Korean–Chinese Film Remakes in a New Age of Cultural Globalisation: Miss Granny (2014) and 20 Once Again (2015) along the Digital Road

Abstract

Since the early 2000s, the Korean Wave (aka Hallyu) has influenced Greater China in enterprising and complex ways that diverge from the ways in which Hallyu has impacted other markets. At the same time, since China joined the Word Trade Organization in 2001, art, culture and media production have been largely transformed from vehicles for state propaganda into new gateways for producing and showcasing popular commercial entertainment. Korean producers have played a significant role in this evolving transformation, albeit in a cultural space that the Government of Mainland China still uses and shapes as an important mouthpiece of the Party-state. While media headlines accentuate these progressive pathways, there is a dearth of scholarly commentary on the ways in which Korean film practitioners are contributing to this new era of cultural globalisation in China. To shed light on this emerging topic, the authors examine Chinese audiences' reception of the Korean film Miss Granny (2014) and the most successful Korean-Chinese co-production to date, its Chinese remake 20 Once Again (2015). The article utilises data drawn from Douban, a major Chinese entertainment and popular culture social networking site, to assess the 'inconspicuous' impact of the cinematic component of the Korean Wave on Chinese cinema. In taking this approach, the authors seek to assess the importance of localized film content for Chinese audiences, as well as canvassing a range of hitherto unknown opinions about 'Korean' and 'Chinese' styles of storytelling.

Examining the Chinese-Australian post-production relationship through Chinese audiences’ cinema experience

“…Since the release of this film, domestic commercial blockbusters in China started to develop.' (中国电影史上里程碑似的作品。从此，国产商业大片在中国的电影土地上得到了长 足的发展∼) 94 percent of the total comments discussed post-production elements of the film including visual effects, colouring and the visual appeal of the scenes, rather than the narrative or actors as seen in a previous study on Korean film remakes in China (Soh & Yecies 2017). One user commented in 2013:…”

“…Unlike previous research conducted on Douban Film, there was less focus on the actors, but more on the film aesthetics and the film as a whole, as reflected in Table 1 (Soh & Yecies 2017). The second stage entails a keyword selection from the word frequency search to identify comments for analysis.…”

“…Douban's primary audience consist of white-collar workers along with Chinese university students, who are interested in a wide range of cultural products. Users are generally considered to be more critical than the mass audience in China, given their heightened exposure to cultural globalisation and its effects (Soh & Yecies 2017). It is important to note that audiences' opinions analysed here are not a representation of the mass audience, but a subgroup in line with Douban's primary audience.…”

“…Comprehending audiences' opinions allows researchers to evaluate the success of strategies implemented by the film industry and to develop empirically based approaches (Soh & Yecies 2017). Following the uses and gratification approach, the paper conceptualises that audiences are active in consuming film content, and their opinions provided are based on their individual characteristics and preferences, highlighting the importance of understanding the audience's demographics (Katz &Lazarsfeld 1955 Papacharissi andRubin, 2000).…”

“…Traditionally, collecting audiences' opinions was complicated process as it was labour intensive, costly and time consuming. However, with the Internet and SNS, the collection process has been simplified, creating new pathways for researchers and businesses to gain insights into their target audience through analysing their SNS activities (Soh & Yecies 2017). Within media and cultural studies, the measurement and understanding of audiences' opinions include the utilisation of surveys, analysis of audience comments and the use of a rating system.…”