China and Taiwan may be separated by just a narrow body of water but, like many other aspects of the cross-Strait relationship, the two film markets have remained largely separate from each other.
That is now changing with Night Market Hero, the first Taiwanese film to be allowed to enter the Chinese market under a broad trade deal signed last year.
Night Market Hero will be shown in Chinese screens from 12 July, an achievement that the Taiwanese government hailed on Wednesday as a “pioneering event that will be like a train engine leading more films to China”. The film’s breakthrough a year after the trade deal was signed will also provide some much needed ammunition for the government, in the run-up to next year’s election, to show that closer ties with China is bringing economic benefits to Taiwan.
Night Market Hero made T$140m in Taiwan, and stands to gain a lot more from China’s much bigger audience base, although director Yeh Tien-lun declined to forecast about his film’s China sales, instead saying that going to mainland China represented “a very important moment for film culture exchange across the Strait”.
Taiwanese films have been kept out of China in the past partly because they were much more open in dealing with political conflicts, such as A City of Sadness, or in depictions of nudity.
Other Taiwanese films since the trade deal was signed last year, including the gangster hit Monga, had likewise run afoul of Chinese censors. but Night Market Hero will be shown completely uncut.
On one hand, this was not entirely surprising. Night Market Hero, is a light-hearted comedic romp originally timed for the Chinese New Year holidays. As its title suggests, it is about the lives of a community of night market small stallowners selling such uniquely Taiwanese delicacies as fried chicken filets larger than your palm and oyster noodles.
On the other hand, China’s censors had in the past taken offense at a lot less than Night Market Hero’s scenes of property developers in cahoots with local officials to evict residents, or of stall-owners banding together and (horrors of horrors) democratically electing a leader to fight against then.
Reference from: http://big5.ftchinese.com/story/001039513/en
中國大陸和台灣或許只隔著一道窄窄的海峽，但是，與海峽兩岸關系中的其他許多方面一樣，兩岸電影市場至今仍然沒什麽往來。
這種局面即將被打破，《雞排英雄》(Night Market Hero)將成為去年兩岸簽署經濟合作架構協議(ECFA)以來，首部獲準進入大陸市場的台灣影片。
《雞排英雄》將從7月12日起在大陸影院上映。台灣政府周三歡呼這是“開創性事件，將像火車頭一樣，把更多電影帶到大陸”。在兩岸簽署ECFA一年後取得的這項突破，也將在明年選舉前為政府提供亟需的彈藥，證明與大陸增進聯系正為台灣帶來經濟效益。
《雞排英雄》在台灣創下了1.4億新台幣的票房成績，預計還將從數量多得多的大陸觀眾身上再獲得更多收入，但導演葉天倫拒絕預測在大陸的票房前景，僅表示該片進入大陸市場“對海峽兩岸的電影文化交流來說是一個極其重要的時刻”。
自從去年協議簽署以來，包括黑幫熱片《艋舺》在內的多部台灣影片都未能通過大陸有關部門的審查，而《雞排英雄》將無刪節上映。
一方面，這並非完全出人意料。《雞排英雄》是一部輕喜劇，原為春節賀歲片。正如片名所示，該片描寫的是在夜市上售賣台灣美食——比如比手掌還大的烤雞排和蚵仔面線——的小攤販們的生活。
另一方面，《雞排英雄》中有這樣的場景：地產開發商與地方官員勾結，意圖趕走居民；攤販們團結起來，民主地選舉出（這是最糟糕的）一位領袖與他們抗爭。以前程度比這些輕得多的描寫都能惹火大陸的審查機構。
Reference from: http://big5.ftchinese.com/story/001039513
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