【鉅亨網編譯郭照青 綜合外電】 經濟史學者Niall Ferguson近來在金融時報寫道， 一種希臘式危機正悄悄逼近美國。Ferguson聲稱，公共 債務問題即將引爆，希臘與其他歐洲國家的債務危機將 越過大西洋，登陸美國。
「這太誇張了，」金融時報首席分析師Martin Wol f說。在上個月的一篇專欄中，Wolf進一步指出，這種 最壞的想法簡直「歇斯底里」。
美國為何不會是下一個希臘，Wolf點出幾點理由， 說明美國為何能安然避開希臘的命運。
1.浮動貨幣：美國有能力讓美元貶值，以提高出口 需求。
2.仍是美元：儘管謠傳美元即將步上末路，但全球 以美元計價資產的需求依舊強勁。他強調，美元沒有可 行的替代品。
3.債務管理：許多美國人擔心美國日益擴大的赤字 ，但Wolf指出，現在不是抑制支出的時候，不能讓初步 的復甦有中斷危險。一個國家擁有自己的貨幣，一種浮 動的貨幣，央行能夠印製，由於沒有其他替代品，全球 都爭相持有，這個國家將有運作空間。
4.歐盟限制。就是這種貨幣獨立性，給了美國與英 國運作的空間，無需受到多國財政同盟的束縛。而希臘 ，便受到歐盟嚴格規定的限制。
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Thursday, March 4, 2010
全球经济难以走出泥潭
作者：英国《金融时报》首席经济评论员 马丁•沃尔夫 2010-03-03
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最大 较大 默认 较小 最小 背景
加入收藏 电邮给朋友 打印本文章 写信给编辑
任何细心关注世界经济的人都会发现，一直维系着经济向前发展的，是一定程度的货币与财政刺激——在“和平时期”未曾见过，不仅高收入国家如此，大型新兴经济体亦是如此。人们通常认为，我们也有可能实现平稳退出。这种可能性似乎非常之大。那么，让我们转而思考一下如何收官的问题。
我们必须从刺激措施这枚“硬币”的反面开始：私人部门目前的支出远低于它的总收入。经济合作与发展组织(OECD)最新一期《经济展望》(Economic Outlook)中的预测暗示，在其6个成员国（荷兰、瑞士、瑞典、日本、英国与爱尔兰）中，私人部门今年的收支盈余将超过国内生产总值(GDP)的10%。另外13个成员国私人部门的收支盈余则将占到GDP的5%到10%。后者包括美国，该比例为7.3%。欧元区私人部门收支盈余将占到GDP的6.7%，整个经合组织则为GDP的7.4%。
另外，根据预测，经合组织至少有8个成员国2007年至2010年间的私人部门收支平衡转移将超过GDP的10%（见图表）。预计还将有8个成员国的转移将超过GDP的5%。预计美国的转移将达到GDP的9.6%。欧元区将达到5.5%，整个经合组织将达到7.3%。萧条的威胁已然临近。
请注意，在货币政策空前宽松的情况下，私人部门收支平衡还是将向盈余出现如此巨额的转移。尽管宽松的货币政策帮助阻止了私人支出出现更大的崩盘，但巨额财政赤字（主要是自动稳定器的功能所致）也发挥了同样重要的作用。如果政府尝试过结束财政赤字——正如它们在上世纪30年代所尝试过的那样——那么，我们可能已身陷另一场大萧条(Great Depression)之中。
那么，我们该如何退出呢？为了回答这个问题，我们必须在如何进入这一困境的问题上达成共识。这个问题的主要答案是，在过去三十年内，一系列泡沫帮助维持了世界经济的前行。不过，在这些泡沫的背后，存在一个超级信贷泡沫，这个泡沫于2008年破裂。这就是私人支出骤降、财政赤字激增的原因所在。
国际清算银行(BIS)前首席经济学家威廉•怀特(William White)是下述观点的主要倡导者：即货币政策失误，特别是美联储(Fed)的货币政策失误，推动了世界经济的前行。理查德•邓肯(Richard Duncan)在他发人深省的新书《资本主义的堕落》(The Corruption of Capitalism)中，提出了一种与此类似、但更为激进的批评意见。
在印度央行(Reserve Bank of India)本月举行的成立75周年会议上，怀特用浅显易懂的语言解释了自己的观点。由于供应冲击使通胀维持在低位，制定通胀目标的一些央行，在太长的时间里，将利率维持在了太低的水平上。他辩称，其结果是一系列的失衡，这与美国上世纪20年代和日本上世纪80年代的情况没有什么不同。特别是，由于实际利率远低于经济增长率，信贷扩张实际上不受限制。债务随即开始膨胀（见图表）。
怀特指出了四种失衡：资产价格泡沫，尤其是上世纪90年代的股市泡沫与本世纪初的楼市泡沫；金融行业资产负债表的爆炸性增长及其风险敞口的扩大；奥地利学派(Austrian School)经济学家所称作的“不善投资(malinvestment)”——高收入国家耐用品消费剧增，美国等国家大举兴建住房和大型购物中心，中国则兴建出口导向型工厂；最后还有贸易失衡，资本不断涌入美国及其它高支出国家。
我不认为货币政策失误是上述所有问题的根源。但它们在其中起到了一定的作用。无论如何，所有这些问题都必须解决。如今，在内爆之后，我们见证了非凡的纾困努力。那么，下面会发生什么？我们可以找出两种选择：成功与失败。
谈到“成功”，我指的是重新启动高收入赤字国家的信贷引擎。这样一来，私人部门的支出就会重新大幅上升、财政赤字会出现收缩、经济似乎最终也将重返常态。而我所说的“失败”，指的是去杠杆化进程继续、私人支出显露不出任何真正的活力，而财政赤字规模则比几乎所有人目前所敢于想象的更大、持续时间也更长。这将又是一个后泡沫时代的日本，而规模则要大得多。
不幸的是，我称之为成功路径的结果，或许是未来爆发一场规模更大的金融危机；而被我称之为失败路径的结果，将会是财政纾困手段用尽，尽管这个时间可能比自寻烦恼者担心的要长。但关键是，这两个结果最终都将使我们陷入主权债务危机。而这必将进而导致违约，很可能是通过通胀的方式。从本质上讲，紧张的资产负债状况有可能导致私人部门大规模破产和经济萧条，或是主权破产和通胀，或是这两者的某种混合体。
我可以想出两种方式，让世界通过增长摆脱巨额债务负担，同时不发生上述崩盘：即赤字国家大幅增加私人与公共投资，或新兴国家增加需求。按照第一种方式，未来的收入增长将使今天的借贷变得可以承担。而按照第二种方式，赤字国家私人部门去杠杆化产生的储蓄，将会自然而然地转化为新兴国家的投资。
不过，利用此类机遇需要彻底重新思考。在英美等国，较高的财政赤字将会持续很长一段时间，但同时存在与之对应的推动投资的意愿。此外，高收入国家必须积极地与新兴国家进行交往，围绕全球金融改革展开讨论，目的是推动净资金流动从前者持续进入后者。
