Teaching a class on HK Cinema…

[KenHashibe]

My girlfriend is currently in college, and one of the courses she’s taking is a Hong Kong Cinema class in which the students watch and discuss 14 different movies.

This got me thinking, if you were to create a syllabus for a Hong Kong cinema class, to give your students a complete view of Hong Kong cinema and highlighting films that are representative of it, which films would you pick? You have a 14-week semester, one movie per week. I would try to highlight either specific significant filmmakers/stars or specific sub-genres unique to Hong Kong. Try not to overlap filmmakers/sub-genres as much as possible, and think of films that could spark discussions.

I’ll go first…

1. Come Drink With Me (1966; King Hu - Wu Xia & Female Heroism)
2. Fist of Fury (1972; Martial Arts Icon, Bruce Lee)
3. The House of 72 Tenants (1973; Rise of Cantonese Comedy, Social Commentary)
4. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978; Lau Kar Leung - Shaw Brothers)
5. Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978; Yuen Woo Ping - Kung Fu Comedy)
6. Boat People (1982; Ann Hui - War Drama/Commentary)
7. Mr. Vampire (1985; Horror Comedy)
8. Police Story (1985; Modern-Day Action Comedy)
9. Peking Opera Blues (1986; Tsui Hark - Historical Fiction)
10. A Better Tomorrow (1986; John Woo - Heroic Bloodshed)
11. She Shoots Straight (1990; Modern-Day Female Heroism, “Girls With Guns”)
12. In the Mood For Love (2000; Wong Kar Wai - Arthouse Cinema)
13. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000; Ang Lee - Arthouse Wu Xia)
14. Kung Fu Hustle (2004; Stephen Chow - Tribute to Hong Kong Cinema)

 

Movies That I Almost Picked:

1. The Love Eterne (1963; Huangmei Opera)
2. The Prodigal Son (1981; Sammo Hung - Kung Fu Comedy)
3. Prison on Fire (1987; Ringo Lam - Prison Drama)
4. A Chinese Ghost Story (1987; Ghost Romance)
5. Once Upon a Time in China (1991; Tsui Hark - Wire-Fu/Historical Fiction)
6. He’s A Woman, She’s A Man (1992; Romantic Comedy)
7. Election (2005; Triad Thriller)
8. Ip Man (2009; Kung Fu Genre Modernized)

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Not a single Sammo movie? He was one of the most influential filmmakers of HK cinema. I would shitcan SITES as you already have a JC flick on there and put in Prodigal Son or Magnificent Butcher if you wanna cram YWP in there on the same ticket.

I would take out Peking Opera Blues and instead go with an early 80's New Wave title as that is one of the areas often, if not always, overlooked when covering the subject. Cops and Robbers, Dangerous Encounter 1st Kind, Coolie Killer, Man on the Brink etc. 

And lastly I would axe Crouching Tiger as that really has little to do with HK cinema as such and I would put Infernal Affairs on there. 

But otherwise it's decent picks and coverage when you only have 14 slots to fill.

[Super Ninja]

I agree with quite a few of your picks @KenHashibe, here's what I'd change:

 

1. Come Drink With Me (1966) - New school/Wuxia

2. One-Armed Swordsman (1967) - Chang Cheh and Shaw Brothers

3. From the Highway (1970) - A Cathay story/The birth of kung fu movie

4. Fist of Fury (1972) - Bruce Lee: Changing the game/Golden Harvest

5. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978) - Lau Kar-Leung: Legacy

6. The Butterfly Murders (1979) - Tsui Hark and HK New Wave

7. Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980) - Sammo Hung/What is Jiangshi?

8.  Police Story (1985) - Jackie Chan and modern action

9. A Better Tomorrow (1986) - Heroic Bloodshed and the cinema of John Woo

10. Untold Story (1993) - Cat III cinema

11. Chungking Express (1994) - Wong Kar-Wai and HK Arthouse

12. Made in Hong Kong (1997) - HK indie and how the handover affected national cinema

13. Shaolin Soccer (2002) - Stephen Chow and Chinese comedy

14. Drug War (2013) - Milkyway's Johnnie To and modern times - Mainland takeover

 

If I had time:

Miracle Fighters (1982) - Meet the Yuen Clan

Duel to the Death (1983) - Wire-fu/Enter the Ninjas/Who is Ching Siu-Tung?

