This is a review of a course on Ed Ex, ‘Hong Kong Cinema through a Global Lens’, offered on EdX by the University of Hong Kong. This six week course is free to audit or can be taken online for cerification or credit for a nominal fee.
I must admit that taking this course was way out of my comfort zone. It meant silencing the little voice inside me that said, “Don’t do it. It is outside your field. You should be focusing on building your skills.”
For reasons beyond me, I did take the plunge. I am more than grateful (to myself) that I did, because I ended up learning so much more and broadening my horizons. Like most non-native viewers of Chinese movies, my journey into Chinese movies began with Bruce Lee’s “Enter the Dragon”, then proceeded deeper into Kung Fu movies. Ultimately, I did become a giant fan of the gangster or ‘Gun-Fu’ movies. This course introduced me to two other genres, what they call the ‘Melodramas of migration’ and ‘Post Modern movies’
While I had seen Infernal Affairs earlier, I never looked at it as a ‘Post Modern’ movie. This course presented an analysis of the movie in a whole new light.
I also disclose that I did not take this course for credit. Honestly, as my chosen trade is and will be technology for the time being, and as I consider myself nothing more than an armchair film critic, I did not see the need to build a portfolio for my knowledge of movies. I will however, build on this knowledge.
I will now present an overview of the course and will ensure I avoid any learnings from the course. This is because I believe that any interested reader should get this information from the course itself rather than someone who audited the course.
In this process, I will also express my musings on topics of this course and on movies as I see necessary. Finally, I will share my thoughts on the course itself.
The course is presented by three lecturers
Dr. Gina Marchetti, Dept of Comparative Literature, School of Humanities, University of Hong Kong
Dr. Aron Magnan-Park, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Comparative Studies, School of Humanties, University of Hong Kong.
Dr. Stacilee Ford, Associate Professor, Dept. of History, University of Hong Kong
The first session presented by Dr. Marchetti. It reintroduced the students to Hong Kong and challenged us to revisit our unconscious assumptions we had made about this distinctive island.
Using several depictions of Hong Kong by Hollywood and European movies Dr. Marchetti presented how our impressions of Hong Kong are influenced by these movies.
Following this, she defined the concept of Globalization. I will refrain from stating it here as I feel that it may steal some of the novelty of the leanings of this course. (In case you want a head start, you may want to ask yourself, what Globalization means to you.)
The main topic covered in this session was Jackie Chan, and how he capitalized on the growing popularity of Kung Fu but also expanded the global footprint of Hong Kong Movies.
One interesting observation I made is that while Kung Fu helped Hong Kong movies gain popularity, Hong Kong did not push the martial art as aggressively as Japanese Karate or Korean Taekwondo.
Korea in particular, adopted several strategies to push Taekwondo to make it more popular in the US. Two of these strategies were to send several practitioners to the US and ensuring that the belt system was standardized. During the Seoul Olympics of 1988, Korea succeeded in making Taekwondo an Olympic sport.
In contrast, China has not pushed Kung Fu globally. Speculating why would be outside the scope of this article, which I will restrict to reviewing the course.
The first session covered Jackie Chan’s life and also presented him as a visionary. Chan focused his career on not just building a brand locally but successfully built a global image for himself. Chan recognized African Americans , particularly in the US were a vital part of the fan base of Kung Fu movies.
Another concept that was introduced in the course was intertext. (I will avoid defining it here for the same reason outlined above.) Dr. Marchetti covers Chan’s use of intertext in his movies.
Here are my own thoughts on Jackie Chan. While stars like Bruce Lee and Chow Yun Fat emanated a ‘screen presence, because they mostly played serious personalities, in their respective movies, Chan came across as what I can only describe as a ‘bumbling martial arts savant’ . This may sound like an oxymoron but anyone who watches his movies would understand what I mean.
In his fight sequences, the viewer would be transfixed by Jackie Chan’ athletic proneness, his agility, speed and his fearless performance of death defying stunts. Then, just an instant later, the same viewer would be caught in a wave of suppressed laughter. Chan would suddenly throw in a spark of slapstick humor at the most unexpected time.This uniqueness was one of his key advantage in becoming a global phenomenon.
The second session of the course was covered by Aron Magnan-Park.. The second session began by introducing us to another new term, Gongfupian, a facet of the Kung Fu movie genre. Then Aron Park covered a few noteworthy movies of this genre. He goes on to explain the origins of the Kung Fu craze in the United states, simultaneously with the rise of two other kinds of movies, Blaxploitation and pornography. Another cultural phenomenon at this time was television, which was a threat to the movie industry.
The second session primarily focussed on Bruce Lee. No course on Hong Kong movies would be complete without covering the works of Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee, a legend in his own lifetime was a skilled martial artist, movie star, philosopher and a global icon.
Another term, Yellow Face was introduced in this session. The session covers how Bruce embodied the Yellow face, and how he broke the Hollywood stereotype or the white masculine he-man and established himself as a different type of superman.
Dr Park covers Bruce Lee’s prowness in Martial arts and how he shaped his own philosophies through his continuous study of the arts. He also covers Jeet Kune Do, a style of martial arts Bruce Lee himself founded.
One of my favorite parts of this class was when Dr. Park himself gives us a demonstration on Wing Chung and describes how it differs from other martial arts. Having studied Kenpo Karate and Taekwondo, this part was very appealing to me. The fact tha Dr. Park did the demo himself, rather than show us footage demonstrated his passion for martial arts, and for movies.
