填空题
Although French, German, American and British pioneers have all
been credited with the invention of cinema, the British and the Germans played a
relatively small role in its worldwide exploitation. It was above all the
French, followed closely by the Americans, who were the most passionate
exporters of the new invention, helping to start cinema in China, Japan, Latin
America and Russia. In terms of artistic development it was again the French and
the Americans who took the lead, though in the years before the First World War,
Italy, Denmark and Russia also played a part. In the end it was
the United States that was to become, and remain, the largest single market for
films. By protecting their own market and pursuing a vigorous export policy, the
Americans achieved a dominant position on the world market by the start of the
First World War. The centre of film-making had moved westwards, to Hollywood,
and it was films from these new Hollywood studios that flooded onto the world's
film markets in the years after the First World War, and have done so ever
since. Faced with total Hollywood domination, few film industries proved
competitive. The Italian industry, which had pioneered the feature film with
spectacular films like Quo Vadis? (1913) and Cabiria (1914), almost collapsed.
In Scandinavia, the Swedish cinema had a brief period of glory, notably with
powerful epic films and comedies. Even the French cinema found itself in a
difficult position. In Europe, only Germany proved industrially capable, while
in the new Soviet Union and in Japan, the development of the cinema took place
in conditions of commercial isolation. Hollywood took the lead
artistically as well as industrially. Hollywood films appealed because they had
better-constructed narratives, their special effects were more impressive, and
the star system added a new dimension to screen acting. If Hollywood did not
have enough of its own resources, it had a great deal of money to buy up artists
and technical innovations from Europe to ensure its continued dominance over
present or future competition. From early cinema, it was only
American slapstick comedy that successfully developed in both short and feature
format. However, during this "Silent Film" era, animation, comedy, serials and
dramatic features continued to thrive, along with factual films or
documentaries, which acquired an increasing distinctiveness as the period
progressed. It was also at this time that the avant-garde film first achieved
commercial success, this time thanks almost exclusively to the French and the
occasional German film. Of the countries which developed and
maintained distinctive national cinemas in the silent period, the most important
were France, Germany and the Soviet Union. Of these, the French displayed the
most continuity, in spite of the war and post-war economic uncertainties. The
German cinema, relatively insignificant in the pre-war years, exploded on to the
world scene after 1919. Yet even they were both overshadowed by the Soviets
after the 1917 Revolution. They turned their back on the past, leaving the style
of the pre-war Russian cinema to the Emigres who fled westwards to escape the
Revolution. The other countries whose cinemas changed
dramatically are: Britain, which had an interesting but undistinguished history
in the silent period; Italy, which had a brief moment of international fame just
before the war; the Scandinavian countries, particularly Denmark, which played a
role in the development of silent cinema quite out of proportion to their small
population; and Japan, where a cinema developed based primarily on traditional
theatrical and, to a lesser extent, other art forms and only gradually adapted
to western influence.
填空题
Who played the main role in cinema's worldwide exploitation and led the artistic development?
填空题
How did the Americans achieve a dominant position on the world market by the start of the First World War?
填空题
During which time did the avant-garde film first achieve commercial success?
填空题
Which countries were the most important countries that developed and maintained distinctive national cinemas in the silent period?
填空题
Why Hollywood can dominate over present or future competition?