遗憾的是，没有人认识到如此激进的一个后危机议程。相反，大多数人希望，世界会重新回到从前的样子。世界不会、也不应回到从前。相反，一个成功的退出方案的关键因素，是用私人部门的巨额盈余，来为全球公共及私人部门增加投资提供资金。只有中国需要增加消费。
让我们不要重复以往的错误。让我们别去指望一轮信贷推动的消费热潮能拯救自己。相反，让我们投资于未来。
作者：英国《金融时报》首席经济评论员 马丁•沃尔夫 2010-03-03
字号
最大 较大 默认 较小 最小 背景
加入收藏 电邮给朋友 打印本文章 写信给编辑
任何细心关注世界经济的人都会发现，一直维系着经济向前发展的，是一定程度的货币与财政刺激——在“和平时期”未曾见过，不仅高收入国家如此，大型新兴经济体亦是如此。人们通常认为，我们也有可能实现平稳退出。这种可能性似乎非常之大。那么，让我们转而思考一下如何收官的问题。
我们必须从刺激措施这枚“硬币”的反面开始：私人部门目前的支出远低于它的总收入。经济合作与发展组织(OECD)最新一期《经济展望》(Economic Outlook)中的预测暗示，在其6个成员国（荷兰、瑞士、瑞典、日本、英国与爱尔兰）中，私人部门今年的收支盈余将超过国内生产总值(GDP)的10%。另外13个成员国私人部门的收支盈余则将占到GDP的5%到10%。后者包括美国，该比例为7.3%。欧元区私人部门收支盈余将占到GDP的6.7%，整个经合组织则为GDP的7.4%。
另外，根据预测，经合组织至少有8个成员国2007年至2010年间的私人部门收支平衡转移将超过GDP的10%（见图表）。预计还将有8个成员国的转移将超过GDP的5%。预计美国的转移将达到GDP的9.6%。欧元区将达到5.5%，整个经合组织将达到7.3%。萧条的威胁已然临近。
请注意，在货币政策空前宽松的情况下，私人部门收支平衡还是将向盈余出现如此巨额的转移。尽管宽松的货币政策帮助阻止了私人支出出现更大的崩盘，但巨额财政赤字（主要是自动稳定器的功能所致）也发挥了同样重要的作用。如果政府尝试过结束财政赤字——正如它们在上世纪30年代所尝试过的那样——那么，我们可能已身陷另一场大萧条(Great Depression)之中。
那么，我们该如何退出呢？为了回答这个问题，我们必须在如何进入这一困境的问题上达成共识。这个问题的主要答案是，在过去三十年内，一系列泡沫帮助维持了世界经济的前行。不过，在这些泡沫的背后，存在一个超级信贷泡沫，这个泡沫于2008年破裂。这就是私人支出骤降、财政赤字激增的原因所在。
国际清算银行(BIS)前首席经济学家威廉•怀特(William White)是下述观点的主要倡导者：即货币政策失误，特别是美联储(Fed)的货币政策失误，推动了世界经济的前行。理查德•邓肯(Richard Duncan)在他发人深省的新书《资本主义的堕落》(The Corruption of Capitalism)中，提出了一种与此类似、但更为激进的批评意见。
在印度央行(Reserve Bank of India)本月举行的成立75周年会议上，怀特用浅显易懂的语言解释了自己的观点。由于供应冲击使通胀维持在低位，制定通胀目标的一些央行，在太长的时间里，将利率维持在了太低的水平上。他辩称，其结果是一系列的失衡，这与美国上世纪20年代和日本上世纪80年代的情况没有什么不同。特别是，由于实际利率远低于经济增长率，信贷扩张实际上不受限制。债务随即开始膨胀（见图表）。
怀特指出了四种失衡：资产价格泡沫，尤其是上世纪90年代的股市泡沫与本世纪初的楼市泡沫；金融行业资产负债表的爆炸性增长及其风险敞口的扩大；奥地利学派(Austrian School)经济学家所称作的“不善投资(malinvestment)”——高收入国家耐用品消费剧增，美国等国家大举兴建住房和大型购物中心，中国则兴建出口导向型工厂；最后还有贸易失衡，资本不断涌入美国及其它高支出国家。
我不认为货币政策失误是上述所有问题的根源。但它们在其中起到了一定的作用。无论如何，所有这些问题都必须解决。如今，在内爆之后，我们见证了非凡的纾困努力。那么，下面会发生什么？我们可以找出两种选择：成功与失败。
谈到“成功”，我指的是重新启动高收入赤字国家的信贷引擎。这样一来，私人部门的支出就会重新大幅上升、财政赤字会出现收缩、经济似乎最终也将重返常态。而我所说的“失败”，指的是去杠杆化进程继续、私人支出显露不出任何真正的活力，而财政赤字规模则比几乎所有人目前所敢于想象的更大、持续时间也更长。这将又是一个后泡沫时代的日本，而规模则要大得多。
不幸的是，我称之为成功路径的结果，或许是未来爆发一场规模更大的金融危机；而被我称之为失败路径的结果，将会是财政纾困手段用尽，尽管这个时间可能比自寻烦恼者担心的要长。但关键是，这两个结果最终都将使我们陷入主权债务危机。而这必将进而导致违约，很可能是通过通胀的方式。从本质上讲，紧张的资产负债状况有可能导致私人部门大规模破产和经济萧条，或是主权破产和通胀，或是这两者的某种混合体。
我可以想出两种方式，让世界通过增长摆脱巨额债务负担，同时不发生上述崩盘：即赤字国家大幅增加私人与公共投资，或新兴国家增加需求。按照第一种方式，未来的收入增长将使今天的借贷变得可以承担。而按照第二种方式，赤字国家私人部门去杠杆化产生的储蓄，将会自然而然地转化为新兴国家的投资。
不过，利用此类机遇需要彻底重新思考。在英美等国，较高的财政赤字将会持续很长一段时间，但同时存在与之对应的推动投资的意愿。此外，高收入国家必须积极地与新兴国家进行交往，围绕全球金融改革展开讨论，目的是推动净资金流动从前者持续进入后者。
遗憾的是，没有人认识到如此激进的一个后危机议程。相反，大多数人希望，世界会重新回到从前的样子。世界不会、也不应回到从前。相反，一个成功的退出方案的关键因素，是用私人部门的巨额盈余，来为全球公共及私人部门增加投资提供资金。只有中国需要增加消费。
让我们不要重复以往的错误。让我们别去指望一轮信贷推动的消费热潮能拯救自己。相反，让我们投资于未来。
humor
小惠因背痛去看医生。医生看后摇头，问：“昨晚是不是跟男朋友去约会了？”“对呀！”又问：“在墓地约会？”“……嗯。”“是否有过度的激烈运动？”“医生你真厉害，怎么都知道？”“因为你的背部反印着‘显考X公……之墓……"
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02月27日 01:23 评论(0) 小泽在苏州。
02月26日 23:45 评论(0) 电影学院前问女考生:有人要求你象兽兽那样，边搞边拍，你怎么办？女考生：在DV前，就算不戴胸罩，起码也得戴墨镜啊……
