The Film Industry in Taiwan: a Political Economy Perspective
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of East Anglia digital repository The Film Industry in Taiwan: A Political Economy Perspective Yun Hsia (Jo) This thesis is submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of East Anglia School of Political, Social and International Studies March 2011 This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived there from must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution. © Abstract The main purpose of this thesis is to critically analyse the film industry in Taiwan from a political economy perspective and to compare Taiwan’s film industry with that of Hong Kong. The thesis will examine the development of the film industries in Taiwan and Hong Kong in the 1990s and analyse the decline of these film industries. The study takes into account how the governments’ policies have been framed and examines the interaction between the governments and the industries in the 1990s. This thesis will start by expounding the approach of political economy and explain how it will be applied to the study of Taiwan’s film industry. The approach of political economy will provide a historical analysis of the film industry and review the industry’s development in terms of both political influence and economic factors. This approach will provide a more comprehensive study of these film industries. The framework assumes that the development of the film industry in Taiwan has been influenced by government policy and especially government subsidies and that this policy has directed the industry. A film in Taiwan is regarded as an art form, perhaps with a diplomatic purpose, rather than as a commercial cultural product. A film in Hong Kong is mainly made for the commercial market with the purpose of entertaining audiences. The distinction between Taiwanese cinema and Hong Kong cinema provides a diverse view of the Chinese-language film market. After examining the development of the film industry in Taiwan and Hong Kong from a political economy perspective a new image for the Chinese-language film sphere will be discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of the film industry in two places will be summarised and used to provide some suggestions for the future development of “New Chinese Cinema” in the twenty-first century. 2 Contents Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………...2 List of Tables ………………………………………………………………………..5 List of Figures …………………………………………………………………….....7 Acknowledgement ……………………………………………………………….….8 Chapter One Introduction and Theoretical Framework 1.1 Introduction to the Film Industry in Taiwan in the 1990s ……………………..10 1.2 Theoretical and Analytical Framework: The Political Economy Approach .......25 Chapter Two Historical Background 2.1 Historical Background of the Taiwanese Film Industry in the 1990s ……….....53 2.2 The Development of the Taiwanese Film Industry in the 1990s ………………70 2.3 The New Media Technology and the Film Industry in Taiwan ………………..84 Chapter Three Mapping Film Policy in Taiwan 3.1 Introduction of Film Policy in Taiwan ……………………………………..…..88 3.2 State Censorship ……………………….........................................................….98 3.3 Conclusion ……….........................................................................................…115 Chapter Four An Analysis of the Film Market in Taiwan in the 1990s 4.1 Production and Consumption ……………………………..………...........…...116 4.2 Structure of the Film Industry in Taiwan ……………………..........................128 4.3 Conclusion ……………………………………………...............................…..142 3 Chapter Five The Subsidy and the Taiwanese Film Industry 5.1 The Subsidy and the Film Industry ……………………………………...........144 5.2 A Case Study of Subsidies in Practice: Britain ………....……………….........154 5.3 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………….159 Chapter Six A Case Study: The Hong Kong Film Industry in the 1990s 6.1 Introduction to the Film Industry in Hong Kong ……………………………..163 6.2 Mapping Film Policy in Hong Kong …………………………………………175 6.3 A Comparison of Taiwanese Cinema and Hong Kong Cinema in Terms of Government Policy ……………………………………………………………….183 Chapter Seven Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………….190 Appendix 1 ………………………………………………………………….........194 Appendix 2 ………………………………………………………………….........200 Appendix 3 ………………………………………………………………….........204 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………..........212 Filmography ………………………………………………………………..........226 4 List of Tables Chapter Two Table 2.1: Film Market from 1970s to 2005 in Taiwan …………………………..68 Table 2.2: The Change in the Film Market and the Development of New Media (1961–1989, Selected Specific Years) ………………………………………........72 Table 2.3: The Frequency of Cinema Attendance in Taiwan by Age Group in 1990 ……………………………………………………………………………….74 Chapter Four Table 4.1: The Quantity and Market Share of Chinese-language Films in the 1990s ……………………………………………………………………………..118 Table 4.2: The Quantity and Percentage of Taiwanese and Foreign Films in the Market in the 1990s ……………………………………………………………....118 Table 4.3: The Change of Box Office in the Taiwanese Film Market in the 1990s ……………………………………………………………………………...122 Table 4.4: The Percentage of Box Office Receipts for Chinese-language Films and Foreign Films in the 1990s ……………………………………………………….124 Table 4.5: The List of Co-Productions (Taiwanese Film Companies Cooperating with Hong Kong and Mainland China) in the 1990s ……………………………..130 Table 4.6: The Number of Screens in Each Theatre in Taipei in 2000 …………..136 Table 4.7: Theatres in the Taipei area Which Closed Down in the 1990s …….....140 Table 4.8: The Number of Foreign Film Copies and the Number of Theatres Allowed to Show the Same Foreign Film Simultaneously ……………………….141 Chapter Five Table 5.1: Films Given Permission for Exhibition in Taiwan in the 1990s ……...149 Table 5.2: Taiwanese Films that Received the Taiwan Film Subsidy in the 1990s ……………………………………………………………………………...150 Table 5.3: The Number of Films Sponsored by the Taiwan Film Subsidy and the Number of Films that Won International Film Festival Awards …………………151 5 Chapter Six Table 6.1: The Value and Revenue of the Hong Kong Film Industry from 1990 to 1999…………………………………………………………………164 6 List of Figures Chapter Two Figure 2.1: The Trend of the Film Market in Taiwan from the 1970s to 2005 …….69 Figure 2.2: The Trend of the Change in the Film Market and the Development of New Media …………………………………………………………………………73 Chapter Four Figure 4.1: The Percentage of Box Office Receipts for Chinese-language Films and Foreign Films in the 1990s in the Film Market in Taiwan ……………………….122 Figure 4.2: The Comparison of the Box Office in Taiwan in the 1990s Among Taiwanese Films, Hong Kong Films, Films Released by the Top Eight American Film Companies and other Foreign Films ………………………………………...123 Chapter Six Figure 6.1: Gross Output and Value Added of the Hong Kong Film Industry from 1990 to 1999 ………………………………………………………………………165 Figure 6.2: Box office Receipts of the Hong Kong Film Market from 1990 to 1999 ……………………………………………………………………………….166 Figure 6.3: Revenue from Local Market for both Local and Foreign Films and Revenue from Overseas Market for Local Films from 1990 to 1999 …………….166 Figure 6.4: The Production and the Box Office Receipts of Hong Kong Films from 1990 to 1999 ……………………………………………………………………....167 7 Acknowledgements It took a quarter of my life to complete this thesis. I have experienced the most difficult time but also had the most precious lesson in my life. I feel immense gratitude to those people who helped me during my study. I must offer my special thanks to my supervisors, Professor John Street and Dr. Sanna Inthorn. Many thanks to them for always being very supportive and patient with my slow progress and providing many critical comments. Without their supervision and encouragement I could not have completed this thesis. I would also like to extend my special thanks to my examiners, Dr. Rayna Denison and Dr. Andy Willis. This final version of my thesis benefited extensively from the time they spent reading an earlier draft. I am also very grateful for the thoughtful discussion that they provided via my viva. Dr. Willis' speciality on Hong Kong cinema helps bring a spark of light to this thesis. Dr. Denison's marked copy was very helpful in assisting with revisions, for which I am eternally grateful. I really appreciate their efforts, without which my thesis could not have reached this stage. I want to thank my parents and my brother a million times over. Their unconditional support, both financial and spiritual, is the force to drive me to finish. I am very lucky to have them as my family. This degree is for them. I wish to give my heartfelt thanks to Jimmy in innumerable ways. Without his support I would be broken. Thanks to all Jimmy’s family for their warmness and for making me feel at home in Norwich; especially Rose and Harry for their constant support and encouragement. I am very grateful for meeting the following people who shared this priceless time with me: Seiko Tannaka, Federica Alberti, Matthew Boldero, Estrid and Andrew Heron and Wendy Wang. 8 In addition, I wish to thank the School of Political, Social and International Studies, the University of East Anglia, and the postgraduate office and international office for offering me enormous assistance during my study. Also I would