Beyond Martial Arts in Hong Kong Films

Hong Kong has one of the largest and most dynamic movie industries in the world. The paper aims to provide a short profile of the images of Hong Kong through the screen and to explain why and where those images have taken place. Michael Dear initiates the theory of "film-space" by outlining the place of production, production of place, film text, and performance consumption in space as the four sections or components in producing and consuming films. In this light, the paper, first of all, gives a profile of the place images of Hong Kong through the moves screened there. Next, it attempts to explain the boom of its movies since the early 1970s through the actors, directors and choreographers by tracing their background, paths of experiences, and roles played in Hong Kong filmmaking. Thirdly, movies of various genres like kung-fu (or action), ghost and horror, gangster, or city life, are used to exemplify the film culture in its formation and transformation. Moreover, the underlying factors that have attracted human resources and capital to Hong Kong are also considered. It concludes by looking into the localglobal interplay in Hong Kong film industry and their effects on film culture and production, and giving comments on Hong Kong's political-cultural role in Asia and prospects for further Asian co-production and cooperation.