《阿凡达》(Avatar)在中国势头正劲，却被政府横插一杠。
　　'Avatar' has been flying high in China, but Beijing is clipping its wings.
　　周二，多家影院证实接到通知，要求在周四前停止放映这部好莱坞大片的2D版，为拥有政府支持、讲述中国古代哲学家孔子生平的史诗电影《孔子》让路。
　　On Tuesday, cinemas confirmed that they have been ordered to pull two-dimensional editions of the Hollywood blockbuster as of Thursday to make way for a state-sponsored biography of the Chinese philosopher Confucius.
　　给《阿凡达》的放映踩下刹车的举措彰显出中国限制外国电影的努力。不过这一切正值中国电影产业复苏之际。
　　The move to sharply curtail showings of the movie highlights China's efforts to limit foreign films. But it also comes amid a rebirth of the Chinese film industry.
　　大约十年前，中国电影在各大国际电影节大放异彩，然而中国国内的电影产业却是混沌一片。影院老旧不堪，制作陈旧，盗版横行。相比之下，不久前的一个周三晚上，北京悠唐生活广场的电影院满是来看电影的年轻情侣。这家现代化的多厅影院有六个放映厅，共有1,200个座位，票价几乎一律8美元，而相邻街区的商店里盗版电影一张盘只要1美元。
　　About a decade ago, Chinese films scored big at international art festivals, but the industry was in disarray at home. Cinemas were old and decrepit, productions were clunkers and pirated videotapes and discs proliferated. By contrast, Beijing's You-Town shopping center was crowded with young couples watching films on a recent Wednesday night. The modern, six-cinema multiplex seats 1,200, and almost all the seats were taken at $8 each, even though stores on the next block were offering pirated films for about $1 a disc.
　　在过去影院放映的全都是港产片或国产电影。国产电影占票房总收入一半以上，而过去五年中国电影票房以每年25%的幅度增长。2009年增幅加快，达到42%，票房总收入9.11亿美元。这个数字仍远低于美国，市场研究机构Adams Media Research的数据显示，美国2009年票房总收入为98.7亿美元。
　　All the films on display were Hong Kong or domestically produced movies. Domestic films account for more than half the box-office gross, which has been growing at 25% a year over the past five years. In 2009, growth accelerated to 42%, with total receipts of $911 million. That is still far behind the U.S., where box-office receipts were $9.87 billion in 2009, according to Adams Media Research.
　　去年12月，世界贸易组织(WTO)裁定中国应当向外国影片开放市场，撤消进口电影只能通过政府经营的垄断企业发行的要求。这一裁定令外国制片公司振奋不已，它们一直抱怨中国的电影发行制度歧视外国影片，限制了它们的收入。WTO给了中国一年时间修改规则，否则将面临美国的关税惩罚。
　　In December, foreign filmmakers were heartened by a World Trade Organization ruling that said China should open its market to foreign films by lifting the requirement that the movies be sold through a government-run monopoly. Foreign filmmakers have complained the system discriminates against their movies and limits their revenues. China has a year to change the rules or face tariffs from the U.S., the WTO said.
　　本周对《阿凡达》做出的停止放映的决定符合中国长期以来限制外国影片的举措；每年仅允许进口20部影片，在票房飘红的重要节日里（例如即将到来的中国新年），影院中也难寻外国电影踪迹。阿凡达将继续在中国总计约800块屏幕的3D和IMAX影院放映，但在大多数影院都将下线，这些影院都将假日档期留给了国产片。
　　This week's Avatar decision fits with China's long-standing efforts to limit foreign films; only 20 movies can be imported each year, and most are blacked out during popular moviegoing seasons, such as the upcoming Chinese New Year festival. Avatar will continue to be shown in some of the country's estimated 800 3-D and IMAX cinemas but not in most theaters, which are being cleared for the holiday season for domestic films.
　　《阿凡达》由20世纪福克斯公司(20th Century Fox)出品，该公司与《华尔街日报》均为新闻集团(News Corp.)旗下企业。新闻集团发言人没有就此事立即置评。
　　Twentieth-Century Fox, the studio behind 'Avatar,' is owned by News Corp., which also publishes The Wall Street Journal. A News Corp. spokesman didn't have an immediate comment.
　　中影星美电影院线有限公司(China Stellar Film Co.) 一位管理人士说，公司周二接到了中国电影集团(China Film Group)的紧急通知，要求星美必须停止放映2D版《阿凡达》。中国电影集团拒绝置评，大多数在中国上映的电影都由该集团发行。
　　An official with China Stellar Film Co. said the distribution company had received an 'urgent notice' Tuesday from China Film Group, the government company that distributes most films in China, saying China Stellar had to stop running two-dimensional versions of Avatar. China Film Group declined to comment.
　　如果针对进口影片的规则改变，那么可能会有更多外国影片进入中国市场，但中国国产电影工业已经处于一种较过去更为有利的竞争地位。美国电影制作人、目前在中国工作的任国光(Lambert Yam)说，开放后进入中国市场的优质外国影片可能会多一些，但我不相信这会带来翻天覆地的变化；人们喜欢看国产电影，而且本土电影公司的实力也比以前更强了。
　　If the rules on foreign films change, more pictures could enter the market, but the domestic industry is now in a stronger position to compete. 'Opening up might bring in some more good foreign films, but I'm not convinced it will change things dramatically,' says Lambert Yam, a U.S. filmmaker who now works in China. 'People like seeing local films, and local studios are stronger than before.'
