The Secret of Hong Kong Cinema

Author: David Bordwell
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-03-01
Features: Do you know what? I'm tired of people always asking, "Do you want to challenge Hollywood?" I really feel that we have our own set of things, different from Hollywood, but no worse than Hollywood. In the past, I always thought that American action directors were undoubtedly the best in the world, and American directors were surely the top of the world. But now I know that when it comes to action films, we are the real deal, and they even have to look to us for inspiration. If you ask an American director to make an action film our way, he won't be able to do it. A successful story in the history of Hong Kong cinema. For over 20 years, this city of about 6 million people has been home to one of the world's largest film empires, producing nearly more films than all Western countries combined, with exports second only to the United States. Whether you are a film enthusiast or not, you will be moved by the basic appeal of Hong Kong films—such as storytelling methods, the coordination of visuals and music, and the portrayal of universal human emotions. These cultural attractions are all created by artistic techniques. That technique is the art of entertainment.