02月26日 19:40 评论(1) 米帝，加州，一位牙医，Lydia Carranza女士。临退休前，去做了个手术。然后某天一同事的老公冲到医院，用冲锋枪冲她扫射。她感到胸前一湿，就被送院了。结果毫发无伤。经医生鉴定，是硅胶充分的吸收了弹片，么的受到其他伤害。米帝用事实证明了新科技还是比盐水袋更靠谱的！
学好英语，振兴中华：Freedamn中国特色自由，Smilence笑而不语，Togayther终成眷属，Democrazy痴心妄想，shitizen屁民，Innernet中国互联网，Departyment（政府）有关部门
什么是中国梦？ 1读书，考上清华北大，到外企工作，出国，拿绿卡； 2进娱乐圈，潜规则成名，出国，变国籍； 3当官，当裸官，外逃，过一掷千金的日子； 4做生意，赚钱，出国定居，想生几个孩子就生几个孩子，让小孩都在国外上大学。
总是在裁人，称总裁；老是板着脸，称老板；总想监视人，叫总监；经常没道理，叫经理；让领导秘密舒服，为秘书。
不成熟男人标志：1.与知己上床; 2.跟网友见面; 3.和情人结婚; 4.把爱好当职业; 5.把同事当朋友; 6.上司面前知无不言; 7.轻信上司的许诺; 8.喜怒哀乐挂在脸上; 9.相信仅靠努力会成功; 10.不会艺术地恭维; 11.没有私房钱; 12.做爱不戴安全套.
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03月03日 13:08 评论(3) http://tt.mop.com/topic/read_3990729_1_0.html日记门照片。
03月02日 19:06 评论(0) 韩国五万人以上同时按F5活活按死日本最大BBS 2ch服务器。2ch封锁韩国ip。
03月02日 19:02 评论(0) 据说大地震前有三个明显征兆：1.井水异常；2.牲畜反应异常；3.专家出来辟谣。但是细心网友指出，第二条和第三条重复了。
03月02日 18:50 评论(0) 设想谈恋爱谈了七八年，结婚之后发现老婆不孕，那之前多年的套套不都白买了？很大一笔钱哦！
03月01日 20:56 评论(0) 问：为什么要穿露股装？MM笑答：多大点屁事还用布包着，浪费了布，糟践了屁！
03月01日 20:40 评论(0) 鲜花插在牛粪上不是杯具，杯具的是被牛粪插。
03月01日 14:55 评论(0) 老妈看不惯外国歌星。一天，我正在看MJ的MV时，赫然发现老妈站在后面看，一脸深思。“您~~也喜欢看这个？”老妈摇了摇头：“毛阿敏真是越来越难看了。”
03月01日 14:53 评论(0) 1955年中国的人均收入是韩国的3.2倍，日本的1.1倍。但经过50多年“翻天覆地”的增长，2008年中国的人均收入是日本的3％，韩国7％。
03月01日 14:52 评论(0) 女性好友生日，我们四个人商量零点发一条“生日快乐”给她，一人发一个字，我领到了第二个。 结果，他们都没发。
03月01日 14:42 评论(0) 女子3000接力当天，长春领导邀请周洋父亲观看比赛，未判韩国队犯规之前，全他吗的势力眼，都以为拿了银牌了，花也不送，人也不管，周洋爸爸自己下楼打的走了.等听到韩国队犯规被取消成绩，中国夺冠时。。。撒开人马到处找周洋爸爸 问来问去，谁都不知道周洋爸爸什么时候走的
02月28日 23:12 评论(0) 遥望天都倚客松，莲花始信两飞峰。且持梦笔书奇景，日破云涛万里红。敏感词了。
02月28日 22:37 评论(0) 等公车，开过一宝马，一高人对身边说：看！刚过去那辆就是IBM。
02月28日 22:11 评论(0) 我翻开历史一查，这历史没有年代，歪歪斜斜的每叶上都写着“仁义道德”几个字。我横竖睡不着，仔细看了半夜，才从字缝里看出字来，满本都写着两个字是“和谐”！
02月28日 01:06 评论(1) 传管彤和韩红在美国结婚。
02月27日 23:13 评论(0) 孙悟空大尿天宫！
02月27日 21:03 评论(7) 512（汶川）,112（海地）,227（智利）。把以上三组数字列为三行，再竖着看一遍。靠。
02月27日 01:23 评论(0) 小泽在苏州。
02月26日 23:45 评论(0) 电影学院前问女考生:有人要求你象兽兽那样，边搞边拍，你怎么办？女考生：在DV前，就算不戴胸罩，起码也得戴墨镜啊……
02月26日 19:40 评论(1) 米帝，加州，一位牙医，Lydia Carranza女士。临退休前，去做了个手术。然后某天一同事的老公冲到医院，用冲锋枪冲她扫射。她感到胸前一湿，就被送院了。结果毫发无伤。经医生鉴定，是硅胶充分的吸收了弹片，么的受到其他伤害。米帝用事实证明了新科技还是比盐水袋更靠谱的！
学好英语，振兴中华：Freedamn中国特色自由，Smilence笑而不语，Togayther终成眷属，Democrazy痴心妄想，shitizen屁民，Innernet中国互联网，Departyment（政府）有关部门
什么是中国梦？ 1读书，考上清华北大，到外企工作，出国，拿绿卡； 2进娱乐圈，潜规则成名，出国，变国籍； 3当官，当裸官，外逃，过一掷千金的日子； 4做生意，赚钱，出国定居，想生几个孩子就生几个孩子，让小孩都在国外上大学。
总是在裁人，称总裁；老是板着脸，称老板；总想监视人，叫总监；经常没道理，叫经理；让领导秘密舒服，为秘书。
不成熟男人标志：1.与知己上床; 2.跟网友见面; 3.和情人结婚; 4.把爱好当职业; 5.把同事当朋友; 6.上司面前知无不言; 7.轻信上司的许诺; 8.喜怒哀乐挂在脸上; 9.相信仅靠努力会成功; 10.不会艺术地恭维; 11.没有私房钱; 12.做爱不戴安全套.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Texting in China
Well-red
Chinese communism’s classic texts
Feb 18th 2010 | BEIJING | From The Economist print edition
THE year of the Tiger began this week as usual in China with cascades of fireworks and, as is now also the custom, of celebratory text messages on mobile phones. Like the pyrotechnics, Chinese text messages come in a variety of colours: yellow, grey, black and now, with official endorsement, red.
