The Chinese Mirror

The Future of Hong Kong Cinema: a round table discussion (V)

Becoming a niche genre

Lie Fu:  Personally, I think Hong Kong films in the future will become a niche genre.

Mao Jian:  Local movies will be standard.  Many people online have quoted you (Lie Fu) as saying "Hong Kong cinema is dead."  Did you say that?

Lie Fu:  I wrote that in 1995.  But by "death" I didn't mean completely over and done with; rather, I meant the cessation of creativity, that no one would be carrying it onwards.

Mao Jian:  Did you feel this was the case in 1995, or were you making a prediction?

Lie Fu:  It was already the case.  I was still with "Ming Pao Monthly"《明报月刊》then, and I wrote a piece on how Hong Kong cinema was already in a bad way.  The editor decided to make it a cover feature, and we went with this sentence as a gimmick.

Moderator:  "Ip Man" just got the [Hong Kong Film] award for Best Picture; what do Hong Kong people feel about this movie?

Lie Fu:  That "Ip Man" is a Hong Kong film.  From Wong Fei Hong through Fong Sai Yuk to Ip Man, there have been a series of folk heroes who are a special part of Hong Kong movie culture.  There have been heroes who were not from Guangdong Province, such as Huo Yuanjia and Chen Zhen, who were created out of Hong Kong films.  And in the broader view, Hong Kong movies can still preserve and spread the Lingnan culture.  [Lingnan:  literally, "south of the Five Ridges," meaning the area covering Guangdong and Guangxi provinces]  Watching "Ip Man" is very comfortable:  director Wilson Yip didn't get fancy with his characters.  Of course, the Ip family descendants had certain demands, much like those of Mei Lanfang ["Forever Enthralled"], that their ancestor couldn't be turned into this or that.

Luo Gang:  There was also an easy way out there.  "Ip Man" took the national mood as the film's structure.  Of course, Hong Kong filmmakers have been more likely to use nationalistic sentiment, for example the Wong Fei Hong series, right up through the complexity of Dongfang Bubai. 

Lie Fu:  This began with Bruce Lee's "Fist of Fury."

Luo Gang:  This nationalistic sentiment is also more suitable for the mainland market, less likely to go wrong.

Moderator:  [Producer] Raymond Wong has attempted a lot of movies on the mainland in recent years, but it wasn't until "Ip Man" that he won some awards and praise.  But were you as surprised as many people were when "Ip Man" beat out "The Way We Are" for Best Picture at the Hong Kong Film Awards?

Mao Jian:  Not at all.  I felt quite comfortable with that, and welcomed it.  "Ip Man" most embodied the characteristics of Hong Kong cinema, and thought that in Donnie Yen's fight scenes they had really grasped the spirit of Hong Kong films. 

Lie Fu:  Since "City Entertainment" 《电影双周刊》ceased publishing, the Hong Kong Film Awards have been an industry award, and that has definitely encouraged commercial films.  

Mao Jian:  Otherwise, Hong Kong movies would have too small an audience, and we would be advocating the protection of Hong Kong commercial films.

Moderator:  But one can't just make artistic films, that's a dead end.

Luo Gang:  Hong Kong cinema is a rich genre in and of itself.  But the problem now is that commercial films are becoming overly reliant on the mainland market, without the success that came in the golden age.  There will all kinds of possibilities in the next decade, and the next generation of Hong Kong filmmakers will be growing up in this environment.

Moderator:  So are you saying that even without a censorship system, Hong Kong cinema could not be as dynamic as it was in the past?

Luo Gang: Yes. 

Moderator:  Was that due to Hong Kong directors misreading the mainland market?  Otherwise, why have most of the co-productions done so badly?

Mao Jian:  Possibly.  They couldn't find the feeling of mainland audiences.

Sun Ganlu:  There's another problem here.   Those small art films haven't taken the psychology of mainland audiences, their expectations, into account at the outset.  They've just centered on the director himself, so the main determinant of these films' rise or fall has largely been a measure of Hong Kong local creativity.  As for a movie finding a market, its integration into both the mainland and the Hong Kong markets certainly has an impact.  Before the mainland market opened up, Hong Kong movies were more aimed at the Southeast Asian and the Japan-Korea markets, but after so big a market as the mainland opened up, it couldn't help but have an impact of Hong Kong filmmakers' creative work.  But even without censorship Hong Kong filmmakers will still encounter problems. 

Mao Jian:  Much like John Woo making movies in the United States, that's all over with. 

Sun Ganlu:  It's a kind of customization, a customized structure, a customized market, even customizing oneself.  But Hong Kong filmmakers' image and understanding of the mainland market is definitely problematic.

Mao Jian:  So like Ang Lee, it's not easy.

Moderator:  So we've now discovered that John Woo's original understanding of the mainland market was that it was more difficulty to understand than the U.S. market.

Luo Gang:  He completely used "Troy" in filming "Red Cliff."

Sun Ganlu:  As a creative person matures, his reactions to his environment become increasingly complex, and there are more factors influencing him.  But we must not forget that he is still a creator, still growing, and are there problems in this growth?  "Red Cliff" was really bad, but if you say the environment was a factor in that, what does that have to do with him personally? 

A steadily narrowing road 

Sun Ganlu:  I think there's been a subtle change with Hong Kong filmsy.  I once saw a small film called "Love Story,"《恋爱物语》and Hong Kong films like that do not stress Hong Kong's identity, but just relate a story of everyday life, a relaxed state of mind.  But now in movies like "The Sparrow" we are seeing the first signs of a stress on Hong Kong characteristics in a genre that used to rely heavily of the use of force to tell their story.   

Lie Fu:  This is related to Johnnie To's own state of mind, with so many of his peers gone.

Moderator:  And Johnnie To has stayed in Hong Kong.

Sun Ganlu:  It's very difficult now to just look at Hong Kong films in isolation.  There is a latent power behind them. Hong Kong filmmakers are already considered to be "insiders" on the mainland.  Their standpoint and vision have changed.  

Lie Fu:  It's just as Joe Ma (马伟豪) said in an interview, I worry that we will all run to Beijing, and the only Chinese movies left will be northern ones.

Moderator:  China's most popular directors have basically all come from north China.  Since Xie Jin (谢晋) there really haven't been any good directors from Shanghai or south China.  Will Hong Kong directors going north form a distinctly southern counterbalance to that?

Lie Fu:  What worries me is whether Hong Kong will take the same road Shanghai did.

Sun Ganlu:  It could be that a small part of Hong Kong cinema will continue to exist, and  one movie may stand out from time to time, but the overall pattern might not go that way.  In addition, as far as film production is concerned, "going north" may well be the trend.  It's like Hollywood movies, with the investment pressures so great, that may be the only choice.  Otherwise, it will be like movies from Denmark or Norway:  there are some, but by having to fend for themselves they don't have a global impact, and not even much regional impact.

Luo Gang:  The road will get steadily narrower.  Making movies today requires so much financial support, there are so many things to do.  With funding, a director can assemble the very best team.  Directors realize that if they can't assemble that team, it's useless.

Moderator:  Funding now comes primarily from the mainland, since there is very little Hong Kong money for investment in motion pictures.  And since the investors are from the mainland, it naturally follows that the mainland side will control production of the film.

Lie Fu:   There aren't many Hong Kong studios left, and it seems as if Johnnie To is about the only one who can still get funding from abroad.

Sun Ganlu:  If you look at the current situation for actors in the three cross-straits locations, it's clear that if you don't come to the mainland to act, sing or appear on TV, you have no hope.  

[End of Part V and discussion]  Part I  Part II  Part III  Part IV  

The Future of Hong Kong Cinema: a round table discussion (IV)

 Either go north or wait for death

 

Moderator:  There are very few purely Hong Kong films right now, but there are quite a few Hong Kong-directed co-productions with the "north," but they're also not acclimatized. 

 

Luo Gang:  Many Hong Kong directors are making movies of inferior quality in order to accomodate the current mainland market.  Take Wang Jing for example.  He's really a very interesting director, but if he wanted to make money on the mainland he would have to make what they wanted there, and his original style would be lost completely.  His work has a delightful and comic sort of ribaldry, but how do you play this sort of comedy on the mainland?  You can't. 

Lie Fu:  With compromise, there is no creativity.