School on Fire (1988) - HK Noir: Commentary and how Ringo Lam does it

Ip Man (2008) - Donnie Yen and HK action in modern times

 

 

 

[KenHashibe]

21 hours ago, TibetanWhiteCrane said:

Not a single Sammo movie? He was one of the most influential filmmakers of HK cinema. I would shitcan SITES as you already have a JC flick on there and put in Prodigal Son or Magnificent Butcher if you wanna cram YWP in there on the same ticket.

I would take out Peking Opera Blues and instead go with an early 80's New Wave title as that is one of the areas often, if not always, overlooked when covering the subject. Cops and Robbers, Dangerous Encounter 1st Kind, Coolie Killer, Man on the Brink etc. 

And lastly I would axe Crouching Tiger as that really has little to do with HK cinema as such and I would put Infernal Affairs on there. 

But otherwise it's decent picks and coverage when you only have 14 slots to fill.

Some great picks here!

I thought about how I didn't have any Sammo Hung on there (unless you count Mr Vampire and She Shoots Straight as producer). I still feel that SITES and Police Story are pretty essential, especially how SITES inspired so many Kung Fu comedies that came after it. If I were to include a Sammo Hung movie, I would probably switch out SITES with The Prodigal Son since it's probably my favorite Sammo Hung movie.

I was also thinking of including Man on the Brink but ended up deciding not to. I haven't gotten to see the rest that you mentioned here. Dangerous Encounter has always been on my watchlist.

For Crouching Tiger, I'm not really a huge fan of it at all, but I do find it significant in that it was the first Hong Kong movie to be nominated for Best Picture, and to discuss how previous films before it have inspired it and why it reached an international audience.

6 hours ago, Super Ninja said:

I agree with quite a few of your picks @KenHashibe, here's what I'd change:

1. Come Drink With Me (1966) - New school/Wuxia

2. One-Armed Swordsman (1967) - Chang Cheh and Shaw Brothers

3. From the Highway (1970) - A Cathay story/The birth of kung fu movie

4. Fist of Fury (1972) - Bruce Lee: Changing the game/Golden Harvest

5. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978) - Lau Kar-Leung: Legacy

6. The Butterfly Murders (1979) - Tsui Hark and HK New Wave

7. Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980) - Sammo Hung/What is Jiangshi?

8.  Police Story (1985) - Jackie Chan and modern action

9. A Better Tomorrow (1986) - Heroic Bloodshed and the cinema of John Woo

10. Untold Story (1993) - Cat III cinema

11. Chungking Express (1994) - Wong Kar-Wai and HK Arthouse

12. Made in Hong Kong (1997) - HK indie and how the handover affected national cinema

13. Shaolin Soccer (2002) - Stephen Chow and Chinese comedy

14. Drug War (2013) - Milkyway's Johnnie To and modern times - Mainland takeover

If I had time:

Miracle Fighters (1982) - Meet the Yuen Clan

Duel to the Death (1983) - Wire-fu/Enter the Ninjas/Who is Ching Siu-Tung?

School on Fire (1988) - HK Noir: Commentary and how Ringo Lam does it

Ip Man (2008) - Donnie Yen and HK action in modern times

This is an amazing list, and this has given me a lot to think about for my list. There are so many subjects/filmmakers you could dive into, and I feel like it's nearly impossible it would be to cover everything with only 14 movies. I didn't even include films directed by Chang Cheh, Sammo Hung, Ching Siu Tung, Ringo Lam or Johnnie To on my list, despite how incredibly important they are to HK cinema.

I think that One Armed Swordsman is a very important film to mention. Encounters of the Spooky Kind is also a great pick for "jiangshi" horror comedy. Also I can't believe I didn't consider Made in Hong Kong. There's so much to dive into with that movie and how it explores the unknown future of HK's youth in 1997. I feel like I need to fit in a Ringo Lam movie somewhere, but I'm not sure how disturbed I would want my hypothetical students to be. 