Yellow refers to the smutty type, and grey or black to spam messages, many of which offer products or services of various shades of legality. Recently the government has been stepping up efforts to eradicate such abuses. To steer public thinking, it is encouraging the sending of politically correct “red texts”.
In mid-January the state-controlled press reported that Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou were trying a text-filtering system that could distinguish between the various hues. Those caught sending yellow ones risked having their phone’s text function blocked. Restoring it would require a visit to the police and a written pledge not to text smut again.
This provoked howls of online protest. One popular social commentator, Han Han, complained on his blog that officials had not defined smut. He said he would keep sending text messages until he found out what words would get his service blocked. An article on the website of an unusually outspoken newspaper, Southern Daily, argued that such filtering was unconstitutional. Officials clarified that only those who send huge numbers of such messages need worry (over 300 an hour, an official in Guangzhou was quoted as saying).
The practice of “red-texting” is said to have begun in 2005 in Guangdong province, of which Guangzhou is the capital, when one operator, China Mobile, began organising competitions there to see who could devise the best red messages. This month a symposium for senior telecom officials in Beijing on the “red-text phenomenon” was portrayed in the state-owned press as a sign of high-level endorsement for the campaign.
The most famous red-texter is Bo Xilai, the party chief of Chongqing (see article). Last April he sent 13m-odd mobile-users a message bearing quotes from Mao Zedong such as “What really counts in the world is conscientiousness, and the Communist party is most particular about being conscientious.” Enthused, or more likely bemused, users relayed his missive, reported the local press, 16m times.
Well-red
Chinese communism’s classic texts
Feb 18th 2010 | BEIJING | From The Economist print edition
THE year of the Tiger began this week as usual in China with cascades of fireworks and, as is now also the custom, of celebratory text messages on mobile phones. Like the pyrotechnics, Chinese text messages come in a variety of colours: yellow, grey, black and now, with official endorsement, red.
Yellow refers to the smutty type, and grey or black to spam messages, many of which offer products or services of various shades of legality. Recently the government has been stepping up efforts to eradicate such abuses. To steer public thinking, it is encouraging the sending of politically correct “red texts”.
In mid-January the state-controlled press reported that Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou were trying a text-filtering system that could distinguish between the various hues. Those caught sending yellow ones risked having their phone’s text function blocked. Restoring it would require a visit to the police and a written pledge not to text smut again.
This provoked howls of online protest. One popular social commentator, Han Han, complained on his blog that officials had not defined smut. He said he would keep sending text messages until he found out what words would get his service blocked. An article on the website of an unusually outspoken newspaper, Southern Daily, argued that such filtering was unconstitutional. Officials clarified that only those who send huge numbers of such messages need worry (over 300 an hour, an official in Guangzhou was quoted as saying).
The practice of “red-texting” is said to have begun in 2005 in Guangdong province, of which Guangzhou is the capital, when one operator, China Mobile, began organising competitions there to see who could devise the best red messages. This month a symposium for senior telecom officials in Beijing on the “red-text phenomenon” was portrayed in the state-owned press as a sign of high-level endorsement for the campaign.
The most famous red-texter is Bo Xilai, the party chief of Chongqing (see article). Last April he sent 13m-odd mobile-users a message bearing quotes from Mao Zedong such as “What really counts in the world is conscientiousness, and the Communist party is most particular about being conscientious.” Enthused, or more likely bemused, users relayed his missive, reported the local press, 16m times.
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LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalink By DOROTHY SPEARS
Published: February 17, 2010
THE artist Yun-Fei Ji was riding his electric bike through Beijing last October, snapping pictures of the elaborate parades honoring the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Suddenly, he said, among the white-uniformed soldiers holding bouquets of red flowers and the rows of bright blue military tanks, “everywhere I looked, I saw either a volunteer guard with a red armband or a policeman or a soldier.”
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Robert Wright for The New York Times
The artist Yun-Fei Ji in his Brooklyn studio.
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The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more. Join the discussion.
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James Cohan Gallery, New York
Detail from the 10-foot horizontal scroll “Migrants of the Three Gorges Dam.”
Feeling conflicted about what he considered to be an overzealous display of control by the Chinese authorities, Mr. Ji, 46, said he rode home to place an online order for “The 120 Days of Sodom,” the scandalous 18th-century French novel by the Marquis de Sade. “For some reason,” explained Mr. Ji, who was born in Beijing but is now an American citizen, “whenever I go to China, I feel the need to transgress.”
In the weeks that followed, Mr. Ji began to fill the walls of his temporary Beijing studio with sketches, and eventually paintings, of emaciated figures that appear by turns docile and domineering. These works, along with a 10-foot horizontal scroll, “Migrants of the Three Gorges Dam,” critiquing the dam’s social and environmental impact, are among the highlights of “Mistaking Each Other for Ghosts,” a selection of Mr. Ji’s recent work that opened Friday at the James Cohan Gallery in Chelsea.
Mr. Ji’s subtle, subversive watercolors have appeared in important contemporary art roundups like the 2002 Whitney Biennial, and last year in the “Medals of Dishonour” show at the British Museum and in “Chelsea Visits Havana” at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Cuba. The Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis organized a 2004 solo exhibit of his work, “The Empty City,” which traveled to the Rose Art Museum in Waltham, Mass., among other institutions. And in 2005 the American Academy in Rome awarded Mr. Ji a Prix de Rome. Although he is less known in China than in the West, a June show of his paintings at James Cohan’s sister gallery in Shanghai, coinciding with the World’s Fair there, may change that.
