Shin No Shikoutei

[graham lincoln]

 'Autumn Moon' and, especially, 'Song of the Exile' seem interesting here
because they are part of a theme that developed in Hong Kong cinema in the
80's and 90's during the lead up to the handover where the whole issue of
national and regional identity is brought into question. (This mood extended
also into such issues as sexual identity in such films  as 'He's a Woman,
She's a Man' and 'The Ashes of Time'.) Autumn moon was of course written by
Eddie Fong who is the director of such Japanese themed/influenced films as
'Kawashima Yoshiko' and 'Cherry Blossoms' (although I understand he has
dis-owned the latter due to studio interference).


It seems to me a mark of the inherently more focused and creative Asian film
industry in the latter part of the last century that themes that are so
important to the nature of society at large should be dealt with so
prominently. One might compare it to the essential lack of engagement with
similar issues in European film given the extensive and wide-ranging debate
going on over regional/national identity here in the face of European
federalism. Anyone fancy making a heist movie with a suitcase full of Euros
as the magguffin?

graham






> In this vein, you might have a look at Clara Law's Autumn Moon, Ann
> Hui's Song of the Exile and Boat People, and even Daniel Lee's (otherwise
> very unspectacular) recent film, Moonlight Express, just to name a few,
> for some other perspectives on Hong Kong portrayals of Japanese.  Even
> Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine offers a somewhat more ambivalent
> perspective on Japanese in China during the war in the character of the
> Beijing Opera-loving general.  And then, for fun, there's the Hong Kong
> obsession with Yamaguchi Momoe (lots of her old films are available on VCD
> now); Tsui Hark's The Chinese Feast offers a *funny* parody of her version
> of Izu no odorikko (?).