Crossing Genres: A Study of Johnnie To's Stylized Films

Author： Yi Sun

ISSN： 2049-6710

Source： Asian Cinema, Vol.22, Iss.2, 2012-02, pp. : 74-111

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Abstract

The Hong Kong film industry entered its downturn in the mid-1990s, seeing a sharp fall of both annual production quantity and box office revenues from 1994, with a reduction in the number of film production companies, and a collapse of the cinema exhibition system being the major symptoms. The 1997 financial crisis in Asia caused the industry to lose its biggest market of Southeast Asia. The penetration of Hollywood took Hong Kong cinema's dominant place in the Southeast Asia market and enticed local filmmakers into the Hollywood system and popularization of television, Internet, the flourishing of DVDs and increased video piracy impacted on both the reception and distribution of films. Local director Johnnie To, founded the Milkyway Image film production in 1996 but To's contribution to the industry does not seem to have saved the situation. However, the young Milkyway Image resists the prevailing trend of “going north, playing the role of local culture defender, manifest in its insistence on the presentation of Hong Kong's cityscape, as well as the living situations of local people and the representation of local cultural codes. This article looks at To's work and the “Milkyway style (largely based on To's personal style), considering the director's philosophy of cinema that aims to show pure aesthetics by using the skeleton of postmodern storytelling, the spine of optimistic fatalism, and the heart of passion for cinematic art.