Hong Kong Cinema under

337 Pages·2017·5.28 MB·English

Hong Kong Cinema under “One Country, Two Systems”:
Production, Reception and Policy

Hongjin (Hilary) He
M.A. (University of Western Sydney)

This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy,
The University of Western Sydney, School of Communication Arts
& Center for Cultural Research, 2011.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research project would not have been possible without the support of the three-
year (2008-2011) University of Western Sydney International Postgraduate Research
Scholarship and five-month (Sept. 2009 – Jan. 2010) Resident Graduate Scholarship
provided by the David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies (LEWI), Hong Kong
Baptist University. Special thanks also to the Centre for Cultural Research (CCR), UWS
and the Advanced Cultural Studies Institute of Sweden (ACSIS), for sponsoring my trip
to the Media & Popular Culture PhD course at the Department of Cultural Studies
(Tema Q), Linköping University, Sweden in April-May, 2010.

I benefited from a series of workshops and seminars conducted by professors and
researchers at the Centre for Cultural Research and conversations with them. Therefore,
I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Kay Anderson, Professor Ien Ang,
Professor Tony Bennett, Professor Bob Hodge, Professor Meagan Morris, Associate
Professor Brett Neilson, Associate Professor Greg Noble, Dr Megan Watkins and Dr
Tim Winter. My sincere thanks to co-supervisor Professor Peter Hutchings for my first
year and Professor Emilie Yeh Yueh-yu at HKBU for her advice during my residency
there. Deepest gratitude is also due to my succeeding co-supervisor Professor David
Rowe who was abundantly helpful and offered invaluable assistance and guidance with
my writing.

Last but not least, my principal supervisor Associate Professor Hart Cohen, who had
guided me to the pursuit of a PhD and the field of academia for eight years, beginning
while supervising my thesis for a Masters degree at UWS. His patience, encouragement
and knowledge have helped me to change my life.

Finally, I wish to express my love and gratitude to my parents HE Jiannan, WU Fei, and
my husband XU Hongqin, for their understanding and endless love, for the duration of
my studies.

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Statement of Authentication

The work presented in this thesis is to the best of my knowledge,
original except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I
have not submitted this material, in full or in part, for a degree at this
or any other institution.

Hongjin HE (何虹瑾)

…………………………………………………………..
(Signature)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Figures viii
Abbreviations xiii
Abstract xiv

Chapter One: Introduction___________________________________________1_
1. Complex and Contingent ―One Country, Two Systems‖ Policy 2
2. A Cultural Studies Approach to the ―One Country, Two Systems‖ Conjuncture 6
3. Overview of the Thesis Structure and Content 9

Chapter Two: _______________________________ _______21_
Hong Kong Cinema Seeking a New Identity:
Literature Review and Research Methods

Chapter Three:_____________________________________________________35_
“One Movie, Two Versions”: Post-1997 Hong Kong Cinema in the Mainland

Why Should We Care About the Cut Version? 36

1. Two Versions as a Commercial Expediency: 41
A Result of Economic Collaboration
1.1 Multiple Versions as a Survival Tactic of Hong Kong Cinema 42
1.2 Hong Kong Movies Metamorphosis in the Mainland 49

2. Two Versions Highlights the Political Divergence: 54
A Reflection of HK-PRC Relationship
2.1 Provoking Rather Than Persecuted: 54
The ―Category E‖ Idea in Hong Kong Movies
2.2 Differences in Film Regulatory Regimes: 61
The Film Rating System vs. Censorship

3. The Impacts of Two Versions On 68
Hong Kong Film Consumption and Production
3.1 Consumption Dilemma: The Theatrical 69
Censored Version vs. the Pirated ―Authentic‖ Version
3.2 Disappearing ―Two-versions‖: Indication of Self-censorship 76
Conclusion 81
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Chapter Four:______________________________________________________83 _
Rise of “Kong Girl” in Co-Productions:
Mainland Actresses Reconfiguring Hong Kong Cinema

Thriving Co-Production: Is Hong Kong Cinema Becoming Less ―Hong Kong‖? 85

1. The Mainland Actress as a Token 88
In Hong Kong-Mainland Co-Productions
1.1 Cross-Border Film Co-Production in the PRC: 89
From Filming Location to Film Market
1.2 Functional ―Kong Girls‖ in the Masculine Hong Kong Cinema 96