While Mr. Ji has spent his career searching for images that convey his ambivalence about what he calls “heavy authority,” until recently his most perverse act may have been his choice of traditional Chinese landscape painting as his preferred medium.
“What’s fascinating about Yun-Fei is that he would turn to radical antiquarianism, when the society he’s from really hates that,” said May Castleberry, an editor for the Museum of Modern Art’s Library Council Editions, which recently published a limited-edition book of his new work.
During a recent interview at his New York gallery, Mr. Ji agreed. “When I was growing up during the Cultural Revolution,” he said, “if you were a traditional landscape painter, you could really get in trouble.”
During subsequent decades, as Chinese artists gravitated toward Western approaches to art, “again traditional painting was not fashionable,” he said. In the past couple of years, however, “people in China have become more interested in looking at these traditions,” he said.
In “Migrants of the Three Gorges Dam,” a project that Mr. Ji began several years ago under the auspices of MoMA, he once again uses traditional means to explore contemporary issues. Hand printed from 500 carved woodblocks made by the esteemed Rongbaozhai printing and publishing house, Mr. Ji’s mounted scroll portrays flooded landscapes and dispossessed farmers alongside his calligraphic descriptions of the flooding of the Yangtze River and reports on the displacement of inhabitants of the area based on his own interviews, research and observations.
Yet Mr. Ji said he was less interested in criticizing the world’s largest hydroelectric power plant — long a symbol of progress in China — than he was in revealing the interconnection between humans and their natural environment. “The belief among ancient scholars,” he said, “is that nature offers an ethical model that we should follow in human society. A horizontal line, for example, in Chinese calligraphy, is like a cloud formation, or a natural, living form.”
Having just arrived in New York this month after an eight-month stay in China, Mr. Ji, whose brown tweed cap was offset by a V-neck sweater and sensible sneakers, unrolled a bundle of new paintings, which he had carried on the airplane. One of these, “The Garden Party,” reflected his recent musings on Sade’s work. An apparently bucolic scene based on a recent visit to the ancient gardens of Suzhou, the watercolor contrasts overflowing flowerpots and blooming cherry trees with decadent-looking figures in various stages of dress. Among them a naked figure crawls on all fours through a puddle with a bag over his head and his pants bunched around his ankles. Framing the image are excerpts from Sade’s text rendered into Mr. Ji’s elegant calligraphy. Offering a rough translation, he read: “Your duty is to serve my pleasure, and to take a lot of abuse. If you complain, you’ll be destroyed.”
Reading further, in silence, Mr. Ji, a soft-spoken man with a wry sense of humor, chuckled. “The writing is very vulgar,” he said.
He spent his early childhood at an army base, where his father served as a military doctor. He was 7, he said, when his mother, a draftswoman in an architectural firm, was sent for re-education in a labor camp. “I don’t know what she did,” he said.
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
James Cohan Gallery, New York
A detail from the 10-foot horizontal scroll “Migrants of the Three Gorges Dam.”
Blog
ArtsBeat
The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more. Join the discussion.
More Arts News
Enlarge This Image
James Cohan Gallery, New York
“The Garden Party.” “Mistaking Each Other for Ghosts,” a selection of Mr. Ji’s recent work, is at the James Cohan Gallery in Chelsea.
During her two-year absence Mr. Ji lived with his grandparents in Hangzhou, which from 1127 to 1279 was the ancient capital city of the southern Song Dynasty. There his grandfather, who taught high school, introduced him to calligraphy. And on hot summer nights, since “we didn’t have a TV or even a radio,” Mr. Ji said, his grandmother would sit outside among their neighbors “sipping a tea and telling ghost stories.” Drowned ghosts, hoping to reincarnate themselves by inhabiting the bodies of living children, figured repeatedly in his grandmother’s many stories. And they clearly struck a nerve; Mr. Ji’s landscapes are often strewn with fantastical chimeras, ghostlike figures with animal bodies and heads.
Mr. Ji attended the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, where most of his teachers had been trained at Stalinist art schools in the Soviet Union during the 1950s. Not surprisingly, social realism was the reigning style. Although classical art was dismissed as backward, Mr. Ji said Chung Jun Quai, a costume and lighting designer for films, taught him “that reading a painting is like reading a poem.”
When the University of Arkansas offered Mr. Ji a scholarship in 1986, he said, the decision to leave China was difficult: “There was a lot of excitement when I was in art school. But I also felt this pressure that was really restrictive. Psychologically, it felt very uncomfortable.”
Once in the United States, however, he discovered the German Expressionists George Grosz and Otto Dix, and the American postwar painter Philip Guston, who combined humorous, even cartoony iconography with masterly painting. Remaining in America after he graduated, Mr. Ji was eventually granted citizenship and moved to Brooklyn. Even so, depictions of his native China continue to dominate his work. Referring to “a huge corruption scandal” unfolding in the city of Chongqing during his recent visit, Mr. Ji asked, “What do you do when so much control and power is concentrated in the hands of a few corrupt officials?”
Without waiting for an answer, he added, “That’s why the Marquis de Sade made sense to me as a kind of response.”
Sign In to E-Mail
Single Page
Reprints
Share
Close
LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalink By DOROTHY SPEARS
Published: February 17, 2010
THE artist Yun-Fei Ji was riding his electric bike through Beijing last October, snapping pictures of the elaborate parades honoring the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Suddenly, he said, among the white-uniformed soldiers holding bouquets of red flowers and the rows of bright blue military tanks, “everywhere I looked, I saw either a volunteer guard with a red armband or a policeman or a soldier.”
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Robert Wright for The New York Times
The artist Yun-Fei Ji in his Brooklyn studio.
Blog
ArtsBeat
The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more. Join the discussion.
More Arts News
Enlarge This Image
James Cohan Gallery, New York
Detail from the 10-foot horizontal scroll “Migrants of the Three Gorges Dam.”
Feeling conflicted about what he considered to be an overzealous display of control by the Chinese authorities, Mr. Ji, 46, said he rode home to place an online order for “The 120 Days of Sodom,” the scandalous 18th-century French novel by the Marquis de Sade. “For some reason,” explained Mr. Ji, who was born in Beijing but is now an American citizen, “whenever I go to China, I feel the need to transgress.”
