| In the rise of the film history studies in the 1990es,the sports film in China,comparing to martial arts film,crime film,horror film and films of other genre,had attracted academic attentions at a quite late period.Researches on the genre of sports film had produced limited findings and there left large room to be improved.This study focuses its attention on the subject of sports film（feature）,and adopts the narrative tradition of film history studies.It tries to corporate history methodology with analytical arguments and tries to summarise the characteristic of the feature films in each particular period according to chonological order.This study sees each sports film as text of particular historical context,and through analysing these texts,this study tries to unravel the set of social,historical,cultural background,the development of sports,sport policies,sport ideologies,film policies and film market,thus to depict the general cartography of the sports film in China and its rationale.One of the main character of sports film in China was the state ideology inscribed since its birth,which emphasized the“strong body,strong race”.Such strong state ideolgical pursuit made the sports film,from its audio-visual formats to its themes,transcended the simple expression of“strength and beauty”,and transcended the sole aim of courage and inspiration.This was related to the particular context of the modern history in China,when modern sport was introduced in China,it was rendered with the specific meaning of the time.Chapter One looks into the pursuit of a strong nation.Facing the colonial war,the political elites and intellectuals tried to instrumentalise the Western sport to enhance the army and build up people in order to realise the pursuit of a strong nation.To understand the instrumental function of sport to nation-state was the key to the comprehension of the meaning of modern sport and the key to interpret sports films,sport news and other sports texts.Chapter Two examines the early development of sport film in China（1905-1949）and the characteristics of their productions.The five sport films produced after the“May 30th Movement”,though were narrated in different stories,resembled each other in the core message of the strong Chinese bodies built by sport and“defeated”the Westerners.All of these film messages reflected the particular sport ideology and the concept of body of the time,which emphasised an endangered nation.Chapter Three focuses its attention on the founding period of People’s Republic of China（1949-1966）,particularly on the Seventeen-Year China Sports Film.The pattern and theme of the sports film during this period were unavoidedly wearing the models of the Seventeen-Year Workers-Peasants-Soldiers films.No matter the“old-new comparison”,or the“thought reformation”,the films of this period were full of stories which tried to reform the heterogeneous bodies and comforming them to the homogeneous collective.Under the caption of“literature and art serving political demands”,the Seventeen-Year sports films were writing meanings and ethics of“New China’s Sport”for the new regime.Chapter Four explores the sports films in the further period of People’s Republic of China（1977-1989）.During this period,the sports films had departed from the models of the Seventeen-Year“thought reformation”,and were inclined to narrate stories of“growing stronger”.The story types included“growth”（from’reformation’to’winning champion’）,“actualization”（from’experiencing trial’to’wining champion’）.The films in this period started to show signs of banality,though the image style remained realism.The 1980es saw rapid growth of sport industry,and the field of sport became breeding ground for“nationalism with banality”.The particular demand of“working hard”and“revitalizing China”were generalized to be spirit of the time.The sports films and sport news paid common services for the general development of the nation.Chapter Five concerntrates on the sports films of the last decade of the twentieth century（1990-2000）.During this period,the films in China underwent difficult transformations.Both the outlook and the theme of the sports film experienced great changes.Although the films continued to tell the“growth”stories from the last period,but the core message of the growth showed visible variation between technical improvements of the individuals to win medals and the self-actualization of individuals.The humanity meaning of the“growth”story was intensified,mainly focused on the existence,feelings,and dignity of the individuals.The subjects in the“growth”story were more emphasised,and the relation between human and sport was being rewritten.Chapter Six analyses sports films in the beginning of the new centry（2001-2016）.The new century was a period when films in China began to grow and recover.The sports films during this period rose quickly since the Beijing Olympic Game.The main message of the story was still“growth”,however,the pursuit of a strong nation was given much lighter expression in the youth stories.The illustration of“growth”became more manifold:the true meaning of sport;self transcendence,compromise with environment,and the emphasis on humanity and the reflection of sport spirt and meaning.The Conclusion summarises the above chapters,and further discusses the problems of the contemporary development of sports film in China and reflect on their solutions.Sports films developed from“heavy”to“light”,from“big”to“small”,having demonstrated the alterations of the meaning of“sport”along the time.The contemporary sports films are quite limited in their visions,whose theme are often unitary,stories dry and the depict of sport spirit often superficial,and there lacked diversified audio-visual expressions.The effective solutions are,that the film producers shall balance between the market demand and the political ideology,and try to properly position between sport and individuals and to tell good sport stories according to the habit and expectations of the audiences. |
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