Speaking of which, I feel like I would never show The Untold Story, especially with the constantly shifting sensibilities when it comes to entertainment. I do realize how important and well-known it is, but at the same time, you would certainly expect a lot of upset students. 

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Yeah, try screening Untold Story at an American college today.... good luck with that. Might as well throw in Raped by an Angel or Red to Kill while you're at it. With that said, CATIII was more than a footnote in HK cinema history, so maybe something less egregious but still hardcore like School on Fire, which also takes care of your Ringo Lam omission.

[Super Ninja]

6 hours ago, KenHashibe said:

Some great picks here!

I thought about how I didn't have any Sammo Hung on there (unless you count Mr Vampire and She Shoots Straight as producer). I still feel that SITES and Police Story are pretty essential, especially how SITES inspired so many Kung Fu comedies that came after it. If I were to include a Sammo Hung movie, I would probably switch out SITES with The Prodigal Son since it's probably my favorite Sammo Hung movie.

I was also thinking of including Man on the Brink but ended up deciding not to. I haven't gotten to see the rest that you mentioned here. Dangerous Encounter has always been on my watchlist.

For Crouching Tiger, I'm not really a huge fan of it at all, but I do find it significant in that it was the first Hong Kong movie to be nominated for Best Picture, and to discuss how previous films before it have inspired it and why it reached an international audience.

This is an amazing list, and this has given me a lot to think about for my list. There are so many subjects/filmmakers you could dive into, and I feel like it's nearly impossible it would be to cover everything with only 14 movies. I didn't even include films directed by Chang Cheh, Sammo Hung, Ching Siu Tung, Ringo Lam or Johnnie To on my list, despite how incredibly important they are to HK cinema.

I think that One Armed Swordsman is a very important film to mention. Encounters of the Spooky Kind is also a great pick for "jiangshi" horror comedy. Also I can't believe I didn't consider Made in Hong Kong. There's so much to dive into with that movie and how it explores the unknown future of HK's youth in 1997. I feel like I need to fit in a Ringo Lam movie somewhere, but I'm not sure how disturbed I would want my hypothetical students to be. 

Speaking of which, I feel like I would never show The Untold Story, especially with the constantly shifting sensibilities when it comes to entertainment. I do realize how important and well-known it is, but at the same time, you would certainly expect a lot of upset students. 

That's so very true, 14 is far too little for any serious study, that's why I connected topics, like instead of Mr. Vampire, I picked Encounters because that way you get to talk  about Sammo, his work and influence, and touch on the topic of Jiangshi films. I didn't even get to mention kung fu comedy, although I'd probably go with Drunken Master just for the weight of it if nothing else. I do feel that your list, as well as mine, is very action oriented, though your knowledge on HK cinema is far from being limited on that aspect only.

If those were my students, I'd want to upset them, maybe some of them react better to shock. If you're not ready for experimenting and trying new stuff at that age, well then you'll never be. Cat III is what it is, take it or leave, but as a student, you need to be open minded, and at least see it once. Imagine a scholar talking about HK cinema without ever seeing a Cat III movie, I mean a "true" one that shows how deep the rabbit hole really is.

I'll admit I've never seen Man on the Brink, but since both you and @TibetanWhiteCrane mentioned it, I'll make it my homework to find a copy and watch it.

[KenHashibe]

On 3/19/2021 at 10:20 PM, TibetanWhiteCrane said:

Yeah, try screening Untold Story at an American college today.... good luck with that. Might as well throw in Raped by an Angel or Red to Kill while you're at it. With that said, CATIII was more than a footnote in HK cinema history, so maybe something less egregious but still hardcore like School on Fire, which also takes care of your Ringo Lam omission.

I'd have to agree that showing it to an American college nowadays wouldn't be a great idea.  I'm more onboard with School on Fire, which is still a really intense, disturbing film, but there could still be discussions on the film's violence and what the film is saying about institutions.