2 The Mainland Actress as a Stepping Stone 101
In Hong Kong Film Industry Reconfiguration
2.1 Modernising the Country (Girl): 102
My Dream Girl as a New Foreign-market Movie
2.2 When Collaborator Becomes Contender: 109
Mainland Actress as the Real Winner in My Name is Fame

3. The Mainland Actresses as Hallmark in the Era of Integration 115
3.1 Northward Hong Kong Filmmakers: 115
Making Sense of the Changing Mainland
3.2 Southward Mainlander Actresses: 121
Making the Best of the ―Unchanged‖ Hong Kong

Conclusion 128

Chapter Five:___________________________________________________ __ 131
“Not Made for the PRC”: Efforts to Keep Hong Kong Cinema Unchanged

Is Transnational Hong Kong Cinema Becoming ―Half PRC, Half Local?‖ 133

1. Becoming Global: More Problems Than It Solved 138
1.1 Emulating and Embracing Hollywood to Survive It 139
1.2 Representing Hong Kong in the International Arena 146

2. Becoming “One Country”: Reluctance to Reconciliation 151
2.1 Gangster/Crime Movies: Anachronism as Resistance to Change 151
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2.2 Ghost/Horror Movies: Haunted by the Changing Present 157

3. Becoming “Hong Kong” (Again): Preserving and Persevering 163
3.1 Government Subsidised Hong Kong Films 164
3.2 ―Hong Kong Specificity‖ As Guaranteed by ―Two Systems‖ 168

Conclusion 174

Chapter Six_______________________________________________________177_
“Chineseness-es” Outside Mainland China:
Chinese Diasporas through Post-1997 Hong Kong Cinema

Can the ―Chineseness‖ of Hong Kong Cinema Reinforce its Specificity? 179

1. Macao：An “Exemplary” Special Administration Region 183
1.1 Portuguese Macao in Hong Kong Films 184
1.2 Macao SAR: the Gaming Resort of the PRC 192

2. Taiwan: “One China, Different Interpretations” 198
2.1 Prince of Tears: 1950s ―White Terror‖ in Taiwan 199
Under Martial Law
2.2 Black Gold and Ballistic: Political Corruption and 203
the 2004 Election Farce in Democratic Taiwan

3. Singapore and Malaysia: One Chinese Culture, Flexible Affiliations 212
3.1 From Malay to Chinese Language: 213
Renascent Hong Kong-Singaporean Films
3.2 Malaysian Chinese Cinema in the Context of Support 218
By Hong Kong

Conclusion 222

Chapter Seven______________________________________________________ 225
Films For (and By) a “Culturally Unified” China:
The Hong Kong Martial Arts Film as Pan-Chinese Cinema

Pan-Chinese Cinema: a Fourth Entry under the Rubric of ―Chinese Cinemas‖? 228

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1． Screening Ancient China: Imagining a Unitary Homeland 235
In the Historical Setting
1.1 Martial Arts Films as the Emerging Pan-Chinese Blockbusters 236
1.2 Peter Chan Ho-sun: From a Pan-Asian to 244
A Pan-Chinese Cinema Model

2． Reinterpreting National Cultural Heritage: 251
Pan-Chinese Film Adaptations of Chinese Classics
2.1 Romance of Three Kingdoms: Reflections on a Divided China 252
2.2 Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio: 259
Naissance of Chinese Fantasy Genre

3. Marketing Cultural Nationalism: the Reviving Kung Fu Craze 265
3.1 Donnie Yen: the New Kung Fu Icon of Pan-Chinese Cinema 266
3.2 Final Curtain or Resurgence? 272
Hong Kong’s Presence in Pan-Chinese Kung Fu Films

Conclusion 279

Chapter Eight: Conclusion_________________________________________ _282
1. How is Hong Kong Cinema Influenced by the Policies? 282
2. ―One Country, Two Systems‖ Reflected in Hong Kong Cinema 287

References 292
Appendix: 315
A. Filmography 315
B. Publications during the Candidature 322

