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"Martial arts films"
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Fighting without fighting : Kung Fu cinema's journey to the west
From classic Bruce Lee films to the comedies of Jackie Chan, a vibrant look at the enduring fascination with the Kung Fu cinema of Hong Kong. In the spring and summer of 1973, a wave of martial arts movies from Hong Kong smashed box-office records for foreign-language films in America and ignited a 'kung fu craze' that swept the world. 'Fighting without Fighting' explores this dramatic phenomenon, and it argues that, more than just a cinematic fad, the West's sudden fascination with, and moral panic about, the Asian fighting arts left lasting legacies still present today.
Book
Chinese Martial Arts Cinema
This is the first comprehensive, fully-researched account of the historical and contemporary development of the traditional martial arts genre in the Chinese cinema known aswuxia(literal translation: martial chivalry) - a genre which audiences around the world became familiar with through the phenomenal 'crossover' hitCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon(2000). The book unveils rich layers of thewuxia traditionas it developed in the early Shanghai cinema in the late 1920s, and from the 1950s onwards, in the Hong Kong and Taiwan film industries.
Key attractions of the book are analyses of:
The history of the tradition as it began in the Shanghai cinema, its rise and popularity as a serialized form in the silent cinema of the late 1920s, and its eventual prohibition by the government in 1931.The fantastic characteristics of the genre, their relationship with folklore, myth and religion, and their similarities and differences with the kung fu sub-genre of martial arts cinema.The protagonists and heroes of the genre, in particular the figure of the female knight-errant.The chief personalities and masterpieces of the genre - directors such as King Hu, Chu Yuan, Zhang Che, Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou, and films such asCome Drink With Me(1966),The One-Armed Swordsman(1967),A Touch of Zen(1970-71),Hero(2002),House of Flying Daggers(2004), andCurse of the Golden Flower(2006).
eBook
Chinese martial arts and media culture : global perspectives
Signs and images of Chinese martial arts increasingly circulate through global media cultures. As tropes of martial arts are not restricted to what is considered one medium, one region, or one (sub)genre, the essays in this collection are looking across and beyond these alleged borders. From 1920s wuxia cinema to the computer game cultures of the information age, they trace the continuities and transformations of martial arts and media culture across time, space, and multiple media platforms.
Book
The martial arts cinema of the Chinese diaspora : Ang Lee, John Woo, and Jackie Chan in Hollywood
This book examines commercially successful films that depict or are inspired by Chinese martial arts, and that were made by major film artists of the Chinese diaspora—native Chinese that migrated and settled in other areas of the world. Specifically, Szeto discusses the work of John Woo, Jackie Chan, and Ang Lee.
eBook
Women in Chinese martial arts films of the new millennium
Women and Gender in Chinese Martial Arts Films of the New Millennium, by Ya-chen Chen, is an excavation of underexposed gender issues focusing mainly on contradictory and troubled feminism in the film narratives. In the cinematic world of martial arts films, one can easily find representations of women of Ancient China released from the constraints of patriarchal social order to revel in a dreamlike space of their own. They can develop themselves, protect themselves, and even defeat or conquer men. This world not only frees women from the convention of foot-binding, but it also \"unbinds\" them in terms of education, critical thinking, talent, ambition, opportunities to socialize with different men, and the freedom or right to both choose their spouse and decide their own fate. Chen calls this phenomenon \"Chinese cinematic martial arts feminism.\" The liberation is never sustaining or complete, however; Chen reveals the presence of a glass ceiling marking the maximal exercise of feminism and women's rights which the patriarchal order is willing to accept. As such, these films are not to be seen as celebrations of feminist liberation, but as enunciations of the patriarchal authority that suffuses \"Chinese cinematic martial arts feminism.\" The film narratives under examination include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (directed by Ang Lee); Hero (Zhang Yimou); House of the Flying Daggers (Zhang Yimou); Seven Swords (Tsui Hark); The Promise (Chen Kaige); The Banquet (Feng Xiaogang); and Curst of the Golden Flower (Zhang Yimou). Chen also touches upon the plots of two of the earliest award-winning Chinese martial arts films, A Touch of Zen and Legend of the Mountain, both directed by King Hu.
eBook
Chinese Martial Arts and Media Culture : Global Perspectives
Signs and images of Chinese martial arts increasingly circulate through global media cultures.As tropes of martial arts are not restricted to what is considered one medium, one region, or one (sub)genre, the essays in this collection are looking across and beyond these alleged borders.
eBook
Beyond Bruce Lee
In order to understand Bruce Lee, we must look beyond Bruce Lee to the artist's intricate cultural and historical contexts. This work begins by contextualising Lee, examining his films and martial arts work, and his changing cultural status within different times and places. The text examines Bruce Lee's films and philosophy in relation to the popular culture and cultural politics of the 1960s and 1970s, and it addresses the resurgence of his popularity in Hong Kong and China in the twenty-first century. The study also explores Lee's ongoing legacy and influence in the West, considering his function as a shifting symbol of ethnic politics and the ways in which he continues to inform Hollywood film-fight choreography.Beyond Bruce Leeultimately argues Lee is best understood in terms of \"cultural translation\" and that his interventions and importance are ongoing.
eBook
Beyond Bruce Lee: chasing the dragon through film, philosophy and polular culture
In order to understand Bruce Lee, we must look beyond Bruce Lee to the artist's intricate cultural and historical contexts. This work begins by contextualising Lee, examining his films and martial arts work, and his changing cultural status within different times and places. The text examines Bruce Lees films and philosophy in relation to the popular culture and cultural politics of the 1960s and 1970s, and it addresses the resurgence of his popularity in Hong Kong and China in the twenty-first century. The study also explores Lees ongoing legacy and influence in the West, considering his function as a shifting symbol of ethnic politics and the ways in which he continues to inform Hollywood film-fight choreography. Beyond Bruce Lee ultimately argues Lee is best understood in terms of cultural translation and that his interventions and importance are ongoing.
eBook