Milkyway Image: Producing Hong Kong Film Genres for Global Consumption

This book investigates the company Milkyway Image, combining industrial and discourse analysis to explore the metamorphosis of the post-return Hong Kong film industry. It demonstrates how contemporary Hong Kong cinemas transition represents a narrative combining the perspectives of different interest groups and a complex process of compliance and resistance, negotiation, and contestation. The meaning of Milkyway's films shifts as they are circulated across cultures and viewed within diverse frameworks, and our understanding of Hong Kong cinema is subject to varying contexts and historical configurations.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 137 pages
Publication date: 03 September 2022
Publisher: Springer Verlag, Singapore

This comprehensive book employs an interdisciplinary research framework, seamlessly blending industrial and discourse analysis, to delve into the examination of the Hong Kong-based film production company Milkyway Image. By drawing upon a wealth of literature that explores film studios, film production practices, distribution strategies, and reception dynamics, the book offers a profound exploration of the company's history, from its inception in 1996 to the present. The historical trajectory of Milkyway Image serves as a poignant illustration of the transformative journey of the post-return Hong Kong film industry into an era characterized by Hong Kong's integration into a Chinese national context and the globalization of world cinema. The book reveals that contemporary Hong Kong cinemas transcend a simplistic chronology, instead emerging as a narrative that amalgamates diverse perspectives, encompassing a complex interplay of compliance, resistance, negotiation, and contestation. The meanings of Milkyway Image's films undergo a dynamic transformation as they traverse different cultural contexts and are viewed within diverse frameworks. Consequently, our understanding of Hong Kong cinema is shaped by a multitude of contextual factors and historical configurations. This book holds immense value for researchers in the fields of film and media studies, as well as for individuals with a general interest in Hong Kong cinema, Asian cinema, and contemporary film culture. By shedding light on the intricate ways in which various industry and cultural bodies have collaborated to shape the meaning of a film production house, and by examining how Milkyway Image operates as a co-creator of the discourse that surrounds it, the book provides a rich and insightful perspective on the complex dynamics of film production and reception.

Weight: 250g
Dimension: 235 x 155 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789813365803
Edition number: 1st ed. 2021