Director seeks to promote Greek films in China
- By Guo Xiaohong & Chen Boyuan
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E-mail China.org.cn, April 25, 2014
Greek director Yorgos Tsemberopoulos said he hopes to see Greek films become more popular in China, the second largest film market in the world.
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Still of "The Enemy Within" [Photo/China.org.cn] |
Tsemberopoulos made the remark on Wednesday in Beijing, during the fourth Beijing International Film Festival, in which his latest film, "The Enemy Within" (original title "O ehthros mou") was one of 15 films shortlisted for the 10 Tiantan Awards.
The budget film, "The Enemy Within" is a Greek film based on family issues. The recent Greek financial crisis has directly reduced film makers' funds, restricting them to low-cost costumes and settings, whereas Greek mythology-themed films are generally left to big Hollywood studios.
The growing popularity of family-theme films in Greece also reflects the importance of the family in Greek society and culture, according to Tsemberopoulos.
The director said a film's success in another country, especially one that speaks a different language, requires good translation, because film makers first "have to allow foreign viewers to understand the story you tell, as cross-cultural communication already creates a barrier in understanding."
Film dubbing, including the subtitle translation, is often criticized as one of the major problems in China's film industry. Many young viewers, especially those know foreign languages, choose to watch foreign films with original dialogues.
Tsemberopoulos said he has watched "The Enemy Within" up to one hundred times, but was nonetheless moved to tears by the translated French subtitles.
While depicting the exotic, unique Greek environment and the culture it breeds, "The Enemy Within" touches upon universal and everlasting topics such as love and human nature, in a bid to bring a touch of warmth to its viewers.
In the film, the protagonist Kostas Stasinos, an avant-garde theorist with a happy family, chooses to seek his own revenge after a gang looted his home and raped his underage daughter.
While Stasinos is seeking his own justice, he is depicted as morally tortured, as his personal retaliation is hardly justified in terms of the law, which amounts to an enemy within his own self.
The film's director Yorgos Tsemberopoulos said that the film did not intend to cut a clear line between right and wrong, but "exhibit the struggle within the human nature and soul," a common trend in recent drama films.
Before coming to Beijing, "The Enemy Within" also won three awards – Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Editing in its home country.
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