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A distinct selection of Chinese films found their way to Australian
multiplexes more broadly at the beginnings of the 2000s, e.g. In the Mood
for Love (2000) and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000).

In 2002, Chinatown Cinema Corporation diversified its business with
the opening of the first “Carnival on Wheels” market in Beijing. More
than 50 Australian engineers, technicians and administrative staff were
employed in the multi-million dollar project. Following the success in
Beijing, the Carnival moved on to other Chinese cities.

In 2003, Raymond Yu died. Although the lease of Chinatown Cinema
2, held by Lolita and Raymond Yu, ended in 2003, Lolita continued to
run the business and occasionally supplied movies to Mid City until
2008. However, from approximately the beginning of the twenty-first
century, DVDs became all-pervasive. Cinema attendances were
impacted. To make matters worse, Hong Kong film companies dealt
directly with Hollywood, restricting the product supply to Mid City.
Chinatown Cinema closed on 26 May 2008. It was a testing, transitory
time. The golden days of Hong Kong cinema had evidently passed, but
films from mainland China were not yet accessible to Australian
exhibitors in sufficient quantity for the vacuum to be filled.

Chinatown Cinema 3 was removed in 2011 as part of a rejuvenation
and retail expansion of the floor space. Today the former Chinatown
Cinema 2 is occupied by Hyland’s Bookshop.

It was gratifying to learn in 2014 that Chinatown Cinema 1 at Mid City
had reopened, following a fine refurbishment. The seating capacity has
been reduced to just over 300 seats, reflecting a different era of film
viewing.
The market for Chinese films has evolved. Mandarin language films with
English subtitles feature more regularly now than in the dizzy days of
the 1980s and 90s. Both the supply of Mandarin language films and the
number of Mandarin speaking persons in Melbourne have increased in
the past decade. Chinatown Cinema Corporation has produced 12 films and co-produced
many others, including the very popular Love Soldier of Fortune (1988)
In 2015, the Australian Department of Social Services profiled the and Chungking Express (1994). Among the distribution highlights of
China-born community living in Australia and reported that Mandarin Chinatown Cinema Corporation are blockbusters starring Jet Li, Jackie
was spoken at home by a multiple of almost three compared to the number Chan and Bruce Lee.
of persons who spoke Cantonese at home.
Chinatown Cinema Corporation has also been the architect of pop
At the end of January 2018, the Mandarin film; A Better Tomorrow 2018, concerts performed in Australia, New Zealand,
was screening at select cinemas of both Hoyts and Village in Melbourne.
Wolf Warrior 2 was an extraordinary success in 2017. It is the first movie Europe, Taiwan and Singapore. There have been Cantonese operas and
to gross more than US$600 million at the Chinese box office and was acrobatic shows. Concerts represent a significant part of the business
shown on more than 19,000 screens on its first day. Perhaps we can nowadays and feature prominently in its promotions.
anticipate a raft of intense action blockbusters from China in the short to
medium term. It is reassuring that both cinema in Bourke Street and Chinese Cinema
in Chinatown remain part of Melbourne’s cultural and entertainment
Cantonese films, though no longer abundant in number, are not forgotten. scene. ★
The World War 2 drama; Our Time Will Come, generally received very
positive reviews. It also received 11 nominations and was named the best Credits:
local film of 2017 by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society.
Chinatown Cinema Corporation P/L.
Chinatown Cinema 1 Museum of Chinese Australian History Inc.
CinemaRecord Issues 48 and 75.
Archival records of the Cinema & Theatre Historical Society of
Australia Inc.
50 years of Cinema and Movies in Melbourne’s CBD (1940-1989)
by Keith Davies.
Once Upon a Time in Chinatown by John Snadden, Heroic Cinema.
China Rhyming Blog Archive, 23 December 2015 – Who was
Little Miss Shanghai? Quite Somebody Actually.
The Argus newspaper, 21 May 1943: Mrs Fabian Chow in
Melbourne.
Hong Kong Film Award Nominations 2018 by Edmund Lee, South
China Morning Post, 6 February 2018.
Images:

Museum of Chinese Australian History Inc.
Chinatown Cinema Corporation P/L.
CATHS Archive

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