 

Moderator:  I was at a film forum in Hong Kong not long ago, where everyone was saying "it's either go north or wait for death."  But looking back on these past two years, as far as the work of Hong Kong directors goes, it doesn't look like the two are that far apart.

 

Mao Jian:  Go north, or you're road kill.

 

Moderator:  Peter Chan's two co-productions, "Perhaps Love" and "The Warlords," were fairly successful.

 

Lie Fu:  Chan was very clever:  "Perhaps Love" was unrealistic, and "The Warlords" a costumer.

 

Sun Ganlu:  This is very important.  Some stories must be placed in the context of a specific time, in order to have sufficient dramatic tension. Those earlier films which were adaptations of martial arts classics needed the pretext of a dynasty; if you placed the story in an empty environment, that kind of conflict would certainly not stimulate a strong reaction in the hearts of the audience, it just wouldn't be dramatic enough.

Luo Gang:  When Tsui Hark was first making "A Chinese Ghost Story," that turbulence was the most important factor in the movie, and when it was integrated into that fantasy movie with various other factors it maximized its effect.  There was also "The East is Red," in which a woman played something other than the customary female role, creating a new identity problem.  These films all had great projections behind them, for without these projections stirring ideas in people's heads, how can you make a good movie?  So all we're seeing is a bunch of lousy movies like "All About Women."  Tsui Hark has become a synonym for lousy movies.  

 

Sun Ganlu:  For a film to have impact, there has to be some sort of projection. The creators themselves may not even be aware of it, but in a specific time context, some things will certainly be taken from it.  But if you say these channels have not been established, then no one will have a reaction to it. 

 

Lie Fu:  Speaking of joint productions, there was a film in the 90s called "A Moment of Romance 3," which co-starred Andy Lau and Wu Chien-lien.  I've seen it occasionally on TV,  and it is totally different from "A Moment of Romance I."  That was also a Hong Kong co-production, with the Changchun Film Studio, and it had absolutely no Hong Kong identity, just a China of the imagination.  In those years no one had any criticisms or comments about these "joint productions," nor that they "lacked any Hong Kong flavor."  I feel this should be looked into further.

 

Mao Jian:  The stars had a particularly prominent Hong Kong identity, so the picture didn't have a co-production image. 

 

Moderator:  This issue wasn't very sensitive at that time because there were few co-productions.  And their directors might not have taken mainland tastes into account, just followed their own concerns.  Now, while Hong Kong directors may have their own concerns, they always take mainland tastes into consideration. In fact, when they were filming "Ip Man," mainland audiences' tastes were taken into account.  Outside of 2009 Hong Kong movies made as joint productions, were there any self-invested movies?

Lie Fu:  Yes, Wong Jing made two Category III films.  After the CEPA [Closer Economic Partnership Agreement] was signed in 2003, permitting co-productions to be treated as domestically-produced Chinese films, many Hong Kong directors went north.  but there were also Hong Kong directors who opposed CEPA, such as Herman Yau, Johnnie To and Pang Ho-cheung.  Herman Yau may be the most home-grown Hong Kong director.

 

Moderator:  His work has never been released on the mainland.

 

Sun Ganlu:  The impact of joint production movies was just mentioned, and in that light I think we should review the issues around Peter Chan's co-operation with the mainland,  which can actually be packaged as one identifical issue.  He chose a costume theme last time [The Warlords], but his new drama "Bodyguards and Assassins" is a story about Sun Yat-sen, set in Hong Kong.  Actually, the characters could be completely changed, to Chiang Kai-shek or Zhang Xue-liang, but they're both off limits.  So the choices he made here were not accidental, but were choices fitting to this day and age.  Of course, by making these choices, he contributes to the development of commercial films, technically proficient, a star-studded cast, and ever higher quality films.  But for those native Hong Kong directors who are relatively creative, who aim their films at smaller, artistically-oriented audiences, could this sort of filmmaking environment be destructive, or even deadly?

[In Part 5:  Finances will determine the future]  Part I   Part II   Part III

The Future of Hong Kong Cinema: a round table discussion (III)

The mainland's "acceptance of history"

Moderator:  Left-wing films were the first to enter the mainland, which gradually opened it up for more Hong Kong productions.

Luo Gang:  Li Han-hsiang's "The Burning of Yuan Ming Yuan"《火烧圆明园》and Hsu Hsiao-ming's "Mirage"《海市蜃楼》were the first mainland-Hong Kong co-productions.  Of course, we are talking here about the mainland angle, and while they might have been unimportant in Hong Kong, they had a very great impact on the mainland. 

Sun Ganlu:  Hong Kong movies really spread on the mainland after the ban on them was lifted in the 80s. Li Han-hsiang's co-production was very important for re-establishing mainland-Hong Kong filmmaking co-operation.

Mao Jian:  The Hong Kong industry itself was developing very well at that time:  the 80s were their golden age, the peak era for the Hong Kong movie genre.

Sun Ganlu:  But for mainland audiences, Hong Kong movies in that era were on video, not in theaters.

Luo Gang:  Yes, for instance, we never saw films like those of John Woo and Tsui Hark on the big screen, everyone just saw them on video tape.  Actually, they weren't from official channels, just pirated. Sometimes, exhibiting Hong Kong movies and TV series entering the mainland at that time wasn't that open, and were viewed in videotape halls.  

Mao Jian:  In fact, Hong Kong videos were inverted in time.  Hong Kong films shown here on the mainland back then were reordered, and weren't brought in according to the time the films were made.

Moderator:  We could say that the mainland acceptance of Hong Kong films, and Hong Kong films themselves, were not entirely the same thing.

Luo Gang:  Yes, and movies like Stephen Chow's "A Chinese Odyssey"《大话西游》were phenomenal on the mainland, but not so popular in Hong Kong.

Lie Fu:  When you all saw "A Chinese Odyssey" for the first time was it on videotape or VCD?

Moderator:  It was released in theaters, but did poor box office.  Most mainland viewers can still see it on DVD.

Lie Fu:  I wrote an article in 2007 in which I discussed how there was probably a misreading of Stephen Chow's film culture.  Why is he so popular on the mainland?  Because none of you [mainlanders] have seen Michael Hui's movies.  You had no awareness, no experience of the filmmakers of his generation, so when you suddenly saw Stephen Chow, it was like discovering a new continent, you felt it was very special, very innovative.  His influence in Hong Kong has not been as strong as it has been on the mainland, but he didn't create this effect, it was because the earlier work of Michael Hui was inconceivable to them.  

Moderator:  He has also been popular in Hong Kong, but he's just one of many, while on the mainland, he's been raised to heaven, completely "deified."

Luo Gang:  On the mainland, Stephen Chow is a symbol of youth culture.  If you had people compile a list of who they thought had the greatest influence on young people since the 1980s, Chow would certainly be in the top 10.

Mao Jian:  It wasn't that we hadn't seen Michael Hui, it was just that by that time we had reached the stage where we needed something "inconceivable."  If we had seen Michael Hui before, it wouldn't necessarily have lit a fire, because our time for that hadn't yet arrived.  When Stephen Chow came out with "Flirting Scholar"《唐伯虎点秋香》in 1993, it wasn't popular, we just thought he was silly.

Moderator:  We originally thought movies like his were a mess, and didn't watch them.  But when the right time arrived, we were suddenly able to accept them, that he was ahead of the game.

Mao Jian:  It was the social atmosphere, or the time had arrived.

Luo Gang:  After we entered a commercial society, our young people had certain psychological needs, and they projected their needs onto Stephen Chow.

Moderator:  I remember when Wang Meng (王蒙) [Chinese author] advocated "avoidance of the sublime," (躲避崇高) it touched off quite a controversy.

Sun Ganlu:  Hong Kong movies were a pleasant surprise.

Luo Gang:  Also, Stephen Chow's fans on the mainland have a relatively high level of culture; Stephen Chow is greatly respected by students at many of the country's colleges and universities, .

Sun Ganlu:  This is very closely related to the cultural ecology of the mainland.  Stephen Chow offered a kind of movie rarely seen on the mainland.  But young people on the mainland had a natural demand for these, so there was a strong response to his movies, he became the voice of young people.  In the first Stephen Chow movie I saw, he had a supporting role, playing a naive young man being used by his older brother.