In the weeks that followed, Mr. Ji began to fill the walls of his temporary Beijing studio with sketches, and eventually paintings, of emaciated figures that appear by turns docile and domineering. These works, along with a 10-foot horizontal scroll, “Migrants of the Three Gorges Dam,” critiquing the dam’s social and environmental impact, are among the highlights of “Mistaking Each Other for Ghosts,” a selection of Mr. Ji’s recent work that opened Friday at the James Cohan Gallery in Chelsea.
Mr. Ji’s subtle, subversive watercolors have appeared in important contemporary art roundups like the 2002 Whitney Biennial, and last year in the “Medals of Dishonour” show at the British Museum and in “Chelsea Visits Havana” at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Cuba. The Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis organized a 2004 solo exhibit of his work, “The Empty City,” which traveled to the Rose Art Museum in Waltham, Mass., among other institutions. And in 2005 the American Academy in Rome awarded Mr. Ji a Prix de Rome. Although he is less known in China than in the West, a June show of his paintings at James Cohan’s sister gallery in Shanghai, coinciding with the World’s Fair there, may change that.
While Mr. Ji has spent his career searching for images that convey his ambivalence about what he calls “heavy authority,” until recently his most perverse act may have been his choice of traditional Chinese landscape painting as his preferred medium.
“What’s fascinating about Yun-Fei is that he would turn to radical antiquarianism, when the society he’s from really hates that,” said May Castleberry, an editor for the Museum of Modern Art’s Library Council Editions, which recently published a limited-edition book of his new work.
During a recent interview at his New York gallery, Mr. Ji agreed. “When I was growing up during the Cultural Revolution,” he said, “if you were a traditional landscape painter, you could really get in trouble.”
During subsequent decades, as Chinese artists gravitated toward Western approaches to art, “again traditional painting was not fashionable,” he said. In the past couple of years, however, “people in China have become more interested in looking at these traditions,” he said.
In “Migrants of the Three Gorges Dam,” a project that Mr. Ji began several years ago under the auspices of MoMA, he once again uses traditional means to explore contemporary issues. Hand printed from 500 carved woodblocks made by the esteemed Rongbaozhai printing and publishing house, Mr. Ji’s mounted scroll portrays flooded landscapes and dispossessed farmers alongside his calligraphic descriptions of the flooding of the Yangtze River and reports on the displacement of inhabitants of the area based on his own interviews, research and observations.
Yet Mr. Ji said he was less interested in criticizing the world’s largest hydroelectric power plant — long a symbol of progress in China — than he was in revealing the interconnection between humans and their natural environment. “The belief among ancient scholars,” he said, “is that nature offers an ethical model that we should follow in human society. A horizontal line, for example, in Chinese calligraphy, is like a cloud formation, or a natural, living form.”
Having just arrived in New York this month after an eight-month stay in China, Mr. Ji, whose brown tweed cap was offset by a V-neck sweater and sensible sneakers, unrolled a bundle of new paintings, which he had carried on the airplane. One of these, “The Garden Party,” reflected his recent musings on Sade’s work. An apparently bucolic scene based on a recent visit to the ancient gardens of Suzhou, the watercolor contrasts overflowing flowerpots and blooming cherry trees with decadent-looking figures in various stages of dress. Among them a naked figure crawls on all fours through a puddle with a bag over his head and his pants bunched around his ankles. Framing the image are excerpts from Sade’s text rendered into Mr. Ji’s elegant calligraphy. Offering a rough translation, he read: “Your duty is to serve my pleasure, and to take a lot of abuse. If you complain, you’ll be destroyed.”
Reading further, in silence, Mr. Ji, a soft-spoken man with a wry sense of humor, chuckled. “The writing is very vulgar,” he said.
He spent his early childhood at an army base, where his father served as a military doctor. He was 7, he said, when his mother, a draftswoman in an architectural firm, was sent for re-education in a labor camp. “I don’t know what she did,” he said.
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
James Cohan Gallery, New York
A detail from the 10-foot horizontal scroll “Migrants of the Three Gorges Dam.”
Blog
ArtsBeat
The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more. Join the discussion.
More Arts News
Enlarge This Image
James Cohan Gallery, New York
“The Garden Party.” “Mistaking Each Other for Ghosts,” a selection of Mr. Ji’s recent work, is at the James Cohan Gallery in Chelsea.
During her two-year absence Mr. Ji lived with his grandparents in Hangzhou, which from 1127 to 1279 was the ancient capital city of the southern Song Dynasty. There his grandfather, who taught high school, introduced him to calligraphy. And on hot summer nights, since “we didn’t have a TV or even a radio,” Mr. Ji said, his grandmother would sit outside among their neighbors “sipping a tea and telling ghost stories.” Drowned ghosts, hoping to reincarnate themselves by inhabiting the bodies of living children, figured repeatedly in his grandmother’s many stories. And they clearly struck a nerve; Mr. Ji’s landscapes are often strewn with fantastical chimeras, ghostlike figures with animal bodies and heads.
Mr. Ji attended the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, where most of his teachers had been trained at Stalinist art schools in the Soviet Union during the 1950s. Not surprisingly, social realism was the reigning style. Although classical art was dismissed as backward, Mr. Ji said Chung Jun Quai, a costume and lighting designer for films, taught him “that reading a painting is like reading a poem.”
When the University of Arkansas offered Mr. Ji a scholarship in 1986, he said, the decision to leave China was difficult: “There was a lot of excitement when I was in art school. But I also felt this pressure that was really restrictive. Psychologically, it felt very uncomfortable.”
Once in the United States, however, he discovered the German Expressionists George Grosz and Otto Dix, and the American postwar painter Philip Guston, who combined humorous, even cartoony iconography with masterly painting. Remaining in America after he graduated, Mr. Ji was eventually granted citizenship and moved to Brooklyn. Even so, depictions of his native China continue to dominate his work. Referring to “a huge corruption scandal” unfolding in the city of Chongqing during his recent visit, Mr. Ji asked, “What do you do when so much control and power is concentrated in the hands of a few corrupt officials?”
Without waiting for an answer, he added, “That’s why the Marquis de Sade made sense to me as a kind of response.”
Monday, March 1, 2010
'Avatar' says farewell at No. 1Source: The Hollywood Reporter Sun Feb 28, 2010, 12:00 pm EST
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Hanging on for what will be its farewell round atop of the foreign circuit, 20th Century Fox's "Avatar" on the weekend made it 11 straight stanzas in the No. 1 spot by grossing $36.1 million from 6,535 screens in 70 markets.
