Louis P. and State of HK Cinema

[Michael Hoover <hoov@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I am not sure when Michael Hoover and I discovered that we shared a passion
> for Hong Kong cinema but it probably dates back to the time of the wild and
> woolly days on the original Marxism list when I announced in the middle of
> a fight with some sectarians that I had perfected the drunken Tai-Chi
> Marxist style of polemics, inspired by the great Jackie Chan movie.
> Shortly thereafter Michael informed me that he had begun work on what would
> turn out to be the definitive study of Hong Kong cinema. Written with Lisa
> Stokes, who teaches with Michael at Seminole Community College in Orblando,
> Florida, "City on Fire" is sensitive to both the esthetic and
> socio-political side of what appeared to be a cult phenomenon. Their
> exploration of the genre is a virtual guidebook for how Marxists can shed
> light on popular culture.

big shout-out to Louis P. for plug...Lisa reminds that Jackie Chan does
"drunken fist" style in *Drunken Master* and that Donnie Yen appears in
*Drunken Tai Chi* (place smiley mark here!)...Yuen Wo-ping (*Matrix*
action director) directed both.

We appreciate Lou's remark about marxists shedding light on popular
culture.  Number of reviewers, even when favorable, have been put off
by our use of M-word (reviews, including not-so-good ones, can be
read at our website, drum roll please: www.cityonfirehkcinema.com)
Interestingly, we prefigured such "criticism" in our book by noting
how the concept of class is marked by presence of absence in much film
studies: class analysis is judged reductionist, many film critics &
scholars practice self-contained readings of film narratives, concept
of class challenges cultural production, of which intellectual labor
is part, of late capitalist society.
(Recent attempt to re-introduce class to film studies is _The Hidden
Foundation: Cinema and the Question of Class_, David E. James &
Rick Berg, eds.)

> The movie industry in Hong Kong seemed to be on the downward spiral as
> well. When Michael and Lisa spoke to an audience last year at the Anthology
> of Film Archives, where the festival was being held, they worried about the
> viability of the industry in face of the Asian financial crisis. As it
> turns out, the evidence of the films shown at the festival last weekend
> points to the artistic health of the industry, even if belt-tightening
> might result in fewer films being produced.

We agree.  Our position has been that HK film industry future probably
means fewer total films than in so-called 'golden era' of late 1980s/
early 1990s when about 200 films/yr were produced but such circumstances
won't mean absence of quality.  Work from likes of Cheung Yuen-ting,
Stanley Kwan, Wong Kar-wai, Ann Hui, Tsui Hark, Yim Ho (to name but a
few personal favorites) insures good films.  We'd suggest recent first
time filmmakers Yu Lik-wai (*Love Will Tear Us Apart*) and Crystal Kwok
(*Mistress*) are among "new generation" to watch.  As is Fruit Chan,
who recently completed "handover" trilogy with *Little Cheung.*

Many HK helmers continue to look towards day when Hong Kong films will be
considered domestic productions by PRC, thus, no longer subject to
restrictions limiting entry of foreign films to about 15/yr.  Several
Hollywood companies have set up shop in Hong Kong, current HK-US joint
ventures include Tsui Hark's next film, Yim Ho film starring Willem
Dafoe.  For some, Ang Lee's *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon* portends
possible future - Taiwanese director, HK-identified cast (Michelle Yeoh &
Chow Yun-fat, among others), Mainland location, US & Asian financing.
Some fear that US capital will have negative effects on Hong Kong
filmmaking style.

> 1. EXPECT THE UNEXPECT
> 2. THE MISSION
> 3. A HERO NEVER DIES
> 4. SPACKED OUT

All are available on video formats, interested listers can check out Tom
Cheng and Nancy Mak's Blue Laser on-line store at: www.hongkongdvd.com

> (The City On Fire website is at: http://www.cityonfirehkcinema.com/)

for good measure...

> Louis Proyect
> Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org/

Reporting from Orblando (or is that Dislando?),
Lisa Odham Stokes and Michael Hoover