Luo Gang:  When he came out with "All for the Winner" in1990, people evaluated him as a "poor imitation of Chow Yun Fat."  But by the arrival of "A Chinese Odyssey" he was deified.

A sense of identity

Moderator:  Gambling films are a special class of Hong Kong films, and together with  gangster films and action films have special characteristics.

Luo Gang:  The Hong Kong film genre is very well developed, but that particular thread has had relatively little influence on the mainland.  I personally am fond of the "Milky Way Image" films of Johnnie To and Patrick Yau, but these movies have not basically been screened on the mainland.  Like "The Longest Nite" had a fast-clipped style, which affected later films "The Mission" and "PTU."  Through their use of cops and robbers films as a metaphor for the 1997 return [of Hong Kong], they showed a strong political consciousness.  The Hong Kong movies of that time were an upgrade:  in the 80s, John Woo and Tsui Hark had developed this type of film to a mature stage, but by 1997 or so, a great many Hong Kong filmmakers were inspired by a "Hong Kong consciousness."  

Sun Ganlu:  At the beginning of "Infernal Affairs 2," Eric Tsang opened a door, and in the lens there was a shot of the fireworks during the 1997 return.  This sort of shot turned up in a lot of the films of that period.

Moderator:  This expressed a sense of history, but also a sort of desolate and disturbed mentality.

Luo Gang:  The most typical of this mentality was Stanley Kwan's "Rouge."

Lie Fu:  Wong Kar-wai's "Days of Being Wild" was like that too, with the big clock.  Speaking of Hong Kong movies' "golden decade" (early 80s to early 90s), the great development of movies during this era certainly had a political background to it, and to a considerable extent the return of Hong Kong could be said to have triggered the creation of such a golden age.  At the same time, "New Wave" filmmakers were symbolic of a quest for identity, nostalgia and attitudes about the city of Hong Kong.  This is why Shaw was weeded out of competition:  it had no feeling for the city, making very few modern dress movies, they were mostly ancient costume films.  But the "New Wave" emerged with Hong Kong as the theme:  on the one hand, there was a new generation of filmmakers who grew up there, and had a passion for Hong Kong; on the other hand, when Sino-British negotiations [for the return] began in the 80s, Hong Kong people were excluded, filmmakers grasped this feeling and projected that turbulence into such films as "A Better Tomorrow."  In the early 90s there emerged a large number of fiercely ambitious movies like "Lord of the East China Sea," "Lee Rock" and "To be Number One," in which the filmmakers were searching for a kind of dream, and projected their own emotions into their films.

Mao Jian:  The current decline of Hong Kong movies is also related to this, an indistinct sense of identity.

Luo Gang:  After the return of Hong Kong, society entered a normal condition.  How was this normality expressed?  Johnnie To tried to express it afterwards in "Election," but the sympathetic response wasn't as strong as it had been with earlier Hong Kong films.

Sun Ganlu:  It's very interesting that so much of the content of Hong Kong films has been committed to the cops and robbers genre.  The "PTU" series later on had a lot of confrontations among the internal staff of police stations, and this could also be seen a projection.  Earlier, similar films had talked about the external pressures, but with "PTU" the choice was for internal pressures, and not talking about good guys and bad guys, but the choice of a particular incident could slide into some sort of crime.

Luo Gang:  Part 1 of the "PTU" series was shot completely in darkness, with no distinction between police or bandits, between good or bad, but driven by some fortuitous events, all wrapped into the story line. "Infernal Affairs" was also in such a chaotic state.

Mao Jian:  Which can be seen as suggesting some kind of Hong Kong identity.

Luo Gang:  There was also such an arrangement in "Beast Stalker," for which Nick Cheung won an award, when right at the end we discover that everything that happened was because of a traffic accident, and a crook becomes a most pitiable character. 

[In Part 4: "Going north" is the only alternative]  Part I   Part II  

The Future of Hong Kong Cinema: a round table discussion (II)

"Hong Kong films" enter the mainland 

Moderator:  During the mid-60s Hong Kong movies entered the era of Shaw Brothers dominance, from King Hu's "Come Drink With Me" to Chang Cheh's "One-Armed Swordsman."

Luo Gang:  Shaw at that time was walking on two legs, one was the martial arts genre, the other was movie musicals and romances.

Lie Fu:  Chang Cheh's "One-Armed Swordsman" was made earlier than the romances of the 60s and 70s. Li Han-hsiang (李翰祥) left Shaw in the early 60s for Taiwan's developing industry, and Loke Wan Tho was the force behind that. But when Loke was killed in a plane crash, Li lost that support, and his only recourse was to go back to Shaw Brothers. Run Run Shaw's reply to his request was, OK, but this time you'll be making money for me, so you can't go back to just making whatever you want to make. So romances were the only choice for Li.  It was not until his films became profitable that Shaw gave him the money to make movies Li himself liked, "The Empress Dowager"《倾国倾城》and "The Last Tempest"《瀛台泣血》.

Moderator:  But we had no way of seeing these films from that time.  A great many Shaw films from even later were available to mainland audiences only on videotapes and DVDs.  There was a period of time when the mainland had no access to Hong Kong films, and it was not until the 70s and 80s that we could see them again.

Sun Ganlu:  After the "Cultural Revolution" was over on the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan movies were again available, and for mainland people they brought a sort of exotic air with them.  Another lure was that these films had been inaccessible for so long. 

Lie Fu:  Another very important factor in the attraction of Hong Kong films was their urbanism, their city sensibility.  Mainland movies had urban themes, but no city feeling. That urban sensibility and feeling of the city in Hong Kong films was a very important factor in their popularity.

Mao Jian:  When we watched Hong Kong films on the mainland in the 80s, we felt they were exotic.

Luo Gang:  The most important thing was they way they incorporated the feeling of the city into the form of movies, such as "Chungking Express"《重庆森林》.  Hong Kong movies could draw you a map of the city.

Lie Fu:  They all had very specific locations, like Wan Chai, Central, Tsim Sha Tsui... They filmed each location's special characteristics in such detail.

Luo Gang:  At the end of the 70s, the early 80s, the first Hong Kong movies shown in mainland theaters were "Qu Yuan"《屈原》and "Three Charming Smiles"《三笑》.  Chen Sisi (陈思思), Xia Meng (夏梦) and Zhu Hong (朱虹) became the most popular Hong Kong actresses on the mainland at that time. 

Mao Jian:  Mainland audiences were less familiar with the previous generation of Hong Kong stars, like Josephine Siao (萧芳芳) and Connie Chan (陈宝珠), because they hadn't seen their movies. 

Lie Fu:  The Hong Kong movies and stars that entered the mainland at that time all came from "Great-Phoenix-New" (长凤新).  Hong Kong movies were divided into left and right factions.  On the left were the Great Wall, Phoenix and New Alliance studios, and they had a very close relationship with the mainland.  We called them "Great-Phoenix-New," and they merged in 1981.  The other Hong Kong studios, including Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest, did not have such a close relationship with the mainland.  They needed the Taiwan market, and the Taiwan authorities demanded that they join the "Hong Kong-Kowloon Film and Drama Free Trade Union" before the authorities would give them the credentials to exhibit their films in Taiwan.  In order to market their films there, they had to agree, so objectively they were more pro-Taiwan.   

Moderator:  What was the local Hong Kong situation regarding these two studio factions?

Lie Fu:  Leftist films were still very popular before the "Cultural Revolution."  The Phoenix studio's "Golden Eagle"《金鹰》was the first Hong Kong film to do more than a million at the box office, it was a story about ethnic minorities in Inner Mongolia and was filmed in a mainland location.  Great Wall's "The Jade Bow"《云海玉弓缘》was the first Hong Kong film to use wire technology.  With films like this, the leftist movies made great contributions to Hong Kong films.  But when the "Cultural Revolution" came along, the situation steadily worsened, and the more the leftist studios busied themselves with backing that campaign, the less influence they had with Hong Kong people.

