The paper discusses the 1957 Hong Kong film The True Story of Ah Q. As a Hong Kong leftist film, its plot and production process are relevant to understanding the political and cultural life of New China. However, Hon...The paper discusses the 1957 Hong Kong film The True Story of Ah Q. As a Hong Kong leftist film, its plot and production process are relevant to understanding the political and cultural life of New China. However, Hong Kong leftist cinema played an important role in the reception of New China cinema overseas; it can only be understood within the context of political and cultural life in New China. This paper explores the complicated relations between Hong Kong leftist cinema, domestic socialist cinema, and Shanghai left-wing cinema in the 1930s. In addition, it discusses The True Story ofAh Q as a film with features that identify it with both Hong Kong leftist cinema and New China cinema. Thus, the film＇s acceptibility is determined by the tensions between these two identifications.展开更多
The metaphor at the heart of Hong Kong filmmaker Flora Lau＇s debut feature film, Bends （2013）, set in the border spaces of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, is that of intersection. By constructing a quietly observant view o...The metaphor at the heart of Hong Kong filmmaker Flora Lau＇s debut feature film, Bends （2013）, set in the border spaces of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, is that of intersection. By constructing a quietly observant view of life on both sides of the Sam Chun River, which separates Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, Lau＇s film inhabits this metaphor by cutting through the public and private domains with a narrative of intimacy and connection at the nexus of wider socioeconomic concerns. Delving into Hong Kong-mainland relations, Bends inserts the real-life social issues of immigration, border control, economic privilege, and China＇s one-child policy into its diegesis to capture Hong Kong at a moment in time. In considering the intertwined relationship between identity, politics, and urban space, this paper employs the trope of disappearance perpetuated in critical discourses on Hong Kong as a point of departure to explore the distinct filmic topography of Bends, which attempts to cinematically preserve the dynamics of the city under Chinese administration. In so doing, this paper also examines Lau＇s interest in giving marginalized female groups narrative agency to shed light on an alternative perspective of the special administrative region and its unfolding relationship with the motherland.展开更多
The article approaches Wong Kar-wai＇s cinematic work using the notion of ＂minor literature＂ as coined by Gilles Deleuze and F61ix Guattari. Minor literature--or, in other words, minor language signifies oppositiona...The article approaches Wong Kar-wai＇s cinematic work using the notion of ＂minor literature＂ as coined by Gilles Deleuze and F61ix Guattari. Minor literature--or, in other words, minor language signifies oppositional/resistant uses of a major/hegemonic language. It appropriates hegemonic language and deterritorialises it by re-signifying its original meanings. By transferring this concept from literature to cinema, we can describe Hong Kong cinema, which deterritorialises Hollywood cinema, as a minor cinema in relation to Hollywood. Following this interpretation, Wong Kar-wai＇s movies appear as a ＂minor language of a minor cinema＂ because they are significantly different from Hong Kong＇s mainstream action cinema. Consequently, Wong＇s movies possess a high level of deterritorialising power, which opens up new spaces of meaning and gives voice to positions usually oppressed by mainstream cinema. Finally, a close reading of Wong＇s movie Happy Together shows how ＂minor movies＂ challenge the mainstream＇s unison and give space to a resistant and transforming polyphony.展开更多
文摘The paper discusses the 1957 Hong Kong film The True Story of Ah Q. As a Hong Kong leftist film, its plot and production process are relevant to understanding the political and cultural life of New China. However, Hong Kong leftist cinema played an important role in the reception of New China cinema overseas; it can only be understood within the context of political and cultural life in New China. This paper explores the complicated relations between Hong Kong leftist cinema, domestic socialist cinema, and Shanghai left-wing cinema in the 1930s. In addition, it discusses The True Story ofAh Q as a film with features that identify it with both Hong Kong leftist cinema and New China cinema. Thus, the film＇s acceptibility is determined by the tensions between these two identifications.
文摘The metaphor at the heart of Hong Kong filmmaker Flora Lau＇s debut feature film, Bends （2013）, set in the border spaces of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, is that of intersection. By constructing a quietly observant view of life on both sides of the Sam Chun River, which separates Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, Lau＇s film inhabits this metaphor by cutting through the public and private domains with a narrative of intimacy and connection at the nexus of wider socioeconomic concerns. Delving into Hong Kong-mainland relations, Bends inserts the real-life social issues of immigration, border control, economic privilege, and China＇s one-child policy into its diegesis to capture Hong Kong at a moment in time. In considering the intertwined relationship between identity, politics, and urban space, this paper employs the trope of disappearance perpetuated in critical discourses on Hong Kong as a point of departure to explore the distinct filmic topography of Bends, which attempts to cinematically preserve the dynamics of the city under Chinese administration. In so doing, this paper also examines Lau＇s interest in giving marginalized female groups narrative agency to shed light on an alternative perspective of the special administrative region and its unfolding relationship with the motherland.
文摘The article approaches Wong Kar-wai＇s cinematic work using the notion of ＂minor literature＂ as coined by Gilles Deleuze and F61ix Guattari. Minor literature--or, in other words, minor language signifies oppositional/resistant uses of a major/hegemonic language. It appropriates hegemonic language and deterritorialises it by re-signifying its original meanings. By transferring this concept from literature to cinema, we can describe Hong Kong cinema, which deterritorialises Hollywood cinema, as a minor cinema in relation to Hollywood. Following this interpretation, Wong Kar-wai＇s movies appear as a ＂minor language of a minor cinema＂ because they are significantly different from Hong Kong＇s mainstream action cinema. Consequently, Wong＇s movies possess a high level of deterritorialising power, which opens up new spaces of meaning and gives voice to positions usually oppressed by mainstream cinema. Finally, a close reading of Wong＇s movie Happy Together shows how ＂minor movies＂ challenge the mainstream＇s unison and give space to a resistant and transforming polyphony.
