GEB 206           Global Culture and Citizenship

Part VII: Media-Film Industry

 

1.        Review of mass communication theory

1.1.   “Bullet Theory”子彈理論: In the 1950s and 1960s, mass media is viewed as a “bullet” penetrating into human minds and perpetuating modernization along with other means including democratic reform, free trade, cross-border investment, education, etc.

1.2.   Dependency Theory依賴理論: Since the 1970s, critical intellectuals have criticized the omnipotence of western media, ABC or CNN news, Associated Press, Hollywood movie, etc., that marginalize or even terminate the local cultures of the Third World countries. Most audiences become more and more reliant on western cultural industry and the voices and viewpoints of the people could not be heard.  There is a serious information inequality among the countries and cultures in the world.

1.3.   Hollywood might be the most notorious example.  In many Third World countries, Hollywood movies overwhelm the entertainment market. 

 

2.        Hollywood film industry

2.1.   From the 1910s to 1950s: The system of “big” studio片廠 was established. A few corporate giants, Columbia, Paramount, Universal, etc., monopolized the supply and market of movies. 

2.2.   The big companies standardized the audience’s taste and create a variety of “genres”類型片: action, thriller, Western, detective, comedy, … …  Film production more or less followed some formulas in order to secure the market.

2.3.   After the 1950s, the studio system transformed itself into more complicated corporate networks including many independent film production companies. “Genres” are still the basic framework of mainstream filmmaking in the US.

2.4.   “Star system” was promoted as a way to increase the value of “asset” of the big studios.

2.5.   More small and independent studios are established.  The production of movie becomes more flexible and less standardized.  Yet, the filmmakers still rely on the big firms in terms of financial source and distribution networks (theatre, advertising, … …)

2.6.   Big studios merge and making strategic alliance with other media, such as internet service providers, music production houses, etc.  Example: AOL and Warner Bros.

2.7.   While Hollywood movies maintained their dominance all over the world, the film industries of some countries and regions including India, Japan, Hong Kong, etc., began to flourish.

 

3.        Case study: Korean film industry

3.1.   Before the mid 90s, Korean movies are produced in a small and national scale.  Hollywood, European, Hong Kong movies dominated the local market.

3.2.   Since 1997, Korean movies have attracted more and more audiences and competed with Hollywood and Hong Kong movies.

Table 1: Audience in Seoul

	1997	1998	1999	2000
Korea	4,621,982	4,779,537	8,610,437	8,445,353
US	13,972,103	16,205,966	13,552,528	14,208,760
Hong Kong	448,246	508,411	539,611	891,600
Europe	2,247,865	718,508	478,562	567,800
Japan		95,548	751,837	1,933,867
Others	299,183	184,171	902,612	221,100

 

Table 2: Top 5 Hit Films in 2000

	Title	Country	Box Office Record
1	Joint Security Area (JSA)	Korea	2,445,000
2	Mission Impossible II	US	1,130,000
3	Gladiator	US	1,127,000
4	The Foul King	Korea	817,000
5	Bicheonmoo	Korea	730,300

*In 2001, the number one

3.3.   This is not only a Korean film boom but also a market expansion of movies.  The total number of tickets sold nationwide jumped 57 percent, from 40 million in 1996 to 70 million in 2000.. 

3.4.   Local government is eager to promote cultural industry.  For example, Pusan釜山 International Film Festival becomes one of the famous film festival in Asia.  Film festival not merely showcase current world cinema from different regions, but also provides an opportunity for filmmakers and investors.  It also cultivates Korean people’s (especially young people’s) interest, taste and even enthusiasm in film culture. 

3.5.   The financial crisis in 1997 pushed other cities to invest further in film production as a way of economic revival. For example, Jeonju全州 and Puchon富川 launch large-scale film festival every year.

3.6.   More investment in distribution network strengthens the competitiveness of Korean films for local and international market.  For example, CJ Entertainment, owned by Samsung family, is a powerful player in distribution of local movies.  Indeed, it is both one of the  major stakeholders of DreamWorks SKG (with Steven Spielberg and other Hollywood producers and investors) and a investor in Korean films, including JSA.

3.7.   The mainstream Korean films are always manipulating the elements of Hollywood film genres (or even Hong Kong film genres) and combine them with nationalism and other local cultural elements.

