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Milkyway Image (Hong Kong) Ltd. () is a
production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, a ...
based in
Kwun Tong Kwun Tong is an area in the Kwun Tong District of Hong Kong, situated at the eastern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, and its boundary stretches from Lion Rock in the north to Lei Yue Mun in the south, and from the winding paths of Kowl ...
, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The company was established in 1996 by prolific
director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...
Johnnie To in joint partnership with frequent collaborator
Wai Ka-Fai Wai Ka-Fai (born 21 September 1962) is a Hong Kong screenwriter, producer, film director, and former TV screenwriter and producer. Wai is best known for his frequent collaborations with Johnnie To, another former TV turned film director and pr ...
. The company is known best for producing dark crime films inspired by the work of French director
Jean-Pierre Melville Jean-Pierre Melville (; born Jean-Pierre Grumbach; 20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973) was a French filmmaker and actor. Among his films are '' Le Silence de la mer'' (1949), '' Bob le flambeur'' (1956), ''Le Doulos'' (1962), '' Le Samouraï'' (1 ...
and the genre of
film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...
. Milkyway Image's productions have been repeatedly praised as a bold move against the commercialism found in post-
handover In cellular telecommunications, handover, or handoff, is the process of transferring an ongoing call or data session from one channel connected to the core network to another channel. In satellite communications it is the process of transfe ...
Hong Kong cinema The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of p ...
, and have also attracted a significant international fan base.


Company

Milkyway Image is principally engaged in providing comprehensive film production services for film companies, such as
pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content st ...
, shooting, and
post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. Th ...
services. Milkyway Image's films are not only box office hits, but they are also produced with cost-effectiveness and efficiency, bringing film investors promising revenue.


History

Johnnie To founded Milkyway Image (HK) Ltd. in 1996, together with his longtime partner Wai Ka-Fai. The early years proved to be difficult for the company, as its first productions were unsuccessful at the Hong Kong box office. Hong Kong audiences did not appreciate the bleak and intellectual tone of the films - later to become the company's signature style - which was very different from the highly commercialized productions usually present in cinemas at the time. After more works in the same style and Johnnie To's first official directorial outing with ''
A Hero Never Dies ''A Hero Never Dies'' () is a 1998 Hong Kong action crime drama, and the first Milkyway Image film to be directed by Johnnie To. Starring Leon Lai and Lau Ching-wan, ''A Hero Never Dies'' is a heroic bloodshed tale centering on the frie ...
'', neither of which managed to make a significant impact at the box office, the company shifted its focus to producing lighter films for the first time in 1999. This year saw the release of '' Running Out of Time'', followed up by '' Needing You...'' in 2000. Both films became box-office hits and likely saved Milkyway Image from bankruptcy. Recognizing the surprising success, the company continued to produce films in a similar vein during the most critical years of the Hong Kong film industry, which - while already in decline by that time - was further wounded by the SARS crisis in 2003. After putting out a string of successful mainstream comedies from 2000 to 2003, critics and fans who had previously been enticed by Milkyway's fresh take on the trodden triad film genre were starting to express concerns over the company's new direction. However, these concerns were quickly put aside with the release of '' PTU'' in 2003, a film that To had worked on for 3 years and which was greatly praised by critics worldwide, eventually becoming a poster child for To's company. In 2007, Milkyway Image split from parent company Brilliant Arts and chairman, executive director and investor Dennis Law.


Films

Milkyway Image employs a unique business strategy among Hong Kong film production companies, as its output can mostly be divided into two categories: Inventive and gritty action dramas which sit somewhere between
genre film Genre film may refer to: * A film conforming to a well-defined film genre * Genre Films, aka Kinberg Genre, a television and film production company * ''Genre'' (1996 film), a live-action/animated short by Don Hertzfeldt See also * Genre, the ge ...
and arthouse cinema and often go on to achieve significant critical recognition; as well as light-hearted romantic comedies and Lunar New Year films, geared for box-office success by utilizing popular singer-actors such as
Andy Lau Andy Lau Tak-wah (; born 27 September 1961) is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maint ...
and
Sammi Cheng Sammi Cheng Sau-man (; born 19 August 1972) is a Hong Kong singer and actress. She is considered one of the most prominent female singers in Hong Kong, with album sales of over million copies throughout Asia. Most notably in the 1990s, she was dub ...
. This for the most part clear distinction has sometimes been blurred thanks to productions such as '' Running Out of Time'' and ''
Sparrow Sparrow may refer to: Birds * Old World sparrows, family Passeridae * New World sparrows, family Passerellidae * two species in the Passerine family Estrildidae: ** Java sparrow ** Timor sparrow * Hedge sparrow, also known as the dunnock or hedg ...
'', which possess elements of both approaches and became local box-office hits as well. The company has made a number of famous and successful films, which include '' Needing You...'', '' The Mission'', '' Exiled'', '' My Left Eye Sees Ghosts'', ''
Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
'', as well as its sequel '' Election 2'' (a.k.a. ''Triad Election''), and ''
Running on Karma ''Running on Karma'' (), also known as ''An Intelligent Muscle Man'', is a 2003 Hong Kong action thriller film produced and directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai. The film is ultimately a Buddhist parable about the nature of karma. There wer ...
''. These films and more have either been produced and/or directed by both To and/or Wai.


