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The Changing Image of Chinese in Hollywood Films
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The Construction of the ‘Western Other’ in Hong Kong Post-colonial Cinema
Hong Kong has always remained a very unique city, one which is said to have ‘a Western past, an Eastern future’. Since its colonisation by the British in the 1860s, it has maintained to a very large extent its Chinese identity and its connection to its Motherland, while at the same time, has frequent contact with the Western world, politically, economically, and culturally. Hong Kong’s unique position has made the city a vibrant international metropolis that acts as a bridge between East and West. Yet after it was returned to China in 1997, this former British colony has been constantly reassessing its British past, struggling to find its new position and redefining its identity.
The quest for identity quickly finds its place in the construction of the notion of ‘Hong Kong-ness’ in films. The local cinema has remained as a powerful cultural institution, both reflecting and intervening in the discourses of alterities and selfhood. It is therefore not surprising that in local films, the cinematic representations of Hong Kong have been seen as inextricably interwoven with the triangular relationship between the British coloniser, the Chinese motherland, and Hong Kong itself. Since its inception in the 1910s, the Hong Kong film industry has enjoyed much independence from colonial control, yet simultaneously much association with Western culture. Many films openly deal with the theme of ‘East meets West’ in which ‘Hong Kongese’ identity is often expressed in "transnational settings" against the existence of a Western Other, in particular through the portrayal of Westerners visiting Asia, and vice versa. After the handover, "Hong Kong" as a geopolitical en...
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...a journey of discovery/rediscovery of what the Western world comes to mean, while at the same time, negotiating the redefinition of selfhood and national identity of Hong Kong. The will to search for a reconciliation with the West in these films is certainly deeply embedded in Hong Kong’s search for its own identity in the post-colonial era. After its return to its Chinese motherland, Hong Kong consequently takes up the important position as the bridge between China and the West. Many recognize that its success to find its identity as part of China in the future depends on its ability to come to terms with its colonial past. Indeed, as we have seen, both films positively insist on the possibility of fulfilling such an aspiration. The process is not a comfortable one, and it is often one of pain and risks. Yet the films assure that it is also one of promise and hope.
Often with the gain of monetary wealth, the decline of morality follows closely behind. This is magnified in the lives of Wang Lung’s three sons. The eldest son becomes obsessed with women and is eager to satisfy the desires of the flesh. For the rich, this is a common thing. Once you tire of the beautiful maid that has been given as your wife, once she grows fat and ugly from the children she bore you, it is acceptable if not admirable and encouraged to take on another. The middle son is an excellent business man. He is learned, unlike his father, and sent to be apprenticed as a grain merchant. Unlike his older brother, who is obsessed with keeping up appearances and seeming as a dignified scholar, this man would rather keep his money hoarded. As the eldest brother prepares a home befit for a dynasty, he complains that too much silver is being spent. While it is good to be frugal, greed is not an admirable trait.
BIBLIOGRAPHY An Introduction to Film Studies Jill Nelmes (ed.) Routledge 1996 Anatomy of Film Bernard H. Dick St. Martins Press 1998 Key Concepts in Cinema Studies Susan Hayward Routledge 1996 Teach Yourself Film Studies Warren Buckland Hodder & Stoughton 1998 Interpreting the Moving Image Noel Carroll Cambridge University Press 1998 The Cinema Book Pam Cook (ed.) BFI 1985 FILMOGRAPHY All That Heaven Allows Dir. Douglas Sirk Universal 1955 Being There Dir. Hal Ashby 1979
Love is a powerful emotion, capable of turning reasonable people into fools. Out of love, ridiculous emotions arise, like jealousy and desperation. Love can shield us from the truth, narrowing a perspective to solely what the lover wants to see. Though beautiful and inspiring when requited, a love unreturned can be devastating and maddening. In his play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare comically explores the flaws and suffering of lovers. Four young Athenians: Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia, and Helena, are confronted by love’s challenge, one that becomes increasingly difficult with the interference of the fairy world. Through specific word choice and word order, a struggle between lovers is revealed throughout the play. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare uses descriptive diction to emphasize the impact love has on reality and one’s own rationality, and how society’s desperate pursuit to find love can turn even strong individuals into fools.
During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that, examining post classical at which time the relationship between them will become evident. It is my intention to reference films from both movements and also published texts relative to the subject matter. In order to illustrate the structures involved I will be writing about the subjects of genre and genre transformation, the representation of gender, postmodernism and the relationship between style, form and content.
