| Summary: | 碩士 === 玄奘大學 === 大眾傳播研究所 === 100 === In recent years, the second-run theatres have been in a peculiar and conflicting state: as the movie industry struggled, some theaters closed their business, while the others thrived. This thesis is an attempt to understand such conflicting phenomenon and to depict the transformation of the second-run theatres in Taiwan.
To give a comprehensible picture of the transformation, we start from tracing the origin of the second-run theatres. In the beginning of theater business in Taiwan, the copy of films was too scarce to allow all the theaters to screen movies across the island at the same time. Consequently, a “touring” screening system was established: some theaters premiered the movies, and then the copies were passed on to other theaters. Such “touring” system made second-run theatres a technical necessity.
Then, we investigate the possible factors leading the industry to decline. The eight major film studios from the U.S. played the most significant role in the deteriorating of the second-run theatres. The major studios had almost full control of the film distribution since Hollywood movies dominated the movie market. With far less funds, second-run theatres were forced into an unfair collaboration with American studios. Only few theaters managed to do respectable business, with unique business approach despite the dismal condition of the industry.
Finally, we suggest that the political, the economical and the technological have merged together to shape the conflicting state of second-run theatres. First of all, Taiwanese cinema has never a chance to actually develop. During the Japanese occupation period, native cinema was in full halt. After KMT took back Taiwan, cinema was mainly used for propaganda. Secondly, as Taiwanese government has, historically, heavily relied on the political and economical support from the U.S., major American studios enjoyed all sorts of privilege, dictating the film distribution. Lastly, the new technologies have constantly created new entertainment options, contributing greatly to the slumbering of the industry.
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