Filmmakers

Johnnie To is the principal director and filmmaker at Milkyway Image, as the majority of Milkyway Image films have been directed by him, sometimes in collaboration with
Wai Ka-Fai Wai Ka-Fai (born 21 September 1962) is a Hong Kong screenwriter, producer, film director, and former TV screenwriter and producer. Wai is best known for his frequent collaborations with Johnnie To, another former TV turned film director and pr ...
. However, the company also works with other established Hong Kong directors such as Lawrence Ah Mon and nurtures young directing talent, for example To's longtime assistant director Law Wing-Cheong, writer Yau Nai-Hoi and
Cheang Pou-Soi Cheang Pou-soi (; born 11 July 1972), also known as his main credited as Soi Cheang or Bob Cheng, is a Hong Kong film director, assistant director, screenwriter, script supervisor, actor and film producer. Filmography As director * ''Mad Fate'' ( ...
. Writers of Milkyway Image films include
Wai Ka-Fai Wai Ka-Fai (born 21 September 1962) is a Hong Kong screenwriter, producer, film director, and former TV screenwriter and producer. Wai is best known for his frequent collaborations with Johnnie To, another former TV turned film director and pr ...
,
Szeto Kam-Yuen Szeto Kam-Yuen (11 July 1964 – 13 October 2012), sometimes credited as Sze To Kam Yuen or Szeto Kam Yuen, was a Hongkonger screenwriter. Career Szeto began his career with TVB and later with Milkway Image. He is best known for his acti ...
, Yau Nai-Hoi, Au Kin-Yee and Yip Tin-Shing. The company's writers are sometimes collectively referred to as the Milkyway Creative Team ().


Patrick Yau controversy

In 1997, Johnnie To hired his former assistant director Patrick Yau to direct a number of low-budget crime films for To's then-young company: ''
The Odd One Dies ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...
'', ''
Expect the Unexpected Expect is an extension to the Tcl scripting language written by Don Libes. The program automates interactions with programs that expose a text terminal interface. Expect, originally written in 1990 for the Unix platform, has since become availa ...
'' and '' The Longest Nite''. However, due to a difference in opinions and To questioning Yau's ability to put his creative vision into place, he took over, directing ''The Odd One Dies'' and ''The Longest Nite'' himself. The same happened again with ''Expect The Unexpected''. To eventually stopped working together with Yau. While Yau is formally credited as the director of all three films, To has since gone on to confirm that he is in fact the director of the films. When asked why he still let Yau be credited as the director, he responded, "I had wanted him to succeed and be recognized as a director.  ..Both he and Patrick Leung were my former assistant directors, and perhaps they both felt that I was supervising them. Therefore, if they left the company, it might be better for them."


Festivals and awards

Milkyway Image's films have played around the international festival circuit. '' Throw Down'' was screened Out-of-Competition at the
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
in 2004; '' Exiled'' was shown in Competition at the festival in 2006; '' Mad Detective'' was shown in Competition in 2007; ''
Life Without Principle "Life Without Principle" is an essay by Henry David Thoreau that offers his program for a righteous livelihood. It was published in 1863. Overview In his essay, Thoreau questions whether working is the most important part of one's life, argui ...
'' was shown in Competition in 2011. Six of Milkyway Image's films were featured in the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
: ''
Breaking News Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...
'' in the Out-of-Competition midnight screening in 2004; ''
Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
'' in Competition in 2005; '' Election 2'' (a.k.a. ''Triad Election'') was shown as an Out-of-Competition midnight screening in 2006; ''
Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- colli ...
'' was screened as an Out-of-Competition midnight screening in 2007; ''
Vengeance Vengeance may refer to: *Vengeance (concept) or revenge, a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance Film * ''Vengeance'' (1930 film), action adventure film directed by Archie Mayo * ''Vengeance'' (1937 film) or ''W ...
'' competed for the prestigious
Palme D'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
in 2009; '' Blind Detective'' was screened in Out-of-Competition midnight screenings in 2013. ''
Sparrow Sparrow may refer to: Birds * Old World sparrows, family Passeridae * New World sparrows, family Passerellidae * two species in the Passerine family Estrildidae: ** Java sparrow ** Timor sparrow * Hedge sparrow, also known as the dunnock or hedg ...
'' was also shown in Competition at the
Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...
in 2008. In North America, Milkyway Image's films have been consistently screened at the
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...
. '' The Mission'', '' Fulltime Killer'', '' PTU'', ''Breaking News'', and ''Throw Down'' all screened between 1999 and 2005. In 2006, ''Election'', ''Election 2'', and ''Exiled'' were screened . ''Election'' isn't one of "
Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensemb ...
presents...", but Tarantino loved this film so much and he still helped the DVD release of this film in someway; his quote "The Best Film Of The Year" is on this film's United States DVD cover

In 2007, '' Election 2'' (a.k.a. ''Triad Election'') and '' Exiled'' were released in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
theatrically. Johnnie To was also honoured as a "Filmmaker in Focus" of the 2007
Rotterdam Film Festival The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental fi ...
. In 2008, '' Mad Detective'' was given a limited release.


Filmography


References


External links


Official website


{{Authority control Film production companies of Hong Kong Mass media companies established in 1996