The session went on to cover how Bruce Lee’s training helped him establish himself as a martial arts superstar. Finally, the session ended with Bruce Lee’s legacy on Hong Kong movies. One can tell that Dr. Park is a passionate fan of Bruce Lee.
The third session is taught by Dr. Ford and highlights ‘Melodramas of Migration’. I must confess that this genre is new to me and as a result I found it very enlightening. The primary focus in this session was Mabel Cheung’s “An Autumn’s tale”. Mabel Cheung is one of Hong Kong’s prominent women movie-makers. We are introduced to more terms, Intersectionality and second-wave feminism. This section also has an interview with Mabel Cheung and Alex Law, the screenwriter for the movie.
Another term, glocalization is introduced in this session. I enjoyed this session and plan to revisit it after I have seen the movie. In a fortcoming review of the film, I will present my thoughts on the movie along with some of my takeaways from this session.
The fourth session introduced us to my favorite Hong Kong movie genre, the heroic bloodshed movies. The creator of these movies is the one and only John Woo. This section is presented by Dr. Park. Dr Park begins by introducing Dr Kenneth Hall’s commentary on John Woo and then points out to his own agreements and disagreement on Dr. Hall’s take on Woo and the factors that influenced Woo’s stye of movie making.
We are then introduced to the gangster etiquette, a recurring theme in Woo’s movies. Woo then compares and contrasts Woo’s Hong Kong movies to the movies he made in Hollywood. The reader is introduced to the Youxia, the Chinese warrior, similar but different from the Japanese Samurai.
Unexpectedly, Woo does a deep dive into Confucian philosophy, especially relationships. Interestingly, only Woo’s Hong Kong movies incorporated Confusion themes. The Hollywood movies on the other hand were more action movies. If I was honest, I would say, mindless action movies with extraordinary action sequences.
I remember the first time I picked up Hard Boiled, a classic Woo movie belonging to the Heroic Bloodshed theme. I was blown away by both Woo and Chow Yun Fat(CYF), the star of the movie.
In contrast with mainstream action movies, Woo brings in fashion, and style. We see this in how his characters in all his bloodshed movies dress in classic suits and trench coats. Contrast that with a movie like Die Hard where we have Bruce Willis battle the bad guys in a blood-drenched vest.
Some of my other favorite John Woo elements are the birds that whizz past the screen, usually before an action sequence. The flying two handed jump or spin around is another of my favorite John Woo elements. This move has been copied in several other Hollywood action movies, including the Matrix.
He brought so many of his style elements into the Hollywood movies. In Mission Impossible 2, we see Tom Cruise pass a flaming door like a phantom . In Face off, the scene where Nicolas Cage pulls out two pistols from a wooden container box is one of my favorite scenes.
One actor who was not covered but was as much an icon as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan was CYF. While we associate Hong Kong movies with martial arts, CYF built his action star image with guns.
It is hard to believe that ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’, CYF’s first martial arts movie came decades later in his career. There are some personalities that transend cultures. CYF is one of them. To sell the western audience with a stylish gangster image for an Asian actor is no ordinary feat. CYF pulled this off to perfection. His gun trotting, toothpick chewing style has made him an icon even in the west. It is unfortunate that he could not create a lasting legacy in Hollywood. It is a big loss for the western audience. I would recommend to those who make this curriculum to include a session on CYF.
The fifth session was about Internal Affairs, another landmark movie. I had seen Internal Affairs, years ago, but never saw it as a post modern movie, as described in the course. This session was an eyeopener that covered several aspects of the film. They include post modernism, trans nationalism, and culture of Late Capitalism. As my review of this movie is coming soon,(I ordered the DVD) I will refrain from saying more. This was another of the major highlights of this great class. Dr Marchetti is at the top of her game in this session.
The final session focuses on Hong Kong Cinema as World Cinema. For this session, the movie “In the mood for Love” is analyzed in some detail. However, this session is more a tribute to award winning director,Wang Kar Wai. In the opening lecture, Dr. Jason Ho introduces us to Wang Kar Wai, the director, producer and screenwriter of the film. The course shifts gear at this point and the next session is an Interview with Roger Garcia, the executive director of the Hong Kong film festival. After this, Dr Ho continues to examine the motivations of Wang Kar Wai and his early works. We are next introduced to the concept of Auterism. The rest of the session, conducted by Dr. Marchetti covers “In the mood fro love” in the context of Wang Kar Wai’s recurring themes. For instance, the city of Shanghai is one of the recurring themes in his movies It would not be fair for me to say more, as I am still a newbie to this genre and have not seen the film. Doubtless, this movie and Wang Kar Wai will be featured in my forthcoming reviews.
Final Verdict
In case you have not guessed by now, I was blown away by this course. Besides being immensely knowledgeable on the material. all three instructors exhibit a passion for these movies that is infectious. If you did read through this entire article, or shall we say ‘tribute’ to this course, you will note the number of concepts pertaining to movie making, presented throughout. While throwing new light on some topics, this course opened me to new topics, new terms and new genres. I believe that as a result of this course, I am able to appreciate movies (Hong Kong movies and beyond)and identify themes that would have previously eluded me. It has made me a better arm-chair critique. Please register for this course before it expires on Ed X. You will also notice that I do not go into details of the content of this course. Doing so may cheat you of all the exhilaration of this unique course that I whole-heartedly recommend.
Click here to access the course on Edx