On 3/20/2021 at 3:22 AM, Super Ninja said:

That's so very true, 14 is far too little for any serious study, that's why I connected topics, like instead of Mr. Vampire, I picked Encounters because that way you get to talk  about Sammo, his work and influence, and touch on the topic of Jiangshi films. I didn't even get to mention kung fu comedy, although I'd probably go with Drunken Master just for the weight of it if nothing else. I do feel that your list, as well as mine, is very action oriented, though your knowledge on HK cinema is far from being limited on that aspect only.

If those were my students, I'd want to upset them, maybe some of them react better to shock. If you're not ready for experimenting and trying new stuff at that age, well then you'll never be. Cat III is what it is, take it or leave, but as a student, you need to be open minded, and at least see it once. Imagine a scholar talking about HK cinema without ever seeing a Cat III movie, I mean a "true" one that shows how deep the rabbit hole really is.

I'll admit I've never seen Man on the Brink, but since both you and @TibetanWhiteCrane mentioned it, I'll make it my homework to find a copy and watch it.

That's a good pick for Encounters instead of Mr Vampire so you could also cover Sammo Hung. And yeah, both SITES and Drunken Master are great picks for the start of Kung Fu comedy, but I picked SITES since I think a lot more people have already seen Drunken Master. And I noticed that our lists are mostly action-oriented too. There are certainly many significant Hong Kong movies without action, but I feel that many of the most influential and internationally well-known have either action or martial arts. I think Chicken and Duck Talk would be a good pick for a non-action film for its social commentary on Western influence (and since I don't have any Michael Hui on my list).

I agree that students should be open-minded when taking a film studies class and watching some challenging movies. But I think there should certainly be a content warning for The Untold Story, and I'm sure you would have A LOT of explaining to do for why you picked it (especially if administration gets involved ). To stay out of trouble, I'd stray far away from showing it.

Man on the Brink has been extremely hard to track down for a while, but it's gotten a Blu-ray release recently. I'm a bit skeptical of the HK Blu-ray since it only has 5.1 sound, and the French Blu-ray has French subtitles only.

https://www.dddhouse.hk/products/man-on-the-brink-blu-ray-1981-digitally-remastered-edition

https://www.spectrumfilms.fr/prochainement/78-product-3770015571242.html

[Super Ninja]

On 3/22/2021 at 12:34 AM, KenHashibe said:

I'd have to agree that showing it to an American college nowadays wouldn't be a great idea.  I'm more onboard with School on Fire, which is still a really intense, disturbing film, but there could still be discussions on the film's violence and what the film is saying about institutions.

That's a good pick for Encounters instead of Mr Vampire so you could also cover Sammo Hung. And yeah, both SITES and Drunken Master are great picks for the start of Kung Fu comedy, but I picked SITES since I think a lot more people have already seen Drunken Master. And I noticed that our lists are mostly action-oriented too. There are certainly many significant Hong Kong movies without action, but I feel that many of the most influential and internationally well-known have either action or martial arts. I think Chicken and Duck Talk would be a good pick for a non-action film for its social commentary on Western influence (and since I don't have any Michael Hui on my list).

I agree that students should be open-minded when taking a film studies class and watching some challenging movies. But I think there should certainly be a content warning for The Untold Story, and I'm sure you would have A LOT of explaining to do for why you picked it (especially if administration gets involved ). To stay out of trouble, I'd stray far away from showing it.

Man on the Brink has been extremely hard to track down for a while, but it's gotten a Blu-ray release recently. I'm a bit skeptical of the HK Blu-ray since it only has 5.1 sound, and the French Blu-ray has French subtitles only.

https://www.dddhouse.hk/products/man-on-the-brink-blu-ray-1981-digitally-remastered-edition

https://www.spectrumfilms.fr/prochainement/78-product-3770015571242.html

Yeah, I didn't forget about Hui, just had to leave him out. I would definitely mention Hui when talking about Chow or vice versa, give a short introduction to the genre withing the context of HK cinema, and then proceed with the chosen topic. It's really the only way to do it with such limited time on your hands.