[In Part 3:  Post-Cultural Revolution developments]  Part I

The Future of Hong Kong Cinema: a round table discussion (I)

[2009 was celebrated as the 100th anniversary of Hong Kong movies, although as the following discussion points out, there was some controversy about that. On the occasion of the centennial, the Shanghai magazine "Xinmin Weekly" (新民周刊) convened a panel of experts for a free-ranging roundtable discussion of Hong Kong's film industry, to assess its glorious past and current state of decline, and speculate on its future.  The following is a translation of the transcript of that discussion.  The original was published in the Xinmin Weekly, June 3, 2009, and the original is online.  Any further use of this translation should cite the original as well as The Chinese Mirror.  For readers who want further data on specific films or filmmakers discussed, I have provided links to their Internet Movie Database entries, if contained there.  Parenthetical comments were added to the transcript by the original Chinese editor, while bracketed comments like this paragraph have been added by the translator when he thought further explanation was desirable.  Because of the length of the transcript, it will be posted here in five parts.]

At the centennial of Hong Kong films, is creativity dead? 

Moderator's Introduction:  What is up with Hong Kong cinema?  What led its past glory to its present decline?  Will there still be a purely "Hong Kong cinema" 20 years from now?  On the occasion of the centennial of Hong Kong films, "Xinmin Weekly" brought in experts to take the pulse of Hong Kong cinema in a free-ranging round-table discussion of its pluses and minuses.  

Our Guest Panel:

Lie Fu 列孚 (Hong Kong veteran film critic, film journal editor, author)

Sun Ganlu 孙甘露 (famous author)

Mao Jian 毛尖 (columnist, film scholar, East China Normal University Professor of Chinese as a Foreign Language)

Luo Gang 罗岗 (East China Normal University Professor of Chinese literature)

The Moderator:  Qian Yijiao 钱亦蕉 (journalist); final editing by Wang Qian 王倩 (journalist) 

The Origins of the "Hong Kong Film" 

Moderator:  This year, the movie centennial is being marked everywhere in Hong Kong; does Hong Kong film really have so long a history?

Lie Fu:  Whether Hong Kong films do have a 100 year history is still controversial. "Stealing the Roast Duck"《偷烧鸭》(1909), which was funded by American Jew  Benjamin Brodsky (the owner of the Shanghai "Asia Film Company"), and filmed by Hong Kong people, is generally accepted as the original Hong Kong film; but strictly speaking, it was "Rouge" [aka "Love is Dangerous"]《胭脂》(1925). 

Mao Jian:  To our way of thinking, Hong Kong movies didn't really emerge until after the 1950s.  Hong Kong had been making movies, but until then there had not been an explicity "Hong Kong movie" concept.

Lie Fu:  From the mainland perspective, the idea of "Hong Kong film" was indeed a post-1950s idea. Prior to that there had been no talk of Hong Kong film or non-Hong Kong film. The Nationalist government prohibited dialect movies for a time, but after Hong Kong and Guangdong filmmakers resisted this, they laid that policy to rest, especially in the Guangdong region where Hong Kong movies were being released constantly.  Contacts between those two places were still very frequent at that time, with no talk of Hong Kong-Guangdong entry or exit, and contacts were the same as they were between Shanghai and Nanjing.

Mao Jian:  For me, Hong Kong's earliest [movie] era consisted of Cantonese films and Huangmei.  [黄梅戏:  one of China's five major opera schools; also called "tea-picking opera"] And when Kwan Tak Hing (关德兴) began the "Wong Fei Hung" series in 1949, the "Hong Kong film" concept appeared clearly.

Luo Gang:  Most of those early Hong Kong movies had little influence on the mainland because of the restrictions of the Cantonese dialect.  At the end of the 1940s, many mainland filmmakers went to Hong Kong, and by taking their previous professions with them they established a mainland-Hong Kong relationship. 

Lie Fu:  The filmmakers who went to Hong Kong back then fell into two subsets.  One group went there during the Anti-Japanese War, and most of them went back when the war ended. During the Nationalist-Communist civil war, another group went to Hong Kong, that would have been around 1947-1948.  Later, some filmmakers were deported back to mainland China by the British authorities in Hong Kong due to their being "pro-Communist," for example, Cen Fan (岑范), who was sent back after he filmed his Shaoxing opera version of "Hong Lou Meng"《红楼梦》[Dream of Red Mansions]. 

Moderator:  Why were they expelled from Hong Kong?

Lie Fu:  It was during the Korean War, so the British government took this action.

Luo Gang:  They were all left-wingers.

Twin Cities:  Hong Kong-Shanghai exchanges 

Moderator:  Before liberation, Shanghai was China's movie center, and then in the 1950s a lot of Shanghai filmmakers remained in Hong Kong.  

Luo Gang:  During the time of competition between MP&GI and Shaw [mid-1950s to 1960s], Eileen Chang wrote many scripts dealing with the relationships between Shanghai people and Cantonese people.  In “The Greatest Civil War on Earth"《南北和》(1961) and "The Greatest Wedding on Earth"《南北一家亲》(1962), it was like Hollywood movies in which white families have a black son-in-law, only these had a Guangdong girl finding a Shanghai guy.  Actually, a large number of Shanghai people settled in Hong Kong, and while movies mixed together a lot of Cantonese speakers and Shanghai dialect speakers, they also showed how Shanghai people in Hong Kong looked down on the Cantonese.  Why else would Huang Biyun (黄碧云) [Hong Kong woman writer] express so much disgust with Eileen Chang's [novel] "Little Reunion"?  Shanghai people who went to Hong Kong at that time all boasted they were "high-level Chinese," while Cantonese speakers were at the bottom level of society.  This was a clear psychological advantage, and this kind of advantage led directly up to Huang Biyun.  Later, when Wong Kar-wai had characters speaking Shanghai dialect in "Days of Being Wild," it also expressed a kind of identity.  At that time Shanghai was still the center, and Hong Kong may not yet have emerged as so lively.

Lie Fu:  I don't believe in this comparison of the Shanghai and Cantonese dialects, nor do I think Shanghai people looked down on the Cantonese.  There did exist an upper class of Chinese in Hong Kong, such as Ho Tong (何东) (the richest Chinese person at that time, and the largest shareholder in the Xinmin Company, Ltd., the first Hong Kong corporation totally invested by Hong Kong people), and he was a Cantonese speaker.  At the end of the 1940s many Shanghai people came to Hong Kong, bringing with them capital and technology.  And while the industrial development of Hong Kong was indeed related to the Shanghai people who came south, I don't think there was any "looking down on" situation.  It was much like the scene in "The Greatest Wedding on Earth," where a Shanghai boy and Leung Sing-po's [梁醒波] daughter are talking romance, and Leung just has a very provincial attitude:  how can a Cantonese girl marry an outsider?  And the young man still wants in any way possible to get together with the Cantonese girl.

Sun Ganlu:  This was really part of the social background behind the development of Hong Kong cinema. Did social change and mutual exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong only affect Hong Kong cinema in capital and technology?

Lie Fu:  Talent was very important.  For instance, the directors at Shaw Brothers and at MP&GI at that time all had filming experience in Shanghai, at least as log keepers or assistant directors. Before their arrival Hong Kong films were still pretty crude, their production unrefined.  They brought with them a strict system, and later formed the Shaw Brothers and MP&GI onto a larger scale, and more streamlined. They brought in the industrial concept, the idea that talent is very important to the film industry. Before that, the older generation of Hong Kong filmmakers were more profit-oriented, so they practiced what was called the "seven-day film" (turning out one movie a week).

Moderator:  The arrival of Shanghai filmmakers was really a stimulus for the maturation of Hong Kong movies.

Lie Fu:  The Shaw Brothers, who had been making movies in Shanghai for some years, [as the Tianyi studio] left the mainland earlier to operate mainly in Southeast Asia as the Nanyang (南洋) Film Company, then changed their name in 1950 to the Shaw Brothers and Sons Film Company for their Hong Kong operations.  Shaw Brothers and Sons became a theater operating and film distribution company, with Shaw Brothers providing production, distribution, and film studio "one stop" services. MP&GI had gone into Hong Kong a bit earlier than the Shaw Brothers, with their operations there headed by the Lu family of Malaysia's eldest son Loke Wan-tho (陆运涛), and had nothing to do with Shanghai as far as investment was concerned.  Recently the Hong Kong Film Archive held an Evan Yang (易文) film retrospective.  Yang was from the start the commanding general at MP&GI, his chief subject matter being middle class urban life.  Evan Yang had been educated in Shanghai, went to Taiwan after 1949, then went to Hong Kong to make movies. Other directors who came from Shanghai, like Zhu Shilin and Fei Mu, also made a lot of movies in Hong Kong.