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List of Figures
Figure 3.1-2 43
Stills from the two versions of God of Gamblers III (1991),
starring the Mainland actress Gong Li (left)
and the Taiwan actress Fang Jiwei (Right)
Figure 3.3 46
Still from Running On Karma, Biggie and the female police officer
Figure 3.4 46
Still from Running On Karma, Biggie sees the female police officer’s
karma from her previous life
Figure3.5-6 50
Movie Posters for an adult-only Hong Kong movie Naked Ambition (left)
and its Mainland version, the morality tale Inescapable Snare (right)
Figure 3.7 56
Still from Exiled (2006), the car number plate ―MF-97-99‖
Figure 3.8 56
Still from Men Suddenly in Black (2003),
the car number plate ―CH 6489‖
Figure 3.9 60
Still from Election 2, the PRC Public Security Bureau chief (standing)
coercing the protagonist to be the puppet chairman of the Hong Kong
triad society
Figure 3.10 67
Still from Lust, Caution (2007), the female lead played by Mainland
actress Tang Wei, telling the Japanese collaborator ―Go quick!‖ before
the planned assassination
Figure 3.11 74
Movie Poster of Shinjuku Incident (2009, starring Jackie Chan)
Figure 4.1 100
DVD cover of Farewell My Concubine (1993) starring Hong Kong actor
Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing and Mainland actress Gong Li
Figure 4.2 103
Movie poster of My Dream Girl (2003): the image of Mainland actress
Zhao Wei changes from a rustic Mainland girl (left) to a stylish urban
lady (right)

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Figure 4.3 105
Mainland actress Qin Hailu in Durian Durian (2000), winner of the Best
Picture award at the 38th Taiwan Golden Horse Awards, the Best Actress
and Best New Performer awards
Figure 4.4 108
DVD Cover of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) starring
Mainland Actress Zhang Ziyi (top), Malaysian Actress Michelle Yeoh
(middle), and Hong Kong megastar Chou Yun-Fat
Figure 4.5 110
DVD cover for My Name is Fame (2006)
staring Hong Kong actor Sean Lau Ching-Wan and
Mainland actress Huo Siyan
Figure 4.6 118
Movie poster of The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (2007)
starring Mainland actress Siqin Gaowa (middle) and
Hong Kong megastar Chow Yun-fat (right)
Figure 4.7 123
Movie poster of Crossing Hennessy (2010), non-co-produced
Hong Kong film which features actress Tang Wei’s comeback
as a newly immigrated Hong Kong resident
Figure 4.8 126
Movie poster of Perhaps Love (2005) starring
Mainland actress Zhou Xun (right) and three actors from Korea,
Hong Kong and Taiwan/Japan (left to right): Ji Jin-Hee,
Jacky Cheung and Takeshi Kaneshiro
Figure 5.1-2 140
Stills from A Man Called Hero (1998),
duel atop of the Statue of Liberty
Figure 5.3 143
Still from Shaolin Soccer (2001)
Figure 5.4-5 150
Movie Posters of Infernal Affairs (2002)
and its Hollywood remake The Departed (2006)
Figure 5.6 152
Still from Victim (1999), Chinese characters of
―May this moment stay forever‖ in blood on a crime scene wall

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Figure 5.7 156
DVD cover of Young and Dangerous (1996)
starring Cheng Yee Kin (middle)
Figure 5.8 156
Still from Once a Gangster (2010) also starring
Cheng Yee Kin (left) as a gangster-turned-academic
Figure 5.9-10 160
Stills from Dumplings (2004), the changing facial expressions of
the Hong Kong woman while she is having human fetus dumplings
Figure 5.11 167
Movie poster of Echoes of the Rainbow (2010)
A nostalgic melodrama on 19060s Hong Kong
Figure 5.12-13 172
Movie Posters of ―Pornviolence‖ Category III Films:
Dream Home (2010) & Girl$ (2010)
Figure 6.1-2 188
Movie posters for The Longest Nite (1998) and Exiled (2006),
both Hong Kong-made gangster films set in pre-handover Macao
Figure 6.3-4 191
Stills from Exiled (2006): The fatalistic coin-flipping and
the broken-down car with the plate ―MF97-99‖
Figure 6.5 195
DVD cover of Look for a Star (2009)
A modern Cinderella story takes place in a Macao casino
Figure 6.6 197
Still from Poker King (2009): actress Josie Ho Chiu-Yi,
daughter of Macao casino magnate Stanley Ho
Figure 6.7-8 197
Stills from Poker King (2009): Planning for
New Gambling Resort City
Figure 6.9 202
Still from Prince of Tears (2009): A map of the Republic of China
Shown in the Newsreels of 1950s’ Taiwan
Figure 6.10 206
Still from Black Gold (1997): the ROC national flag raising ceremony
in front of the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

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