Content warning definitely. 

I know of that release, but it seems every new bluray release available at DDD is just an upscale according to the bluray forum. I guess that's better than nothing if you don't own a copy already or haven't seen the movie. I'm still trying to decide whether or not I wanna buy KF Cult Master and Miracle Fighters.

[AlbertV]

Here are my choices:

1. Come Drink With Me (1966; King Hu - Wu Xia & Female Heroism)
2. Fist of Fury (1972; Martial Arts Icon, Bruce Lee)
3. The Private Eyes (1976; Michael Hui - Slapstick Comedy)
4. The Five Venoms (1978; Lau Kar Leung - Shaw Brothers)
5. Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978; Yuen Woo Ping - Kung Fu Comedy)
6. The Master Strikes (1979, Kao Pao Shu; Female Filmmakers)
7. Boat People (1982; Ann Hui - War Drama/Commentary)
8. Mr. Vampire (1985; Horror Comedy)
9. Yes, Madam! (1985; Modern-Day Female Heroism, “Girls With Guns”)
10. Peking Opera Blues (1986; Tsui Hark - Historical Fiction)
11. A Better Tomorrow (1986; John Woo - Heroic Bloodshed)
12. Chungking Express (1994; Wong Kar Wai - Arthouse Cinema)
13. Young and Dangerous (1996, Andrew Lau - Triad Film)
14. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000; Ang Lee - Arthouse Wu Xia)
15. Infernal Affairs (2002; Alan Mak/Andrew Lau - Remade in the U.S. as "The Departed")
16. Kung Fu Hustle (2004; Stephen Chow - Tribute to Hong Kong Cinema)

[KenHashibe]

On 3/23/2021 at 12:52 AM, Super Ninja said:

Yeah, I didn't forget about Hui, just had to leave him out. I would definitely mention Hui when talking about Chow or vice versa, give a short introduction to the genre withing the context of HK cinema, and then proceed with the chosen topic. It's really the only way to do it with such limited time on your hands.

Content warning definitely. 

I know of that release, but it seems every new bluray release available at DDD is just an upscale according to the bluray forum. I guess that's better than nothing if you don't own a copy already or haven't seen the movie. I'm still trying to decide whether or not I wanna buy KF Cult Master and Miracle Fighters.

Gotcha. It's hard to talk about HK Comedy without talking about Stephen Chow and/or Michael Hui. I guess I would agree though. If I had to pick one, I would say Stephen Chow is certainly more prolific and well-known, but Michael Hui is also a very important filmmaker that should be mentioned.

Oh, that's interesting. I thought I heard that the releases by Panorama and Mei Ah are genuine remasters. I also heard Man on the Brink had a 2k remaster. I can't say for certain since I don't own them. Plus, before the Blu-ray, I think it was only available on VCD, and I'm sure the Blu-ray is a step up from this...

2 hours ago, AlbertV said:

Here are my choices:

1. Come Drink With Me (1966; King Hu - Wu Xia & Female Heroism)
2. Fist of Fury (1972; Martial Arts Icon, Bruce Lee)
3. The Private Eyes (1976; Michael Hui - Slapstick Comedy)
4. The Five Venoms (1978; Lau Kar Leung - Shaw Brothers)
5. Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978; Yuen Woo Ping - Kung Fu Comedy)
6. The Master Strikes (1979, Kao Pao Shu; Female Filmmakers)
7. Boat People (1982; Ann Hui - War Drama/Commentary)
8. Mr. Vampire (1985; Horror Comedy)
9. Yes, Madam! (1985; Modern-Day Female Heroism, “Girls With Guns”)
10. Peking Opera Blues (1986; Tsui Hark - Historical Fiction)
11. A Better Tomorrow (1986; John Woo - Heroic Bloodshed)
12. Chungking Express (1994; Wong Kar Wai - Arthouse Cinema)
13. Young and Dangerous (1996, Andrew Lau - Triad Film)
14. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000; Ang Lee - Arthouse Wu Xia)
15. Infernal Affairs (2002; Alan Mak/Andrew Lau - Remade in the U.S. as "The Departed")
16. Kung Fu Hustle (2004; Stephen Chow - Tribute to Hong Kong Cinema)

Excellent list! I certainly agree with a lot of your choices. The Private Eyes, The Five Venoms, Yes Madam, and Infernal Affairs. All great movies. I can see myself replacing She Shoots Straight with Yes Madam, though I'm not sure which I prefer. I've also never seen Young and Dangerous though I've always meant to.