Moderator:  In other words, Hong Kong production studios at that time were mainly from Southeast Asia, while the filmmakers were from the mainland.

Mao Jian:  Before liberation a lot of Shanghai studios had branch offices in Hong Kong.

Lie Fu:  There were also plenty of companies that were first in Hong Kong, then went into Shanghai.  For example, the Minxin company was established first in Hong Kong, and Li Minwei opened a Shanghai branch soon after that.  Later, his company merged into the Lianhua Film Company in Shanghai, and the Minxin studio in Hong Kong became a Lianhua subsidiary.  So the relationship between Hong Kong movies and Shanghai movies was a very close one, right up until Hong Kong Mandarin films disappeared. 

[In Part 2:  Hong Kong films enter the mainland market]

Chinese Film History Studies 2009

This is a bibliography of Chinese language film history studies published in 2009.  No claim is made for its being complete, and if further publications from that year are found later, this list will be updated. Titles of books and articles have been translated into English, and abstracts are provided for those I have been able to examine personally.  In addition to their Chinese titles, most Chinese film journals and magazines carry an English title, and that is what is used here.

  

Books:

Feng, Qun.  A Critical History of Li Minwei.  Beijing:  Cultural Arts Press, 2009.  ISBN 7-50393-692-0.

--Li Minwei [Cantonese:  Lai Man-Wai] was the father of Hong Kong cinema.

*

Liu, Shu and Ma Zhongxing.  The Absolute Beauty:  a pictorial biography of Wang Danfeng.  Beijing:  CCP History Press, 2009.  ISBN 7509800080.

--Wang Danfeng 王丹凤 (1925-    ) was a major Shanghai and later Hong Kong star from the 1940s-1970s.

*

Wang, Jianqiang.  Using Life to Warm Art:  the biography of Qin Yi.  Nanjing:  Jiangsu People's Press, 2009.  ISBN 7214056038.

--1930s-50s actress Qin Yi 秦怡 (1922-    ) was the leading lady in such successful films as 《Faraway Love》, 《Mother》and《Woman Basketball Player No.5》, and the widow of "Movie Emperor" Jin Yan.

*

Ying, Ruocheng with Claire Conceison.  Voices Carry:  the autobiography of Ying Ruocheng  Beijing:  CITIC Press, 2009.  ISBN 7508616154.

--Chinese translation of the deathbed recollections of the Chinese film and theater actor-director-official 英若诚 (1929-2003).  Originally published in English as:  Voices Carry:  behind bars and backstage during China's revolution and reform.  Lanham, Md:  Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009.

Articles:

Ai, Qing (Fudan Univ., Shanghai).  "Zhang Shichuan:  Chinese cinema's pioneer of the 'commercial aesthetic' film."  New Films No.6 (2009), pp.48-54.

*

Chen Hua (Zhonghua Univ.).  "Feminism and the images of women in the films of Wong Kar Wai" Art, No.8 (2009), pp.68-69.

*

Chen, Mo (China Film Art Research Center).  "'The Light of East Asia':  on the movies and life of He Feiguang."  Contemporary Cinema no.3 (2009), pp.84-92.

【Abstract】He Feiguang (1913-1997) was a famous writer-director in the 1930s, maker of such classics as《Light of Mother》and《Evil Neighbors》, as well as such resistance films as《Protect Our Homeland》and《Light of East Asia》.  His films were noted for their humanity as well as their patriotism.  Yet in spite of this, he has been largely forgotten and his achievements consigned to the dustbin of history.  This paper attempts to find the reasons for this.  

*

________.  "Talking about the growth of film historiography:  details and structure."  Contemporary CinemaNo.4 (2009), pp.66-69.

【Abstract】Remarks by a Chinese film historian at a 2008 forum on the status of film history in China.

*

Ding, Yaping (Inst. of Film and TV, China Art Academy).  "Liu Qiong and his movies."  Contemporary Cinema No.8 (2009), pp.32-39.

【Abstract】A review of the 60-year career of the actor-director (1913-2002).

*

____________."The rise and growth of movie history."  Contemporary Cinema No.4 (2009), pp.69-71.

【Abstract】A film historian's reflections at a 2008 forum on past trends in the profession and his projections on where it might be headed in the digital age.  

*

Feng, Qun (Dept. of Chinese, Wuyi Univ., Guangdong).  "《Zhuangzi Tests His Wife》:  the academic controversy over the first Hong Kong film."  Contemporary Cinema No.1 (2009), pp.48-52.

【Abstract】The 1913 Li Minwei/Benjamin Brodsky collaboration has long been regarded as the first Hong Kong film, but recently some scholars wrote articles disputing this, arguing that the first was Liang Shaobo's《Stealing the Roast Duck》(1909).  The author reviews the documentation and presents his reasons for still considering the 1913 film the first. 

*

Gao, Shan.  "On the use of common language modernism in《Two Stars of the Milky Way》." Contemporary Cinema No.1 (2009), pp.37-42.

【Abstract】Analyzes the Lianhua Film Company's 1931 silent for its theoretical vernacular modernism, from three angles:  first, through comparison of the original novel and the film; second, the film's strong sensory characteristics, and compares it with those of other early films; third, placing it in the movie industry (a film within a film), it has a certain self-referential meaning. 

*

Gao, Xiaojiang ((Inst. of Film and TV, China Academy of Art).  "Reflections on Chinese film history studies."  Contemporary Cinema No.4 (2009), pp.81-84.

【Abstract】 Remarks by a Chinese film historian at a 2008 forum on the status of film history in China.

*

Guo, Haiyan (Dept. of Chinese as a Foreign Language, Nanjing Auditing Univ.).  "Luo Mingyou and relearning the 'National Renewal' film movement."  Contemporary Cinema No.2 (2009), pp.93-97.

【Abstract】Argues that Luo Mingyou (1902-1967), founder of the Lianhua film studio, was solely responsible for this patriotic film movement of the 1930s, and analyzes the reasons for it, including Luo's clear understanding of the industry's place in the context of the times, his dedication to China, and his religious conversion.

*

Hu, Zhifeng (China Communications Univ.) "The 60 year road and experience of New China's film art." Film Art No.6 (2009), pp.88-89.

【Abstract】An overview of Chinese cinema's development since 1949, which the author divides into five phases:  (1) construction (1949-1955); (2) extreme leftism (1966-1976); (3) opening to the multi-dimensional (1976 through the 1980s); (4) exploration and transition (the 1990s); (5) revival and restructuring (the 21st century to date).

*

Huangfu, Shaohua (Shanghai Library).  "Chen Juanjuan grew up overnight."  New Films No.5 (2009), pp.48-52.

【Abstract】Chen Juanjuan was a major child star of the 1930s, billed by her studio as the "Eastern Shirley Temple."  She was also a relative rarity in successfully making the transition to adult roles, and eventually to directing.  But her life was not a happy one overall, with a unhappy marriage, and poor health which led to her early death in 1976.  This article looks back at her life and career.

*

__________________.  "The silent era's last star actress:  Li Lili."  New Films No.1 (2009), pp.42-47.

【Abstract】Reviews the life and career of the last silent diva (1915-2005).

*

Jiang, Chen (Beijing Film Academy).  "Zhou Jianyun:  Chinese cinema's scholar-turned-businessman." Film Art No.4 (2009), pp.139-145. 

【Abstract】From 1922, when he was one of the three original founders of the Mingxing (Star) studio in Shanghai, until his retirement to Hong Kong in 1949, Zhou Jianyun was continually involved in Chinese cinema, combining a passion for theater with a personal business drive that resulted in many outstanding theoretical and practical contributions to the Chinese film industry.

*

Kwak SuKyung 郭树竞 (Korean scholar).  "On suspicions of male text in 《Goddess》and 《New Woman》"  Contemporary Cinema 2009-01, pp.43-48.

【Abstract】《Goddess》and 《New Woman》are classics of 1930s realism having oppressed women as their heroines, sympathizing with them and accusing society.  But the films are limited by the times and the thought of their writers and directors, revealing a masculine vision and support for the male order and patriarchal ideology.  This was reflected chiefly in its shaping the image of the heroines, and this paper analyzes the films' texts from three aspects:  the enjoyment of viewing and sympathy; prostitute and wife; mother-son, mother-daughter.  From this, it investigates how the films' anti-feminist content is presented, while also examining the prevailing social outlook and people's views.

