogang's Meiwan meiliao （Sorry ，Baby ）was a mega hit during the New Yearholiday.Thus ，despite much critical distaste ，Feng may be the only answer Chinahas.
“THE WOLF AT THE DOOR”：HOLLYWOOD AND THE FILM MAR
“THE WOLF AT THE DOOR”：HOLLYWOOD AND THE FILM MAR