The only one I'm not so sure on is The Master Strikes. I personally don't care for the movie so much (except the fights which are phenomenal), but I love that you included a classic Kung Fu movie with a female director.

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Lau Kar Leung and Five Venoms.... eh, ok.

[ShawAngela]

I wouldn't choose Come drink with me dit the wuxia female heroine. There are a lot of other wuxias with female heroine that are much better. For instance One armed swordswoman or any Chang Ching Ching's or Lee Shu's wuxias.

As for Kao Pao Shu, I would rather choose any movie among Lady with à sword, The desperate chase, The cannibals or Win them all.

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

47 minutes ago, ShawAngela said:

I wouldn't choose Come drink with me dit the wuxia female heroine. There are a lot of other wuxias with female heroine that are much better. For instance One armed swordswoman or any Chang Ching Ching's or Lee Shu's wuxias.

It's not a list of bests.... then a bunch of the films on there wouldn't make it.... it's about showing the progression of a sphere of cinema through its benchmark films to a neophyte audience. If you jump ahead to all the "best" examples of their respective genres, they will miss the historical context. Surely as a teacher you must realize that.

 

[KenHashibe]

10 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

I wouldn't choose Come drink with me dit the wuxia female heroine. There are a lot of other wuxias with female heroine that are much better. For instance One armed swordswoman or any Chang Ching Ching's or Lee Shu's wuxias.

As for Kao Pao Shu, I would rather choose any movie among Lady with à sword, The desperate chase, The cannibals or Win them all.

I mainly chose Come Drink With Me since it's very iconic and culturally significant, and I can tie it back into Crouching Tiger. Plus, I can talk about King Hu and his other works.

But WOW, you have certainly seen a lot more from the genre than I have. I'll definitely check these out, especially if you feel they're better than Come Drink With Me. Thank you for the recommendations. I'm ashamed to say I haven't seen the films you've listed. 

10 hours ago, TibetanWhiteCrane said:

It's not a list of bests.... then a bunch of the films on there wouldn't make it.... it's about showing the progression of a sphere of cinema through its benchmark films to a neophyte audience. If you jump ahead to all the "best" examples of their respective genres, they will miss the historical context. Surely as a teacher you must realize that.

 I'd say there was certainly a mix of both when I was considering my list, finding movies that are the best in quality AND have the historical context. I tried to find ones where I felt they were a mix of both (though I wouldn't put Crouching Tiger on my list if it was a list of "bests". But I included it because it's generally considered one of the best).

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

43 minutes ago, KenHashibe said:

I'd say there was certainly a mix of both when I was considering my list, finding movies that are the best in quality AND have the historical context. I tried to find ones where I felt they were a mix of both (though I wouldn't put Crouching Tiger on my list if it was a list of "bests". But I included it because it's generally considered one of the best).

Obviously I wasn't suggesting to pick inferior titles, but yes, "good examples" of the respective genres that you can put into a historical context. For almost every benchmark movie I could point to a better film if I disregarded the cultural impact and place in history, but then that would just be a list of personal faves, which I wouldn't use to teach a class on the subject.

My number 1 favorite HK movie of all time, bar non, is Wong Jing's The Last Blood. But aside from using it as an example of the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach to action filmmaking that HK cinema often employed, or indeed a specific example of Wong Jing's brand, I would never put that on a list for any sort of teaching purposes on HK cinema in a broader sense and with a limited amount of films allowed. That movie is special to ME due to many personal factors, on top of the film's own merits of course, but I'm not being objective when I say that it is my favorite. I could certainly make a case for why it is, but a lot of that is specific to ME and doesn't apply to other people.