*

Li, Daoxin (College of Arts, Beijing Univ.).  "A scholarly model for doing historical research on Chinese film."  Contemporary Cinema No.4 (2009), pp.75-78.

【Abstract】 Remarks by a Chinese film historian at a 2008 forum on the status of film history in China.

*

Li, Suyuan (China Film Art Research Center).  "Approaches to film; approaches to history."  Contemporary Cinema No.4 (2009), pp.61-63.  

【Abstract】 Remarks by a Chinese film historian at a 2008 forum on the status of film history in China.

*

__________.  "Rhetorical art in Yuan Muzhi's movies."  Contemporary Cinema No. 2 (2009), pp.79-84.

【Abstract】Yuan Muzhi (1909-1978) was an outstanding early Chinese film director, an artist whose rich and sophisticated film rhetoric was an important feature of his directing. In《Cityscape》(1935) and 《Street Angel》(1937), his use of figurative language to express emotions transformed the films and their structure, forming a unique way of speaking and language style. 

*

Liu, Yang (College of Humanities, North China Electric Power Univ.).  "Sifting through and researching the pre-1937 Chinese movie production industry."  Journal of Beijing Film Academy No.3 (2009), pp.78-83.

【Abstract】This article attempts to show how, in the short period of time from the first exhibition of film in China until the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the Chinese movie industry grew and developed as a modernized industry.  There is much worth investigating and studying in the data related to the industry's growth, and this article sorts out and analyzes that data.

*

Lu, Junhang (School of Literature, Jinan University).  "On the artistic features of 《Dragon Inn》.  Movie Review No.11 (2009), pp.36-37.

 

【Abstract】《Dragon Inn》(1967) is King Hu's masterpiece, in both its commercial as well as its artistic achievements.  The film's artistic characteristics are reflected mainly in its plot structure, which was greatly influenced by Peking Opera. 

*

Lu, Wei (College of Literature, Nanjing Univ.).  "On feminist consciousness in the movie 《Woman - Demon - Human》."  Movie Review no.3 (2009). pp.21-24.

【Abstract】The 1987 film 《Woman - Demon - Human》told a story of Kunqu opera actress Qiu Yun's maturation, and how her emotional attachment to playing one character, the ghost demon Zhong Kui, was the cry of a woman "in search of a good man."  In the post-Cultural Revolution era, the film awakened a strong gender consciousness response.  While the film was not really a feminist movie, its overall female consciousness approached that level.

*

Luo, Ka (Hong Kong Film Archive).  "On some questions of 100 years of Hongkong [sic] film." Contemporary Cinema No.7 (2009), pp.88-92.

【Abstract】 This paper examines such early Hong Kong movie history issues as:  which was the earliest film produced,《Stealing the Roast Duck》or 《Zhuangzi Tests His Wife》?  The article questions past research and provides some new information and clues.  The intention is not to reverse the verdict, but to seek more reasonable evidence for a decision.

*

Qin, Xiaolin (Art Inst. of Xi'an Univ. of Architecture and Technology; College of Arts, Beijing Univ.).  "On close-ups of objects in Chinese silent movies."  Journal of Beijing Film Academy no.3 (2009), pp.68-73.

【Abstract】In silent films, close-ups of various objects were often employed to convey significance in a scene or to help in the overall plot development.  This paper systematically sorts out and analyzes the use of close-ups shots of four kinds of obects in 18 major Chinese silents:  clocks; writing (as on a document); sound sources (e.g. bells) and photographs.

*

Qin, Zhongsheng (Hechi College).  "On the wit and reimaged legacy of the Zhuang minority in《Third Sister Liu》."  Movie Review No.14 (2009), pp.66-67.

 

【Abstract】The 1959 film 《Third Sister Liu》jumped from a folk tale to the stage, then onto the silver screen.  It was popular both in China and abroad, and its legacy of such witty Zhuang characters as Third Sister Liu, the old fisherman and others, did much to make this a classic of ethnic culture. 

*

Tang, Jialin (Zhejiang Media College).  "Focus on the language situation of Chinese film during the 1920s and 1930s."  Contemporary Cinema No.6 (2009), pp.68-72.

【Abstract】In the 1920s, "Europeanized" was a term used in [Chinese] film criticism to indicate that in its appearance and creative concepts a film lacked [Chinese] "national character."  By the 1930s the critical vocabulary had shifted from a cultural reference to a more political level, with the term "Europeanized" connected to the "anti-imperialist," anti-capitalist road, struggle.  In the left-wing film vocabulary, "Europeanized" had become a synonym for "bourgeois."  It was out of the process of opposing "Europeanization" that Chinese films created their own "national character."

*

Wang, Jianping and Liu Liping (Faculty of Arts, Xiaogan Institute).  "The dragon image and dragon culture in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio."  Movie Review No.12 (2009), pp.96-98.

  

【Abstract】There are many images of dragons and dragon culture in "Strange Stories," and there have been numerous films and TV segments based on that story collection.  These have taken the form of dragons and dragon gods, images which have extremely important literary value and cultural significance. 

*

Wang, Qi.  "Choosing the 'Empress of Film'."  Joy No.2 (2009), p.77.

【Abstract】Popular account of the 1934 election.

*

Wang, Tian (Doctoral candidate, China Communications Univ., Beijing).  "Images of the Chinese in European films."  Contemporary Cinema no.3 (2009), pp.107-110.

--The films discussed are all from the modern era, 1967-date.

*

Wu, Yingjun (Institute of Literature and Journalism, Sichuan Univ.).  "Interpreting Fei Mu's 《Regrets in Life and Death》:  the aesthetic form of China's first color film.  Journal of Beijing Film Academy No.2 (2009), pp.84-88.  

*

Xu, Le.  "The changing road of Shaws' film."  Contemporary Cinema No.8 (2009), pp.74-77.

【Abstract】The Shaw Brothers films were of considerable worth, but by the late 1970s the great vision and innovative ideas the studio had shown earlier declined due to the studio's rigid system, which lagged behind the rapid development of Hong Kong.  It could also be said that Shaw Brothers movies were never really part of Hong Kong. 

*

Yan, Kailei (Tongji Univ. Film School).  "1930-1933:  initial completion of Chinese cinema's star system." Film Art No.6 (2009), pp.114-119.

【Abstract】For the star, the years 1930-1932 marked the maturity of the basic social and media environment for completing Chinese cinema's star system, a process completed by 1933.  The author attributes much of this to changes in the film audience, which saw many intellectuals and young students becoming interested in film and the people making them, which in turn raised the film market to a new high level of prosperity.

*

Yang, Ju (Faculty of Arts, Nantong Univ.).  "The powerful voice of left-wing film."  Journal of Beijing Film Academy No.1 (2009), pp.50-53.

【Abstract】Analyzes the reasons why the 1930s left-wing film movement's  not only stubbornly survived under a hostile government but became the dominant intellectual ideology of the time.

*

Ye, Xixi.  "Wang Renmei's lost love."  Legend (Biographical edition) No.4 (2009), pp.67-68.  

【Abstract】Popular recounting of the 1930s star's romance and failed marriage to matinee idol Jin Yan.

*

Yuan, Qingfeng (School of Media Management, Communications University of China).  

"1920s Chinese film's cultural ecology and its vulgar empirical reading."  Journal of Hangzhou Normal University (Social Science edition) No.4 (2009).

*

_______________.  "1933-1935:  from left-wing films to new urban films - the evolution of Chinese domestic filmmaking, with five existing films as examples."  Journal of Zhejiang Media College No.5 (Pt.1), No.6 (Pt.2), (2009).

*

_______________.  "Development of the screen image of traditional resources and the shared movie tastes of old urban film audiences and intellectuals -- taking the 1927 production 《Romance of the West Chamber》as an example."  Journal of Yangtze River Teachers College No.2 (2009).

*

_______________.  "Evolution of Chinese films from 1922-1936 -- with supporting documentation drawn from existing films the public can see today."  Academia No.5 (2009).

*

_______________.  "Historical implantation of violence in early Chinese left-wing movies--1932's《Loving Blood of the Volcano》 as a case study."  Journal of Hebei Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition)  v.32, no.5 (2009), pp.59-63.

