A Touch of Zen is one of the first Chinese-language films to gain recognition in an international film festival (the Grand Prix at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival), creating the generic mould for the "crossover" success of Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in 2000. The film has achieved a cult status over the years but little has been written about it. This first book-length study of the classic martial arts film therefore redresses its critical neglect, and explores its multi-leveled dimensions and mysteries. One of the central features of the film is the enigmatic knight-lady (xia nü) whose quest for revenge leads her to cross paths with a poor scholar whose interest in military strategy seals their alliance. Teo discusses the psychological manifestations and implications of this relationship and concludes that the film's continuing relevance lies in its portrait of sexuality and the feminist desires of the heroine. Teo also analyzes the film's form as an action piece and the
Infernal Affairs has received journalistic, popular and corporate notice but little vigorous critical attention. In this book, Gina Marchetti explores the way this example of Hong Kong's cinematic ecl
This tragic coming-of-age story follows three disillusioned local youths struggling to navigate Hong Kong public housing projects and late adolescence amid violent crime, gang pressure, and broken hom
PTU is an underappreciated noir masterpiece by one of Hong Kong's most prolific and commercially successful directors. Johnnie To Kei-fung has been called ""the poet of post-1997 and the economic savi
Though underappreciated in contemporary film criticism, Bullet in the Head is a landmark in John Woo's career as a film director. Featuring strong early work by Hong Kong stars such as Tony Leung Chiu
This raucous, gender-stretching comedy follows the disruptions of a glamorous Hong Kong music couple's tumultuous romance by an ""ordinary"" fan's noisy arrival in their lives. With great comic story
""Kenneth Hall has masterfully captured the career of Hong Kong director John Woo, as well as the production background, style and structure, and impacts of his cult film, The Killer. Succinctly organ
This book examines how Fruit Chan's Durian Durian sensitively portrays the unsettling seismic shifts affecting the inhabitants of both China and Hong Kong in a post-1997 context. The study covers diff
Hong Kong cinema exploded into world culture during the 1990s, driven by its linkage with Hollywood's dynamic new digital special effects technologies. This book provides essential historical backgrou
A Better Tomorrow has always been hailed as a milestone in Hong Kong cinema. This book describes the different responses to the movie in Hong Kong and later in its reception worldwide, which paved the
Center Stage is widely recognized as a classic of the New Hong Kong cinema. The film's status has until now been attributed to the fascinating way in which Kwan combines a reconstruction of Ruan Lingy
This study of An Autumn's Tale argues that Hong Kong films are a window into understanding the shared pasts and ongoing connections between Hong Kong and other globalized cities. Viewed through the le
Yuen Woo Ping's kung fu comedy based on the legendary female character Wing Chun is a landmark of action choreography and heroic womanhood in Chinese cinema. This book explores Wing Chun's narrative r