3.8.   The Korean film culture is striking a balance between localization and globalization.  On the one hand, it develops a new style of Korean film and make it as an important “cult” in the world market.  On the other hand, the powerful players (such as Samsung) join the film industry giants to expand and share the market for movies.

 

Hyun, Daiwoon. 2001. “Renaissance of Korean Film Industry.” Asian Cinema. Vol. 12, No. 2, Fall/ Winter: 8-19.

 

4.        When Hong Kong action film meets Hollywood: Digital Kung Fu

4.1.   Since the 1990s, there has been a brain drain away from Hong Kong film industry to Hollywood, especially the filmmakers of Hong Kong style action movies, such as 吳宇森, 袁和平, 徐克, 成龍, … …

4.2.   Hong Kong style action movies are characterized by the combination of Kung Fu with film languages focusing on the artistic continuity of “action” itself.

4.3.   Hollywood’s digital technologies capture and adopt the art of Hong Kong style action movie to amplify the visual effect by digital “composites”.  Example: Matrix廿二世紀殺人網絡

4.4.   Through the absorption of Hong Kong action style, Hollywood filmmakers revive their genre of action. The digital technique allows them to maintain continuous camera coverage of the actors bodies in space without resorting to conventional editing tricks designed to mask the presence of the stunt double.

4.5.   There is a co-incidence between the decline of Hong Kong movie and the rise of Hollywood new style action movie.  Hollywood-Hong Kong hybrid action film is not a multicultural product.  Instead, it is an act of “cannibalizing” of local culture by the global movie empire.

Andrew Schroeder. 2002. All Roads Lead to Hong Kong: Martial Arts, Digital Effects and the Labour of Empire in Contemporary Action Film. E-Journal on Hong Kong Cultural and Social Studies Issue no. 2.

http://www.hku.hk/hkcsp/ccex/ehkcss01/index.htm

 

5.        Communication in a new global age

5.1. The film industries of the newly developed (or developing) regions also join and help construct the global market.

5.2. The power relation is not merely about the inequality between the First World and the Third World, or the American cultural values and others, but also exists in the appropriation of local elements by the big corporate giants.

  

 

電影節的受惠者──《Take Care of My Cat》

　　電影節的其中一個功能，就是將一些因為某些原因導致票房不太理想但質素高的作品重新介紹給觀眾。一來讓來自世界各地的嘉賓能夠欣賞此等電影，另一方面亦可以讓國內觀眾再次細味和反思該些電影的意義。

　　今年釜山國際電影節中，女性導演JUNG Jae-eun執導的首部長片《Take Care of My Cat》就是一個很好的例子。影片雖然有憑著《綁架門口狗》(Barking Dogs Never Bite)而為人熟悉的演員BAE Doo-na主演，可是面著對走勢強勁的商業電影《My Wife is a Gangster》和《Guns and Talks》，《Take Care of My Cat》十月在戲院公映時，首周票房數字奇低，影片亦隨之「快落」。對導演而言無疑是潑了一盤冷水。

　　可是，影片其實感覺甚濃，五個二十歲的少女由相熟變成生疏的故事，可以說是近年香港電影界中缺乏的一個主題。在韓國影壇而言，這個故事的意念跟今年票房冠軍《Friend》以朋友疏離為背景相若。導演將五個少女中其中三人間的友情與衝突顯現起來──一個努力擺脫過去而成為女強人，一個祗是空想著夢想而受父權壓迫的女兒和一個因貧窮而未能達成自己的理想的人。

　　影片沒有太大的星味，但卻抓緊著人物性格互動關係中的微妙。當中以窮少女Ji-young的一段最為觸動觀眾。這一切一切都令影片受到外國嘉賓及傳媒所喜愛。《Take Care of My Cat》不止成了在新聞中心內最多嘉賓租借的影片，電影雜誌《Cine21》的調查更顯示該片是外國嘉賓最喜愛的韓國電影。而韓國的觀眾，亦對此片持著甚高的評價。

　　電影節場次的成功，令已全國落畫的《Take Care of My Cat》可以有重生的機會。由電影節後一星期於漢城舉行的祝捷會中所得悉，此片將會於漢城、仁川和釜山再度上映。