Hong Kong Cinema: Coloniser, Motherland and Self Yingchi Chu 9780700717460

Examining Hong Kong cinema from its inception in 1913 to the end of the colonial era, this work explains the key areas of production, market, film products and critical traditions. Hong Kong Cinema considers the different political formations of Hong Kong's culture as seen through the cinema, and deals with the historical, political, economic and cultural relations between Hong Kong cinema and other Chinese film industries on the mainland, as well as in Taiwan and South-East Asia. Discussion covers the concept of 'national cinema' in the context of Hong Kong's status as a quasi-nation with strong links to both the 'motherland' (China) and the 'coloniser' (Britain), and also argues that Hong Kong cinema is a national cinema only in an incomplete and ambiguous sense.

'This well researched book, its exhaustive bibliography and a handy and useful glossary and filmography (in Chinese and English) - is an important tool allowing readers to grasp how, in the very particular and exceptional case of Hong Kong, its cinema both embodies and transcends our received idea of what constitutes a national cinematic art.' - Cinemaya
'Hong Kong Cinema is an ambitious, thought-provoking book and contains some fascinating material on the film industry in 1980-2000.' - China Quarterly