'Lisa Stokes and Michael Hoover have written the best book on Hong
Kong cinema. City on Fire is intelligent, informative,
resourceful, exciting and riveting. It makes us understand a cinema that
has assimilated influences from Hollywood, Europe and Japan, and has
come into its own with a unique style of energy. It has become an
important part of cinema history.'
John Woo, Director of The Killer, Hard-Boiled, A Better
Tomorrow, Bullet in the Head and Face/Off |
'Stokes and Hoover's well-researched and insightful book on Hong Kong
cinema is a great read for any film buff. It brings back fond memories
of an era when filmmaking was like good sex for everyone involved. Only
it climaxed too soon.'
Terence Chang, Producer of Face/Off, Broken Arrow and Hard-Boiled |
'City on Fire is the first book to examine the phenomenon of
Hong Kong cinema in a social and political context. As such it is a very
valuable and timely contribution to the subject.'
Donnie Yen, Actor/director |
'Hong Kong cinema remains the most neglected field of study for film
historians. This fine book takes one giant leap towards correcting that.
Finally, the genre is treated with the respect it deserves, by authors
who balance their enthusiam with a commendably truthful detachment. A
real achievement.'
Bey Logan, Author of Hong Kong Action Cinema |
'City on Fire is like walking down memory lane. It takes me
back to the best years of the Hong Kong film industry.'
Peter Chan, Director of The Love Letter |
'City on Fire should be required reading for all students of
contemporary Hong Kong cinema and most certainly the handbook for
professionals and industry specialists.'
Andre Morgan, Ruddy Morgan Organization, co-executive producer of
Martial Law |
'A tour-de-force analysis of Hong Kong's film genres, which profiles a
city with no time to recover from its own high-speed car chase through
late-capitalist development.'
Andrew Ross, author of Strange Weather |
'This work is thorough in its approach and promises to be one of the
definitive works devoted to Hong Kong cinema with its distinctive
approach. It will counterbalance and complement other books exclusively
devoted to theoretical observations or stylistic innovations. Its
scholarship is first class.'
Tony Williams, author of Hearths of Darkness: The Family in
the American Horror Film |
'Well-researched and documented, City on Fire does a fantastic
job of mixing the historical, political, socio-economic factors of Hong
Kong and its cinema with critical treatments of film texts and
directorial motives and styles.'
John Lent, author of The Asian Film Industry |
'City on Fire offers an accessible and insightful reflection on
the social, political, and economic history of the Hong Kong cinema.
Stokes and Hoover place this dynamic cinema within the forces of local
interests and global flows of culture and capital while never losing
sight of individual films, styles and genres. City on Fire extends
beyond the seductive surface of Hong Kong's architecture and popular
culture, providing new insight into the formation of a leading center of
world cinema.'
John G. Hanhardt, Senior Curator of Film and Media Arts, Solomon
R. Guggenheim Museum, NYC |
'Informative yet admirably unsnobbish, Hoover and Stokes never lost
sight of the movies' rib-sticking goodness. City on Fire is the
closest you can get to pre-handover Hong Kong without a passport and a
time machine.'
Betsy Sherman, Film Critic, Boston Globe |