I sometimes think that when someone asks for film recommndations in any capacity, there is a tendency for other people to just chime in with a list of their personal faves with no thought given to objectivity, context etc. And while there are universal qualities that to a degree can me measured, art is still subjective.

Edited March 26, 2021 by TibetanWhiteCrane

[KenHashibe]

On 3/25/2021 at 8:25 PM, TibetanWhiteCrane said:

Obviously I wasn't suggesting to pick inferior titles, but yes, "good examples" of the respective genres that you can put into a historical context. For almost every benchmark movie I could point to a better film if I disregarded the cultural impact and place in history, but then that would just be a list of personal faves, which I wouldn't use to teach a class on the subject.

My number 1 favorite HK movie of all time, bar non, is Wong Jing's The Last Blood. But aside from using it as an example of the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach to action filmmaking that HK cinema often employed, or indeed a specific example of Wong Jing's brand, I would never put that on a list for any sort of teaching purposes on HK cinema in a broader sense and with a limited amount of films allowed. That movie is special to ME due to many personal factors, on top of the film's own merits of course, but I'm not being objective when I say that it is my favorite. I could certainly make a case for why it is, but a lot of that is specific to ME and doesn't apply to other people.

I sometimes think that when someone asks for film recommndations in any capacity, there is a tendency for other people to just chime in with a list of their personal faves with no thought given to objectivity, context etc. And while there are universal qualities that to a degree can me measured, art is still subjective.

Certainly! I understand exactly what you mean. There are many of my favorites that I couldn't include, namely Burning Ambition which is so incredibly fun, but not a very significant film as far as the historical context of HK cinema.

And I've never seen The Last Blood but will add it to my watchlist since I often the "everything but the kitchen sink" style of filmmaking. Wong Jing is really hit-or-miss for me as a filmmaker. When I'm asked for a Hong Kong movie recommendation, I almost always go with Police Story or a John Woo film since I really love those films, and they do have a significance to HK cinema and I feel are a great representations of the kind of action movies you'll see.

[ShawAngela]

On 3/26/2021 at 3:42 AM, KenHashibe said:

I'd say there was certainly a mix of both when I was considering my list, finding movies that are the best in quality AND have the historical context

That's exactly what I had in mind. As Shaws are already on the list with Five Venoms, I thought that introducing also Taiwanese cinema trough female wuxias heroine would be a good idea. Also, as someone said, 14 movies isn't enough : what about talking about Huangmei movies, that were very important in Chinese cinema, or Cantonese movies talking about Huang Fei Hong ?

As for Kung Fu comedy, one movie with Sammo, great fights, and horror or comedy could be used to introduce Sammo, the comedy, the ghosts movies and so on and hence more movies would be shown among the 14...

[KenHashibe]

1 hour ago, ShawAngela said:

That's exactly what I had in mind. As Shaws are already on the list with Five Venoms, I thought that introducing also Taiwanese cinema trough female wuxias heroine would be a good idea. Also, as someone said, 14 movies isn't enough : what about talking about Huangmei movies, that were very important in Chinese cinema, or Cantonese movies talking about Huang Fei Hong ?

As for Kung Fu comedy, one movie with Sammo, great fights, and horror or comedy could be used to introduce Sammo, the comedy, the ghosts movies and so on and hence more movies would be shown among the 14...

I understand what you mean. By no means am I saying that 14 weeks is enough time (I would certainly argue it isn't) . I mainly just chose 14 movies because that is the length of the class that my girlfriend is taking. I thought it would be a fun challenge to see how other people would curate a class that's a semester-long, especially since there are so many different directions that you can take a class on HK cinema. 

Like you mentioned, doing segments on the Huangmei operas, female Wuxia films, and Wong Fei Hung movies are all fantastic ideas, as well combining Sammo Hung/Kung Fu comedy/horror with a movie like Spooky Encounters so you can cover all three in one week.

Edited March 27, 2021 by KenHashibe