The changing face of cinema in Taiwan：A study on the cultural forms of movie-watching space

• Main Authors: Lin Hsiu-Li, 林秀澧
• Other Authors: Fu Chao-Ching
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2002
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/62709845118160045321

碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 建築學系 === 90 === In this paper, the author attempts to discuss the configuration of movie theaters in Taiwan. Through the historical study of this specific building type, while movie has written itself, we can realize the transition process of both demotic leisure lifestyle and movie theaters as urban landscape. Since 1895, " the moving image" as a new technical product intermediated the performance space from traveling shows to stationary theaters. At that time, Japanese introduced the theaters to Taiwan, its colony. A new building type was introduced, and a new leisure lifestyle was created. During the Japanese colonial period, the movie theaters represented the modern civil life that Japanese Empire announced, thus they deeply influenced the traditional Taiwan dramatic culture and performance space. In the 30''''s, movie theaters in Taiwan became more popular. Soon after World War Ⅱ, the KMT''''s period, going to movies was a main entertainment for the public from the 50''''s to 70''''s, as what we call " collective memory" today. As the small movie theaters of brick-and-wood structure represented everydayness of the countryside, those tall commercial movie buildings were the windows of the modern consumption city life. Moreover, the transition of movie watching experiences shaped movie theaters as entertainment landscape. First, Art Deco style introduced by Japanese took a specific shape, the wonderful face announcing dominance. After the 50''''s, because of the competitive market, almost all movie theaters were covered by huge picture billboards to attract customers. By this arrogation, the colorful movie billboards have become an unique identity in our urban landscape. Since the 80''''s, followed by the creation of television and new consumption culture, movies and movie theaters had lost their status. The urban context was reconstructed by this change. While in new commercial districts the space for movie watching sought more multiplicity, the old movie theaters in CBD or countryside had to make partition or combination with porno – many of them even shut down. As a visual media, movies was not able to defeat TV, thus in simulative postmodern urban landscape, we could not clearly assert which one could be defined as movie theater. So the reconstruction of the movie theaters in the 90''''s is through enforcing the total movie watching process and representing the feeling of elegancy. Furthermore, as a temporary cheerful carnival, movie watching sometimes turns back to the collective memory loci. In terms of leisure lifestyle spaces, movie theaters switched from the static rest combination of parks to the instable multiplex consumption culture. And as an identity in urban landscape, they changed from coherent architectures during colonial period to billboards later, and then the architecture again became new leaders today. Interestingly, movies themselves seem to support unsteady space like those one of hundred years ago. Moving images now can almost exist at everywhere. Finally, through the representation, the author reflects the future of old movie theaters.