【Abstract】Although early left-wing movies basically already had a relatively complete, radical left-wing ideology and revolutionary posture, they continued to share certain characteristics with the old urban films when it furthered their goal of raising class consciousness.  Sun Yu's 《Loving Blood of the Volcano》is a notable example, inserting sexual and other violence to further its revolutionary aims.

*

_______________.  "《Laborer's Love》:  traditional opera's movie image -- the earliest and most complete Chinese film the public can see today."  Journal of Bohai University (Philosophy and Social Sciences edition) No.4 (2009).

*

_______________.  "Mainstream 1930s political discourse conveyed in film production and art:《National Customs》as a "reactionary" example in Chinese film history."  Journal of Zhejiang Media College No.2 (2009).

【Abstract】

*

_______________.  "New urban films:  highest example of left-wing movies --《Boatman's Daughter》as a case study."  Journal of Jianghan University (Humanities Sciences) No.2, 2009, pp.26-30.

______________.  "New wave:  a historical look back at 1930s Chinese film--《Gold and Sand》 as a case study."  Journal of Nanjing Arts Institute No.1 (2009), pp.100-108.

【Abstract】Places this 1936 classic in the context of left-wing filmmaking, which by this time was in the mainstream of Chinese cinema.

*

____________.  "Old urban films against the background of 1920s culture -- 1929's 《My Son is a Hero》as an example."  Journal of Shantou University (Humanities and Social Sciences section).  No.5 (2009).  [NEED PAGES]

*

 ______________.  "《Orphan in the Snow》:  Old morality in a new era, a new image in an old school--a case study of an old urban movie at the end of 1920s China."  Journal of Huainan Normal University No. 1 (2009), pp.26-28. 

*

_______________.  "《Peach Blossom's Tears of Blood》:  an existing model of a newly emerging trend -- an example of the early 1930s new urban film."  Journal of Zhejiang Media Institute No.3 (2009), pp.28-30.

【Abstract】Prior to 1932, old urban movies were the sole representative of early Chinese film.  They began to decline in the early 1930s, to be replaced by left wing and new urban films.  《Peach Blossom's Tears of Blood》(1932), as with two other existing movies produced by the Lianhua studio that same year (《Two Stars of the Milky Way》and 《A Spray of Plum Blossoms》),  are representative of the old mainstream's decline and the new mainstream's rise.

*

_______________.  "The role of the market in transforming the style and improving the quality of left-wing movies -- taking《Soaring Aspirations》as an example."  Journal of the School of Chinese Language and Culture, Nanjing Normal University No.2 (2009), pp.121-124.

【Abstract】To the maximum degree, 1936's 《Soaring Aspirations》peeled off the relationship between the elements of left-wing movies and left-wing thought and entered the market as a national defense movie, in order to attract different types of audiences.  In its development of the market for progressive films, the Xinhua Film Company replaced the leadership of the Lianhua Film Company. 

*

_______________.  "Vulgar sexuality in late 1920s old urban films:  Da Zhonghua Baihe's 1928 film《Kisses Once》as a case study."  Journal of Zhejiang Media Institute No.4 (2009), pp.30-32, 36.

【Abstract】Until the emergence of left-wing films in 1932, advanced cultural ideology and social philosophy did not enter Chinese films, specifically the old urban films of the 1920s.  Therefore, the old urban films in the 1920s were still being made under the guidance of traditional views, the old ideology, and old viewpoints.  But these films still appealed to specific segments of society.  The 1928 film《Kisses Once》is used as a case study to point out how these films, with their easily understood stories and strong moralistic content, were loved by people at the lower ranks of society. 

*

Zhang, Binning (Northwest Normal Univ.).  "Social ethics, popular aesthetic sense and the market:  on the old Chinese film magazine Star Special."  Contemporary Cinema No.5 (2009), pp.62-65.

【Abstract】From 1925 to 1928, the Mingxing (Star) film company would publish a "Star Special" of its regular "Star" magazine in conjunction with release of a film.  This article explores the "Star Special" as a cultural resource for the study of early films.

*

Zhang, Donggang (Dept. of Film, Beijing Film Academy).  "The significance of Xie Jin."  Journal of Beijing Film Academy No.6 (2009).

【Abstract】This article focuses on the intrinsic and close relationship between Xie Jin's film creations and contemporary Chinese cinema, and by combining his films' historical context, political discourse and character actions, analyzes in-depth the director's political work and aesthetic value, to show how his work conformed to the development and significant trends of China's social ideology. 

*

Zhang, Wei (Shanghai Library, Historical Documents Centre).  "The ROC movie community's first 'professional returnees' -- Cheng Shuren, the man and his work." Film Art no.3 (2009), pp.92-99.

【Abstract】China's first generation of 'professional returnees' [overseas students who returned home after having received rigorous foreign film training and experiences in film production] played irreplaceable roles in the early development of the domestic movie industry.  This paper looks at the contributions of one of these returnees, cinematographer Cheng Shuren (1895- ?).

*

Zhao, Shi (Deputy Director, State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.  "Address to the conference celebrating Yuan Muzhi's centennial." Contemporary Cinema No.7 (2009), pp.4-5. 

【Abstract】The keynote address at a March, 2009 conference marking the birth centennial of Yuan Muzhi (1909-1978), actor, director and writer of several 1930s film classics, including 1937's《Street Angels》. 

*

Zhao, Shufang (Henan Vocational College).《Lust, Caution》:  Zhang Ailing's nightmare."  Movie ReviewNo.4 (2009), pp.97-98.  

【Abstract】《Lust, Caution》came out of Eileen Chang/Zhang Ailing's own nightmare. Female protagonist Wang Jiazhi seduced and then fell in love with the enemy while deploring what he represented, and this story actually built upon her personal story of her love for a traitor, the writer Hu Lancheng, and in the end her story also had a sad ending.  Given the era in which it was set, any disregard of《Lust, Caution》's political ideas and methods is undesirable, indeed they cannot be avoided.

*

Zhao, Weifang (Inst. of Film and TV, China Academy of Art).  "A historical martial arts figure in Hong Kong films:  Wong Fei Hong."  Arts Criticism No.4 (2009), pp.40-44.

【Abstract】The martial arts legend on screen and in real life.

*

_____________.  "Thoughts on One Hundred Years of Hongkong [sic] Film."  Contemporary Cinema No.7 (2009), pp.93-94.

*

【Abstract】Looks at three controversies regarding early Hong Kong film.

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Zhong, Jin and Jin Guanjun.  (Shanghai Film and TV Document Library).  "On the ROC's 1927-1937 Film Inspection System."  New Films No.5 (2009), pp.40-47, 61. 

【Abstract】In April, 1927 the ROC government in Nanjing directed its Ministry of the Interior to develop "Film Inspection Rules" as a first step toward formulating a movie censorship system.  That system went into effect in November, 1931.  This article traces the formulation process and looks at the system's implementation and its consequences.

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Zhu, Anping.  "《Bridge》:  New China's movie foundation work."  Popular Cinema 2009-19, pp.38-40.

【Abstract】《Bridge》premiered on May 1, 1949, after Communist forces had taken control of Northeast China.  As the first feature film produced by a studio in a CPC-controlled area, and the first film presenting a red image of the working class, 《Bridge》was a landmark in the history of Chinese film.

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__________.   "《Crows and Sparrows》:  from suffering to renewal."  Popular Cinema No.23 (2009), pp.38-40. 

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____________.  "《This Life of Mine》: new blossoms from an old tree."  Popular Cinema No.20 (2009), pp.38-30. 

 

【Abstract】On the making of the 1950 film, the last made by an independent, commercial studio under the new regime on the mainland.

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____________.  "Xia Yan's enthusiasm for 《Five Golden Flowers》."  Popular Cinema No.24 (2009), pp.38-40.

Chen Qiufeng (? - ?)

     Native of Yixing, Jiangsu.  After secondary school, Chen joined the New Drama Group as an actor, and traveled with the company performing in various places around East China.  In 1924, he moved to Shanghai and joined the New Dramatic Troupe headed by Gu Wuwei (顾无为), usually playing earnest and likable young men, and was well-received by audiences.  In 1925, he assisted Gu Wuwei in starting the Da Zhongguo (Great China) Film Company, for which he assumed concurrent roles as director and actor.  In 1920s film roles he was noted for portraying famous characters from classical Chinese literature, such as the Buddhist monk Xuanzang in the "Journey to the West" series.  All his film directing efforts were in 1927-28, but his acting career extended into the mid-30s.  Chen then returned to the stage, and in the 1940s served as artistic director of Shanghai's Hua Yue Dramatic Troupe.

