Creating Blood Brothers through Bloodshed: The Fusion of East and West to Form a Distinct “Hong Kong-ness” in Heroic Bloodshed Films
Chen, Adrienne
2023
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Packed with gory violence and kinetic action, the Hong Kong Heroic Bloodshed genre incorporates dramatic narratives surrounding modern crime and violence while exploring profound themes of brotherhood, duty, honor, sacrifice, and redemption. The genre was formed during a highly modernizing and westernizing time in Hong Kong, and it very much reflects the city’s cultural duality of East and West ... read moregiven its triangulation vis-à-vis British colonialism and Chinese culture, while also incorporating both modern and traditional elements that highlight Hong Kong’s paradoxical position as a capitalist Chinese city. Given Hong Kong’s convoluted history tied to its colonial identity, Heroic Bloodshed films are prominent instances in which Hong Kong’s character is ascertained; technically a British colony that will inevitably be returned to China, Hong Kong and the question of its identity is contemplated deeply within this genre. The purpose of this paper is to explore how two popular Heroic Bloodshed films, A Better Tomorrow (1986) and The Killer (1989), epitomize the “Heroic Bloodshed” genre in how they demonstrate through paradoxical modalities (i.e. both Eastern and Western film genres) that Hong Kong itself is a paradox, a culmination of seemingly opposing ideologies. Yet through these works, the films do not assign such ideologies as contradictory; rather, they work in congruence to express a wholly Hong Kong sentiment that is distinct from Britain and China: an assertion of admiration and pride towards its people’s tradition and values, and an expression of anxiety and despair towards the city’s future.
Thesis (B.S.)--Tufts University, 2023.
Submitted to the Dept. of International Literary and Visual Studies.read less - ID:
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