　　中国2001年加入世界贸易组织后，其电影工业开始翻身。彼时在中国卖座的电影全都是外国片──票房之王是1997年的《泰坦尼克号》(Titanic)，它在中国的总票房达到4,500万美元，和《阿凡达》一样，该片也是由卡梅隆(James Cameron)执导。
　　The Chinese film industry began to turn around after China joined the WTO in 2001. At the time, the only films that did well in China were foreign---the box-office king then was the 1997 film 'Titanic,' which grossed $45 million here and, like 'Avatar,' was directed by James Cameron.
　　为了加入世贸组织，中国同意把进口电影数量增加一倍至20部。北京电影学院教授余剑红说，人们当时担心国产电影将会消失。
　　To join the WTO, China agreed to double the number of imported films to 20. 'People were worried that the domestic industry would disappear,' says Yu Jianhong, a professor at Beijing Film Academy.
　　官员们表示，危机迫近促使他们重新思考。国家广播电影电视总局(State Administration of Radio, Film and Television，简称广电总局)高级官员童刚说，在过去，我们更多地受到旧式国家计划体制的影响，会制定一些目标出来；2002年过后，问题就更在于需求是什么，人们想要的是什么？
　　Officials say the looming crisis forced a reconsideration. 'In the past, we were more influenced by the old state planning system -- we set targets' says Tong Gang, a senior official at China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. 'After 2002, it was more a question of what was needed, what did people want?'
　　现代影院数量的增长扩大了中国城市里的屏幕数量，而私人企业家的投资，也使得电影的市场营销更加有效。
　　The growth in modern theaters has spread the number of screens in Chinese cities, and investment by private entrepreneurs has led to more effective marketing.
　　盗版也比过去控制得更加严格；尽管盗版DVD在影片首轮放映时就有，但大部分还是在影院里第一轮放完后才出来。
　　Piracy is more controlled than before; although pirated DVDs of first-run films are available, the products largely come out after films have had their first runs in theaters.
　　中国的制片体系也已经发生显著变化。在过去，每一个大城市或省份都有自己的制片公司，这同样也是国家计划体制的遗留。这种状况被过去10年的行业整合打破，电影公司华谊兄弟传媒股份有限公司(Huayi Brothers Media Corp.)在去年10月份上市。
　　Significantly, China's studio system also has changed. In the past, every major city or province had its own studio -- also a relic of state-planning days. That was broken up with consolidation through the past decade, culminating with one studio, Huayi Brothers Media Corp., going public in October.
　　这种变化使得电影公司老板们必须挣钱。当2002年的《英雄》成为中国第一部国产卖座大片、全球总票房达1.77亿美元后，他们意识到，钱是可以挣到的。
　　The shift put pressure on studio bosses to make a profit, something they realized they could do after the 2002 film 'Hero' became the country's first homegrown blockbuster, grossing $177 million world-wide.
　　北京紫禁城影业公司(Beijing Forbidden City Film Co.)总裁徐建海说，我们开始想，我们可以用中国自己的故事来发展电影工业，而这种办法效果非常好。
　　'We began to think that we could use China's own stories to develop the industry, and that's worked really well,' says Xu Jianhai, president of Beijing Forbidden City Film Co.
　　中国观众一般不喜欢音乐片、恐怖片或西部片，这就把很多好莱坞影片排除在外。但他们喜欢古装片、爱情片、战争片和功夫片。除了少数政府资助的政治性影片以外，大范围放映的几乎全都是娱乐片。
　　Chinese audiences typically shun musicals, horror and westerns, which rules out many Hollywood films. But they do like costume dramas, romances, war stories and kung-fu films. Except for a few government-subsidized political films, almost all productions widely shown in China are escapist.
　　这些影片得以分享了中国老百姓越来越鼓的钱包。美国南加州大学(University of Southern California)政治学教授、中国电影研究专家骆思典(Stanley Rosen)说，中国电影观众较以前并没有很大增长，而且他们大部分仍然集中在少数富裕的城镇地区。
　　These films have been able to tap into an increasingly affluent populace. Stanley Rosen, a professor of political science and an expert on Chinese films at the University of Southern California, says the number of Chinese moviegoers isn't that much greater than before and they are still largely concentrated in a few wealthy, urban areas.
　　但对于很多富足的城市人来说，在新建的电影院里花钱看电影是一种社会地位的象征，他们愿意支付日益升高的票价。
　　But spending money at the new cineplexes is a status symbol for many affluent urbanites, who are willing to pay ever-higher ticket prices.
　　预计今年中国将超过韩国成为亚洲第二大电影市场，按目前的增长速度，五年后有望把日本甩在身后。
　　This year, China is expected to surpass South Korea to become Asia's second-largest film market and could overtake Japan in five years at current growth rates.