city on fire
chapter nine: he ain't heavy, he's my father, brother, sister, mother
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Perhaps least widely known outside the Hong Kong and
Asian markets are Hong Kong comedies, although these films have long
been a staple among Hong Kong cinema genres. Mid-1980s and 1990s Hong
Kong comedies don't fall into neat comic categories although several
themes are recognizable (often in the same movie); their unrepentant
border crossings have allowed them an uninhibited freedom and daring
resulting in a cinematic dim sum distinctively Hong Kong style. Family
stories dominate the comedies, including many of the Lunar New Year
movies. A number focus on relationships between fathers and sons or are
prodigal son scenarios. Urban settings function almost as characters in
the way they affect human relations and reaction to change. How
characters cope with modern and postmodern cultural and economic
conditions and maintain or abandon traditional values feature. Related
to these contemporary tales are 'Ah Can' stories, a reference to the
pejorative nickname used by Hong Kong Chinese to describe Mainlanders
who come to Hong Kong. Mainlander country mice visit their city mice
relatives and culture clashes are played for comic effect, the bumpkin
cousins often the butt of the humor. Money figures prominently in many
scenarios; wealth is regarded as desirable, and with hard work and a
little luck, obtainable, but it also threatens traditional values, the
family, and an individual's basic humanity. Gender relations supply
another common theme, and in contemporary Hong Kong settings character
identities slip fluidly across shifting sands, with heterosexual
romantic romps and alternative gender benders on the menu. Food appears
as an important element, used to distinguish and type characters, to
represent jing (survival) and qing (emotional empathy and
relationships), and to promote trans-Chinese cultural pride. Recent
trends have led to more character-driven plotting, on the one hand, and
satire and parody, on the other. The latter runs the gamut from mou lay
tau (nonsense, balderdash) vernacular to burlesque imitation of current
fads and social critique. Apparently there's something for everybody in
Hong Kong comedy.
Chapter 10 |
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