Total foreign take by director James Cameron's 3D blockbuster now stands at $1.844 billion -- thus surpassing the $1.843-billion worldwide boxoffice total rolled up by the director's 1997 former record holder, "Titanic." "Avatar's" worldwide cume is $2.550 billion. To date, its foreign gross is more than two-and-a-half times its domestic cume of $707 million.
The biggest "Avatar" market on the weekend was Japan, where the weekend take was $4 million from 514 locations for a Japan cume of $140 million. Top market overall remains France where the Cameron epic has grossed a total of $169 million thus far.
"Avatar's " foreign reign will be usurped by the opening this week of Disney's "Alice in Wonderland," director Tim Burton's 3D re-imagining of Lewis Carroll's classic, starring Johnny Depp, in 41 foreign markets representing about 60% of the total offshore marketplace.
Italy and Sweden kick off on Wednesday, followed by openings in 26 additional territories on Thursday including Australia, German-speaking Europe, Korea and Russia. On Friday, "Alice" will set down in 13 more markets including Mexico, Poland, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
Handled overseas by Paramount in all markets except Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria and Russia, director Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island" grossed $19 million from 20 territories on the weekend for an early foreign cume of $34 million. It is tied for the No. 2 spot on the weekend.
France led the way with No. 1 bow of $6.8 million from 522 venues, making "Shutter Island's" opening surge the biggest ever in the market for a Scorsese title. No. 1 openings were also recorded in Belgium, Portugal and Taiwan, plus a No. 1 second-weekend holdover in Spain. In Germany, the drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio about a prisoner disappearance at a remote insane asylum opened No. 2 via Concorde with $3.7 million drawn from 472 screens.
Also grossing $19 million on the weekend -- and also tied for No. 2 -- was Fox's adventure fantasy "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," which played 6,350 screens in 65 territories for a foreign cume to date of $95.4 million. Japan led the way with a No. 2 opening with $4.1 million secured from 561 locations.
Garnering $3.4 million in its Russia opening at 440 screens was Universal's classic horror update "The Wolfman," which grabbed an estimated $10.8 million overall on the weekend from 5,302 venues in 57 territories. Foreign cume for the Benicio Del Toro-Anthony Hopkins-Emily Blunt vehicle stands at $63.3 million with five more markets to play including Japan on April 22. It ranks No. 3 on the weekend.
A close No. 4 is Warner Bros. romantic comedy "Valentine's Day," which seduced an estimated $10.4 million from about 4,400 screens in 58 markets. International cume stands at $87.4 million.
Finishing fifth was Disney's "The Princess and the Frog," which grossed $7.7 million from 3,203 screens in 36 territories for a foreign cume to date of $143 million. In France the hand-drawn animation title wound the weekend No. 2 with $2.7 million drawn from 700 locations for a France cume of $27 million.
Buoyed by openings in a dozen markets including Spain and Korea, DreamWorks/Paramount's "The Lovely Bones" garnered $6.3 million on the weekend from a total of 3,328 screens in 34 territories. Foreign cume to date is $35 million. Director Peter Jackson's fantasy thriller finished No. 3 in its second U.K. weekend with $1.9 million generated from 428 sites for a market cume of $6 million.
Warner's "Sherlock Homes" upped its foreign cume to $273.7 million thanks to a $5.8 million weekend at 3,000 sites in 42 markets. Same distributor's "Invictus" from director Clint Eastwood drew $5.6 million from 2,600 screens in 34 markets for a foreign cume to date of $71.1 million.
"The Blind Side," the surprise hit drama starring Oscar nominee Sandra Bullock as a mentor to a football payer, finally arrived overseas at 319 screens in six markets for a weekend take of $3 million. (Foreign cume stands at $3.8 million.) A No. 1 Australia bow generated $2.5 million from 221 sites.
Paramount's "The Crazies," a remake of director George Romero's 1973 horror cult favorite, premiered No. 2 in the U.K. by generating $1.9 million from 345 sites. Opening No. 18 in the U.K. was Sony's release of the CBS Films co-production, "Extraordinary Measures," a medical drama with Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser. Premier weekend came up with $215,000 from 258 screens.
"It's Complicated," Universal's romantic comedy starring Meryl Streep, pushed its foreign cume within earshot of the $100-million mark ($90.2 million) thanks to a $3.6 million weekend at 1,600 screens in 41 territories. A No. 3 Brazil opening generated an estimated $1 million from 168 sites.
Sony's durable family-oriented title, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," which has been playing the foreign circuit since Sept. 16, drew another $2.6 million on the weekend from 1,350 screens in 20 markets for an overseas cume of $112.5 million.
Also coming in with a $2.6 million weekend from 1,682 situations in 52 markets was director Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air" starring George Clooney, which has grossed a total of $68.5 million thus far overseas.
Opening No. 1 in Italy was Filmauro's "Genitori & Figli: Agitare bene prima dell'uso," director Giovannie Veronesi's comedy about generational frictions between parents and offspring. Debut stanza at 397 spots produced an estimated $2.2 million, putting it solidly ahead of Warner's "Invictus" and Fox's "Avatar," the market's respective No. 2 and No. 3 titles.
A local-language newcomer in France was EuropaCorp. Distribution's "Coursier" ("Motorcycle Courier"), director Herve Renoh's comedy about a hard-pressed deliveryman and his girlfriend. Opener at 250 screens generated an estimated $1.1 million and a No. 9 ranking. Third in the market in its second round was "Le Mac" ("The Pimp"), a comedy from director Pascal Bourdiaux, which drew an estimated $2.6 million from 465 locations for a France-only cume of $7.5 million.
Other international cumes: Fox's "My Name Is Khan," $29 million; Focus Features/Universal's "A Serious Man," $19 million; Sony's "Did You Hear About the Morgans?," $48.8 million; Fox's "Hot Summer Days," $16.3 million; Lionsgate's "Brothers," estimated $9.4 million; Universal's "Couples Retreat," $61.2 million; Lionsgate's "The Spy Next Door," estimated $13.7; Fox's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," $22.8 million; Showbox's "The Secret Reunion," estimated $25 million in South Korea only ; Sony's "Friendship!," $14.5 million in Germany and Austria only; Lionsgate's "Daybreakers," estimated $11.7 million; and Fox's "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," $219 million.