Filmography (as actor unless otherwise noted): 

1925:
Who's His Mother?
1926:
Hell and Heaven
Elopement
Midnight Lovers
Frustrated Hero
Meng Jiangnü
1927:
Story of Han Xiangzi
Rebuild the Republic
Three Kingdoms:  Diao Chan Saves the Nation
Journey to the West:  Uproar in Heaven  (also director)
1928:
Monkey King Conquers the Black Wind  (also director)
Journey to the West:  the Bottomless Pit  (co-director)
Journey to the West:  the Yellow Monster  (co-director)
Journey to the West:  the Kingdom of the Black Rooster  (director)
The Goddess Jin Jing [aka An Evil Woman Bars the Way]  (co-director)
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
New Shaolin Temple:  Fang Shiyu [Fang Sai-Yuk] Accepts a Challenge  (writer)
1931:
Blue Skies After the Rain
1934:
Renzhu [aka Lonely Orchid]
1936:
By the Huangpu River

Midnight Lovers (1926)

Banye Qingren (1926) 半夜情人 (Midnight Lovers)

    Da Zhongguo (Great China).  B&W.  Silent.  11 reels.  Genre:  Drama.  Producer: Gu Wuwei. Direction and Screenplay:  Xia Chifeng.  Cinematography:  Zhang Weitao. Cast:  Chen Qiufeng (Gu Shiyi), Lin Ruxin (Zhou Fanlu), Zhu Jianling (Zhou Zhongchi), Liu Qingqing (Cheng Weibo), Dong Tiane (Cheng Shouli), Zhong Dalü (Liu Wenbo), Zhang Feiwo (Liu Zuoquan), Chen Yechan (Zhang the matchmaker), Xu Shumei (mortgage holder), Wang Fengshan (bakeshop owner).

[left, a father is displeased to hear of a broken engagement]

       Ex-soldier Gu Shiyi is unable to find work in civilian life and becomes a homeless drifter. When hunger drives him to steal some buns from a bakeshop, he is caught and beaten. Fortunately, prominent local resident Zhou Zhongchi passes by, and recognizing Gu as an old schoolmate, intercedes on his behalf.  Zhou takes Gu back to his home, where he feeds him and gives him new clothes and shoes. Zhou's snobbish younger sister Fanlu takes an instant dislike to Gu because of his shabby appearance and poverty.  Even when some roughnecks try to take liberties with Fanlu on the street, and Gu Shiyi courageously intervenes to drive them off, she still does not even offer her thanks, let alone alter her obvious disdain for him.
     One day, musician Liu Wenfu comes to the Zhou residence promoting an upcoming benefit concert, and falls for Fanlu at first sight.  But Wenfu is already secretly engaged to a girl named Cheng Weibo, having frequent late-night trysts with her, and discussing marriage.  When he shifts his affections to Zhou Fanlu, Weibo is heartbroken.   Zhou Zhongchi has known Weibo since childhood and has always loved her, although she has never given him a second glance.  Gu Shiyi also fell for Fanlu when they first met, but his poverty and her obvious hostility lead the ex-soldier to keep his feelings secret.
    When Liu Wenfu's father learns of his son's having broken the engagement, he tries to force Wenfu to marry the girl, but his son adamantly refuses.  But he winds up losing both women, for when Zhou Fanlu sees how fickle Wenfu is, she goes to Gu Shiyi, the man she now realizes really loves her.

Back Home From the City (1925)

    In an earlier article, we discussed the career of first-generation director Dan Duyu, the portrait artist-turned-filmmaker who created and operated the Shanghai Shadow Play Company during the 1920s.  As noted then, Dan was an early practitioner of what later became known as auteur filmmaking, and some of his movies must have struck early Chinese moviegoers as strange, if not bizarre.  This 1925 effort is an example, a Chinese morality play employing allegorical characters to teach moral lessons.  As in the morality plays of medieval Europe, the "Everyman" characters here (Purity and Chastity) are the only ones to make it all the way to the end of the journey, while Beauty and Youth are soon gone and Vanity seduced by Lust.

     As in most of Dan Duyu's earlier productions, the principal character was played by his actress girl friend Yin Mingzhu (aka Pearl Ing), who he would marry the following year. It is also interesting to note in the supporting actor credits (and the technical) the names of two men who would become major Shanghai directors in the 1930s:  Maxu Weibang and Shi Dongshan.  These will both be discussed more fully in future articles. 

[left, Yin Mingzhu as "Purity."  Click on image to enlarge.]

Chongfan Guxiang (1925) 重返故乡 (Back Home From the City)

literal English title:   Returning Home

    Shanghai Shadow Play Co.  9 reels.  Premiered July 9, 1925 at the Olympic Theater in Shanghai.  Direction and Screenplay:  Dan Duyu.  Cinematography:  Dan Duyu, Dan Ganting.  Set design:  Chen Puyun.  English intertitles:  Maxu Weibang.  Drawing:  Shi Dongshan.  Cast:  Yin Mingzhu (Purity), He Peirong (Chastity), He Peiying (Beauty), Xie Caizhen (Vanity), Han Yunzhen (Youth), Maxu Weibang (Wealth), Shi Dongshan (Sincerity), Wang Duanchen (Chivalry), Chen Baoqi (Flattery), Jin Shengsan (Seduction), Dan Ziwen (Lust), Lei Meili (Flirtation), Cao Yaohe (Cowardice), Zhao Wanmei (Indulgence), Jiang Hanqiao (Time), Xie Yunqing (Power).

    In a certain village, a woman named Time has raised five daughters:  Purity, Vanity, Chastity, Youth and Beauty. She takes them on a visit to the city to meet various relatives:  Indulgence, Cowardice, Wealth, Flattery, Seduction, Sincerity, Treachery, Power, Flirtation, Chivalry and Lust.  The results:  Purity and Wealth fall in love; Beauty drinks too much and dies; Youth is taken back home by her mother; Vanity and Lust steal all of Purity's belongings and run away together; Chastity and Sincerity, who had become close friends upon their first meeting, are jailed when Purity mistakenly accuses them of the theft; the girls' Uncle Cowardice and Aunt Indulgence become fugitives; Uncle Power and Aunt Treachery have a falling out and become bitter enemies.  In the end, Purity in despair concludes her extended family is hopeless, and she and Chastity return to their native village.

There's a Full Moon Tonight (1925)

Huahaoyueyuan (1925) 花好月 (There's a Full Moon Tonight)
alternate English title:  Conjugal Bliss
 
    Shenzhou.  B&W.  Silent.  8 reels.  Premiered July 20, 1925 at the Palace.  Genre: Romance. Direction:  Qiu Yixiang.  Screenplay:  Chen Zuiyun, Qiu Yixiang.  Cinematography:  Wang Xuchang, Qiu Yiwei.  Cast:  Ding Ziming (Zhang Suzhen), Li Pingqian (Ye Yuanjun), Yuan Xiaqi (Mrs. Wang), Yan Gongshang (Ye Jingshan), Wang Zhao (Wang Peiying), Li Minghui (the nurse).

[left, Ding Ziming.  Click on image to enlarge.]
  
    When Ye Yuanjun returns home on summer vacation from college, his stepmother Mrs. Wang wants to match him up with her niece Peiying.  But when Yuanjun meets another girl named Zhang Suzhen, it is love at first sight and he only has eyes for her, paying no attention to Peiying.  After his graduation, Yuanjun resumes his courtship of Suzhen, but Mrs. Wang and her niece continue their efforts to break up the young lovers, including spreading falsehoods about Suzhen.  When Yuanjun is injured in a fall, Suzhen rushes to the hospital to see him, but Peiying has someone on the staff bar her entry, saying that this was Yuanjun's request.  Heartbroken, Suzhen packs up to leave the area and start over elsewhere. Meanwhile, Yuanjun is also sad she has not visited him, but when he is released from the hospital a nurse tells him what happened.  He rushes and finds Suzhen before she can leave, and the two resolve their misunderstanding. 
    Comment:  this is a typical example of the "Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies" romantic sub-genre so popular in the mid-20s.