Synopses & Reviews
The rapid development of Hong Kong has occasioned the demolition of buildings and landscapes of historic significance, but film acts as a repository for memories of lost places, vanished vistas, and material objects. Location shoots in Hong Kong have preserved many disappearing landmarks of the city, and the resulting films function as valuable and irreplaceable archives of the cityandrsquo;s evolution.
Far more than a simple collection of movie locations, this book delivers a rare glimpse into the history of film production practices in Hong Kong. The locations described here are often not the most iconic; rather, they are the anonymous streets and back alleys used by local film studios in the 1960s and 70. They are the garden cafes with outdoor seating near the Chinese University of Hong Kong where moments of conflict in romantic comedies erupt and dissipate. They are the old Kai Tak Airport, which channels rage and desire, and the tenement housing, which splits citizens into greedy landlords and the diligent working class and embodies old-day communal values. Modern Hong Kong horror films draw their power from the material character of home-grown convenient stores, shopping arcades, and lost mansions found under modern high rises.
As in the films of Wong Kar-wai and Johnnie To, readers will drift and dash through the streets of Central to the districtandrsquo;s periphery, almost recklessly, automatically, or for the sheer pleasure of roaming. The first of its kind in English, this book is more than a city guide to Hong Kong through the medium of film; it is a unique exploration of relationship between location and place and genre innovations in Hong Kong cinema.and#160;
Review
"This is a timely look at Hong Kong cinema after the establishment of the HKSAR in 1997. The consequences of the territorys change in sovereignty form the backdrop for this nuanced study of local history, memory, nostalgia and identity in Hong Kong cinema in the ten years after the Handover. Although the Hong Kong commercial film industry has been in a slump, Hong Kong cinema continues to produce border-crossing blockbusters, glean critical accolades, inspire academic analysis, and demand the continuing devotion of fans around the world. This book makes an important contribution to a growing body of scholarly literature on contemporary Hong Kong cinema, and it provides a valuable update on current trends and practices in Hong Kong film culture." -- Gina Marchetti, University of Hong Kong
Synopsis
Taking as its point of departure the three recurrent themes of nostalgia, memory and local histories, this book is an attempt to map out a new poetics -- the post-nostalgic imagination -- in Hong Kong cinema in the first decade of Chinese rule.
Synopsis
Introduction PART I: TIME AND MEMORY Post-Nostalgia: In the Mood for Love and 2046 Cinematic Remembrances: Ordinary Heroes and Little Cheung Allegory, Kinship, and Redemption: Fu Bo and Isabella PART II: SCHIZOPHRENIA, AMNESIA AND CINEPHILIA Lost in the Cosmopolitan Crime Zone: Johnnie To's Urban Legends The Kung Fu Hero in the Digital Age: Stephen Chow's 'Glocal' Strategies Karmic Redemption: Memory and Schizophrenia in Hong Kong Action Films PART III: IN AND OUT Migrants in a Strange City: (Dis-)locating the China Imaginary Outside the Nation: the Pan-Asian Trajectory of Applause Pictures The Hong Kong Multiplex: An Unfolding Narrative Notes Bibliography Index
About the Author
Linda Lai is an associate professor of critical intermedia art at the School of Creative Media, the City University of Hong Kong.
Kimburley Wing-Yee Choi is associate professor of critical intermedia art at the School of Creative Media, the City University of Hong Kong.
Table of Contents
Maps/Scenes:
Scenes 1-7, 1957-1980
Scenes 8-14, 1982-1992
Scenes 15-20, 1994-1997
Scenes 21-26, 1998-2003
Scenes 27-32, 2003-2007
Scenes 33-38, 2008-2012
Essays:
Hong Kong: City of the Imagination
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Linda Chiu-han Lai and Steve Fore
Here, There and In-between: Transitional Space in Hong Kong Movies
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Kimburley Wing-yee Choi
The Kid on the Street: Dai pai dong, Tenement Buildings, Public Housing
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Linda Chiu-han Lai
Many-splendoured Things: The Wharf, the Roof-tops and the Floating Population
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Linda Chiu-han Lai
Colonial Remains: From Non-place to Self-referential Simulacrum
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Lam Wai-keung
My Movie Scenes: A Directorandrsquo;s Impression of Home
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Derek Chiu (Chiu Sung-kee)
Victoria: Room with a View, or Unsettled History?
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Hector Rodriguez
Resources
Contributor Bios
Filmography