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Hanging on for what will be its farewell round atop of the foreign circuit, 20th Century Fox's "Avatar" on the weekend made it 11 straight stanzas in the No. 1 spot by grossing $36.1 million from 6,535 screens in 70 markets.
Total foreign take by director James Cameron's 3D blockbuster now stands at $1.844 billion -- thus surpassing the $1.843-billion worldwide boxoffice total rolled up by the director's 1997 former record holder, "Titanic." "Avatar's" worldwide cume is $2.550 billion. To date, its foreign gross is more than two-and-a-half times its domestic cume of $707 million.
The biggest "Avatar" market on the weekend was Japan, where the weekend take was $4 million from 514 locations for a Japan cume of $140 million. Top market overall remains France where the Cameron epic has grossed a total of $169 million thus far.
"Avatar's " foreign reign will be usurped by the opening this week of Disney's "Alice in Wonderland," director Tim Burton's 3D re-imagining of Lewis Carroll's classic, starring Johnny Depp, in 41 foreign markets representing about 60% of the total offshore marketplace.
Italy and Sweden kick off on Wednesday, followed by openings in 26 additional territories on Thursday including Australia, German-speaking Europe, Korea and Russia. On Friday, "Alice" will set down in 13 more markets including Mexico, Poland, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
Handled overseas by Paramount in all markets except Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria and Russia, director Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island" grossed $19 million from 20 territories on the weekend for an early foreign cume of $34 million. It is tied for the No. 2 spot on the weekend.
France led the way with No. 1 bow of $6.8 million from 522 venues, making "Shutter Island's" opening surge the biggest ever in the market for a Scorsese title. No. 1 openings were also recorded in Belgium, Portugal and Taiwan, plus a No. 1 second-weekend holdover in Spain. In Germany, the drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio about a prisoner disappearance at a remote insane asylum opened No. 2 via Concorde with $3.7 million drawn from 472 screens.
Also grossing $19 million on the weekend -- and also tied for No. 2 -- was Fox's adventure fantasy "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," which played 6,350 screens in 65 territories for a foreign cume to date of $95.4 million. Japan led the way with a No. 2 opening with $4.1 million secured from 561 locations.
Garnering $3.4 million in its Russia opening at 440 screens was Universal's classic horror update "The Wolfman," which grabbed an estimated $10.8 million overall on the weekend from 5,302 venues in 57 territories. Foreign cume for the Benicio Del Toro-Anthony Hopkins-Emily Blunt vehicle stands at $63.3 million with five more markets to play including Japan on April 22. It ranks No. 3 on the weekend.
A close No. 4 is Warner Bros. romantic comedy "Valentine's Day," which seduced an estimated $10.4 million from about 4,400 screens in 58 markets. International cume stands at $87.4 million.
Finishing fifth was Disney's "The Princess and the Frog," which grossed $7.7 million from 3,203 screens in 36 territories for a foreign cume to date of $143 million. In France the hand-drawn animation title wound the weekend No. 2 with $2.7 million drawn from 700 locations for a France cume of $27 million.
Buoyed by openings in a dozen markets including Spain and Korea, DreamWorks/Paramount's "The Lovely Bones" garnered $6.3 million on the weekend from a total of 3,328 screens in 34 territories. Foreign cume to date is $35 million. Director Peter Jackson's fantasy thriller finished No. 3 in its second U.K. weekend with $1.9 million generated from 428 sites for a market cume of $6 million.
Warner's "Sherlock Homes" upped its foreign cume to $273.7 million thanks to a $5.8 million weekend at 3,000 sites in 42 markets. Same distributor's "Invictus" from director Clint Eastwood drew $5.6 million from 2,600 screens in 34 markets for a foreign cume to date of $71.1 million.
"The Blind Side," the surprise hit drama starring Oscar nominee Sandra Bullock as a mentor to a football payer, finally arrived overseas at 319 screens in six markets for a weekend take of $3 million. (Foreign cume stands at $3.8 million.) A No. 1 Australia bow generated $2.5 million from 221 sites.
Paramount's "The Crazies," a remake of director George Romero's 1973 horror cult favorite, premiered No. 2 in the U.K. by generating $1.9 million from 345 sites. Opening No. 18 in the U.K. was Sony's release of the CBS Films co-production, "Extraordinary Measures," a medical drama with Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser. Premier weekend came up with $215,000 from 258 screens.
"It's Complicated," Universal's romantic comedy starring Meryl Streep, pushed its foreign cume within earshot of the $100-million mark ($90.2 million) thanks to a $3.6 million weekend at 1,600 screens in 41 territories. A No. 3 Brazil opening generated an estimated $1 million from 168 sites.
Sony's durable family-oriented title, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," which has been playing the foreign circuit since Sept. 16, drew another $2.6 million on the weekend from 1,350 screens in 20 markets for an overseas cume of $112.5 million.
Also coming in with a $2.6 million weekend from 1,682 situations in 52 markets was director Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air" starring George Clooney, which has grossed a total of $68.5 million thus far overseas.
Opening No. 1 in Italy was Filmauro's "Genitori & Figli: Agitare bene prima dell'uso," director Giovannie Veronesi's comedy about generational frictions between parents and offspring. Debut stanza at 397 spots produced an estimated $2.2 million, putting it solidly ahead of Warner's "Invictus" and Fox's "Avatar," the market's respective No. 2 and No. 3 titles.
A local-language newcomer in France was EuropaCorp. Distribution's "Coursier" ("Motorcycle Courier"), director Herve Renoh's comedy about a hard-pressed deliveryman and his girlfriend. Opener at 250 screens generated an estimated $1.1 million and a No. 9 ranking. Third in the market in its second round was "Le Mac" ("The Pimp"), a comedy from director Pascal Bourdiaux, which drew an estimated $2.6 million from 465 locations for a France-only cume of $7.5 million.
Other international cumes: Fox's "My Name Is Khan," $29 million; Focus Features/Universal's "A Serious Man," $19 million; Sony's "Did You Hear About the Morgans?," $48.8 million; Fox's "Hot Summer Days," $16.3 million; Lionsgate's "Brothers," estimated $9.4 million; Universal's "Couples Retreat," $61.2 million; Lionsgate's "The Spy Next Door," estimated $13.7; Fox's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," $22.8 million; Showbox's "The Secret Reunion," estimated $25 million in South Korea only ; Sony's "Friendship!," $14.5 million in Germany and Austria only; Lionsgate's "Daybreakers," estimated $11.7 million; and Fox's "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," $219 million.
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