双语阅读｜Netflix在戛纳仍旧遇冷
THE rise of Netflix has been greeted frostily by some of the old guard at the Cannes film festival, where the American streaming giant’s disregard for releasing films in cinemas wins it few friends. It looked a bit more at home on May 21st, as the lights went up at the Louis Lumière theatre. The stars of its own film, “The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)”, a comedy drama, accepted a standing ovation from the audience. Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s head of content, stood alongside Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller and other cast members. Festival-goers jostled for a word with him at a swanky after-party.
美国在线视频巨擘Netflix向来不重视院线电影，这让它在行业的支持者寥寥。这种情况在戛纳电影节上也是如此，一些传统电影人对Netflix的兴起漠然处之。5月21日，路易斯▪卢米埃尔影院的灯光亮起时，场面十分温馨。 Netflix新近拍摄的喜剧电影“ 迈耶罗维茨的故事”的演员出场时，受到了观众的热烈欢迎。Netflix的内容负责人泰德·萨兰多斯与达斯丁•霍夫曼、本·斯蒂勒等剧组人员一起出现。在电影节结束后的奢华舞会上，与会者争相上前与他说话。
This is the first year that Netflix has been admitted into the festival’s competition, with two films, “The Meyerowitz Stories” and “Okja”, directed by Bong Joon-ho of South Korea. Still, cries of protest from French film-industry executives prompted Thierry Frémaux, the festival director, to declare that, in future, only films guaranteed a theatrical release in France can qualify for the top Palme d’Or prize. Pedro Almodóvar, a film director and president of the jury, groused that he could not imagine a winner that could be seen only on small screens. During a press screening of “Okja”, Netflix’s logo was met by a smattering of boos.
今年是Netflix获准参与电影节竞赛的第一年，它带来了两部作品：《 迈耶罗维茨的故事》和韩国奉俊昊导演的《玉子》。然而，在法国电影从业者的抗议声中，电影节负责人蒂埃里·弗雷莫不得不宣布：未来，只有在法国影院上映的电影才有角逐金棕榈大奖的资格。评委主席，同时也是电影导演的佩德罗·阿莫多瓦抱怨称，他无法想象只能在小屏幕上观看一部获奖电影。在《玉子》的放映发布会上，对Netflix的标识奚落淅淅沥沥。
The controversy turns, appropriately enough for the French, on an existential question: if a film is never shown in cinemas, is it still a film? Netflix’s run at Cannes this year suggests that the majority of film types, at least, answer with a resounding “yes”. Independent film financiers, producers, directors and actors, including local ones, regard Mr Sarandos as, in effect, a Hollywood studio chief—but one who stakes big money on independent film.
对于法国人来说，这个争议其实是一个关乎存在性的问题：如果一部电影从未在影院上映，那它还是一部电影吗？今年Netflix在戛纳参赛表明这个问题的答案，各种类型的电影都应该被视作一部“电影”。不论在国际还是在戛纳当地，电影投资方、制作方、导演眼中的萨兰多斯不仅仅是好莱坞的一个工作室主管，更是一个舍得投入大量资金制作独立电影的人。
Therein lies the rub. In this age of Marvel superhero sequels and Harry Potter spin-offs, indie films struggle for customers. The median return on a low-budget film at the American box office is 45 cents on the dollar. With 100m subscribers globally, Netflix uses different maths to justify investments, including whether a film works for a specific segment of customers. And it has a lot of cash. Netflix will spend more than $7bn on content this year.
这就是问题所在了。这个时代充斥着超级英雄的系列电影和哈利波特衍生品，独立电影很难吸引观众。在美国票房中，一部低成本电影平均能收回45%的投入。Netflix有1亿的全球用户，他们运用各种算法来赚回电影投资，例如算出哪种类型的观众会想看这部电影。此外Netflix资金雄厚，每年会在内容制作上花70多亿美元。
Critics lament that no one will see Netflix’s films in a cinema. (Amazon, its big rival in streaming video, has decided to support cinema-first distribution; and Netflix itself does occasionally put films in cinemas in a few countries.) The criticism is especially political in France, the birthplace of film. Whereas Netflix has a business model that can finance less commercial, arty films, France’s government heavily subsidises such production. It imposes a “culture tax” on cinemas and broadcasters and also obliges TV networks to invest in film-making. Another part of the system is a three-year delay between a film’s release in theatres and its availability over internet services, which protects cinemas and physical-media formats.
评论人士纷纷叹息，没有人会在电影院里面看Netflx的电影。（Netflix的头号竞争者亚马逊决定支持在院线优先上映电影；而Netflix偶尔在几个国家的电影院里放映）作为电影的发源地，法国的这场争论充满了政治意味。相比于Netflix的商业模式会降低商业和艺术电影的成本，法国政府对院线电影提供了大量的补助，同时向电影院和广播公司征收了“文化税”，要求电视台加大电影制作的投入。另一方面，在电影院上映的电影要在三年后才能在网络上观看，这是为了保护电影院和其他实体媒介。
That delay was the sticking-point between Netflix and Cannes. Mr Sarandos says Netflix tried and failed to obtain a waiver so that its festival entries could appear in cinemas briefly. No matter. Despite Mr Frémaux’s ruling, Mr Sarandos expects to be back competing at Cannes. It will be hard for the festival’s film buffs to keep resisting Mr Stiller’s argument: that while he wants to see movies in cinemas, “studios aren’t making the movies Ted’s making.”
这条在网络上延期播放的规定成了Netflix和戛纳矛盾的关键点。萨兰多斯表示，Netflix试图想获豁免，但没能实现，因此，Netflix的参选电影将在电影院里短暂放映一段时间。这没有什么问题。尽管电影节负责人弗雷莫对此表态，萨兰多斯仍期望未来再战戛纳。电影节的影迷们将很难否认斯蒂勒的观点：虽然他想在电影院看电影，但是“电影公司的电影远远比不上泰德制作的电影”。
编译：lkf&zty
编辑：翻吧君
来源：经济学人