Cinema City and Tsui Hark: Transition of Role of Directors in the Hong Kong Film Industry through the 1980s

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  • SAIKA Hiromi
    Part-time lecturer at Kobe Gakuin University Part-time lecturer at Kyoto University of the Arts

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Other Title
  • 新藝城と徐克——1980年代の香港映画産業における監督が担う役割の変遷
  • 新藝城と徐克 : 1980年代の香港映画産業における監督が担う役割の変遷
  • シン ゲイジョウ ト ジョコク : 1980ネンダイ ノ ホンコン エイガ サンギョウ ニ オケル カントク ガ ニナウ ヤクワリ ノ ヘンセン

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Abstract

<p>Cinema City swept the Hong Kong film industry as soon as it was established in 1980. Cinema City films dominated almost all theaters in Hong Kong. The monopoly prevented independent productions distribute their films, therefore opportunity of debuts for young directors was limited severely. For this reason, Cinema City has been often criticized as a company that reduced the manifold possibilities of Hong Kong cinema, which many critics had expected in the late 1970s. Furthermore, its works have been viewed as a uniform fashion about their stories and gags. However, the company improved the previous box-office record, and contributed to the extension of the market in the 1980s. This article argues a filmmaking method of Cinema City, and especially focuses on Tsui Hark who participated in the main members of the company. One of the important characteristics of Cinema City is the collective creation. The collective creation prohibited that all directors made a film freely and spontaneously. This method led the industry into chaos and un-institutionalization of filmmaking, because it dismantled the professional divisions. This article examines how the system of Cinema City exerted an influence on the 1980s Hong Kong film industry and the authorship of Tsui Hark.</p>

Journal

  • eizogaku

    eizogaku 105 (0), 67-87, 2021-01-25

    Japan Society of Image Arts and Sciences

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