영화대국을 향한 꿈과 현실의 간극 - 1950년대 중국영화를 중심으로 = Between Vision and Reality: The Pursuit of a Film Powerhouse in 1950s China

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Recognizing film as a crucial tool for the socialist revolution and state building, the Chinese Communist Party actively promoted the distribution of propaganda films to educate the people. In particular, national efforts to enhance film production capacity contributed to the quantitative growth of the Chinese film industry. Nevertheless, significant limitations were also evident.
This study focuses on the 1950s, a period when the political utility of film was firmly institutionalized, and explores the gap between the authorities' ambitious expectations and the reality of film production. By examining the trajectory toward becoming a film powerhouse, this paper highlights the challenges in strengthening film productivity during this transformative period of Chinese cinema.
The discussion identifies two primary objectives that guided Chinese cinema in the 1950s. First, the aim was to establish a comprehensive, vertically integrated system for film production, distribution, and exhibition, with the state exercising direct and centralized control. Second, the goal was to mass-produce high-quality domestic films that could substantively contribute to the construction of a socialist state and effectively disseminate ideological narratives to the people.
This strategic effort was fundamentally part of solidifying cinema's role as a critical cultural and political enterprise. Moreover, the Party leadership aspired to strengthen film production capabilities to rival the cinematic infrastructures of the Soviet Union and the United States.
However, the reality confronting Chinese cinema during this period diverged markedly from these ambitious objectives. Actual film production remained persistently stagnant for an extended period, consistently falling short of the quantitative and qualitative production targets established by state authorities.