Lipman, Jonathan Neaman., Barbara Molony, and Michael Edson. Robinson. Modern East Asia: An Integrated History. Boston: Pearson, 2012. Print.
Native Americans have specific culture characteristics health care providers should have basic knowledge of to provide optimal health care. They received the title “Native” because they are indigenous to North Ame...
In 1787 the United States Constitution Article 1 section 8 established a federally mandated relationship between the government and the people of Indian Nations in regards to commerce. Although this agreement and many treaties subsequently thereafter were disregarded on the part of the United States (Smith, 2002), it established an official responsibility between the two nations. In 1921 the Snyder Act, which established authorization for the federal government to provide basic healthcare for members of federally recognized United States Indian tribes, was passed (Wallechinsky, 2010).
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Films that are classified as being in the film noir genre all share some basic characteristics. There is generally a voice-over throughout the film in order to guide the audience's perceptions. These movies also involve a crime and a detective who is trying to figure out the truth in the situation. This detective usually encounters a femme fatale who seduces him. However, the most distinctive feature of the film noir genre is the abundance of darkness.
The female bond between Hermia and Helena is based off of the females’ connection with each other. Looking solely at the language used between the women when in discourse, this connection reveals itself through their language’s mimicry. In lines 187-207, the woman replicate and rhyme their sentences with the other’s preceding one: “Hermia: I frown upon him yet he loves me still. /Helena: O, that your frowns would teach my smiles such skill. /Hermia: The more I hate the more he follows me. / Helena: The more I love, the more he hateth me.” (20-21) Their...
Third Cinema is not limited to those cinemas of Latin America or Africa. It is located where challenges to Western cinematic domination and rules are played out. In China, the years following the downfall of the 10 year reign of the Cultural Revolution produced a climate ripe for a politicized revolutionary cinema. Yet, the cinema in China remains bound to censorship and banning of films. The overtly politically challenging film The Blue Kite, set in the decade leading up to the Cultural Revolution, was banned and denounced by Chinese authorities. What has emerged then is the need to create a new language for the cinema to speak with. The language of Yellow Earth draws upon Chinese art to create a new aesthetic, a Third Cinema aesthetic.
The play is directed in Athens Greece, is made to be though provoking to the audience and bring them to question what they know is love; it starts out with unhappiness for Hermia, because she is getting no choice in who she loves. Hermia’s father Egeus, is her creator and must abide by his wishes to whom she’ll marry or love. If Hermia doesn’t marry Demetrious, her father’s approved choice, Theseus the Duke
“Philips, Sony, and Toyota factories are popping up all over—to the self congratulatory applause of the nation’s governors and mayors, who have lured them with promises of tax abatements and new sewers, among other amenities.” (Paragraph 17) People are born into their jobs, and are doomed for their economic boats. IN other countries such as China, it has been proven that the families with the moneys are the ones with the money, are the ones with the economic power. “Many wealthy Chinese and western residents moved their money abroad and some actually left the colony. By 1971, the Cultural Revolution in China had ended in failure and conditions in Hong Kong calmed,” (Lannom) such as Gloria Lannom states, yet it took a while for Hong Kong to rebuild its economic standings because of this
Chinatown, a 1970s film, is inspired by the Southern California water history (Valle). This film has many elements of film noir. Film noir, is a point-of-view, tone, mood, and style of a film created during World War II. It reflects the tensions and insecurities of a particular time period, usually showing the loss of innocence, bareness, and the paranoia of an event (“Film”). The criminal and greedy perspectives of the characters are clearly seen, like the character Noah Cross, reflecting society’s evils. Also there is no happy ending in Chinatown. For those viewers who don’t know the history of Southern California, this might just be another detective film, but it is more than that, it has numerous themes that can be dissected. The film constructs racial, gender, and class identities.
...ach other “Frosts poetry has a very vast range, from extremely long detailed poems, like ‘after apple picking” and “a servant to servants” or relatively short like, “A soldier” or “A question” (which is only four lines). Each of his poems encompasses something different but all have a strong sense of sameness when it comes to the message he wants to communicate to us. A brook in the city represents to a great extent, Frosts overall style and view on poetry. The poem has a rhyme scheme, he uses a vast amount of figures of speech and his language is colloquial, this goes for most, if not all of Frosts poetry. The poem also encompasses his thoughts and views on mankind and their response to the universe. Frost wants us as the reader to comprehend his message and find some sort of wisdom in it. If we do, then Frost has accomplished what he set out to do with his poetry.