| Funding Scheme : |
Early Career Scheme |
| Project Number : |
858913 |
| Project Title(English) : |
Revolution, Commercialism and Chineseness: The Reception and Appropriation of the Socialist Opera Films in Captialist-Colonial Hong Kong, 1954-1966 |
| Project Title(Chinese) : |
革命、商業主義和中國性：社會主義戲曲電影在資本主義和殖民地香港的接受和挪用 |
| Principal Investigator(English) : |
Dr Hui, Kwok Wai |
| Principal Investigator(Chinese) : |
許國惠 |
| Department : |
Department of Literature and Cultural Studies |
| Institution : |
The Education University of Hong Kong |
| E-mail Address : |
huikw@eduhk.hk |
| Tel : |
29487561 |
| Co - Investigator(s) : |
|
| Panel : |
Humanities, Social Sciences |
| Subject Area : |
Humanities and Arts |
| Exercise Year : |
2013 / 14 |
| Fund Approved : |
382,560 |
| Project Status : |
Completed
|
| Completion Date : |
30-6-2017 |
| Project Objectives : |
| To study Hong Kong leftist promotion of PRC-made opera films; both written and visual promotional materials will be analyzed |
| To scrutinize the colonial government’s film censorship policy and its practices in censoring films imported from the PRC |
| To investigate the co-production of opera films by the Hong Kong leftist and the PRC film studios, as well as the making of opera films by Great Wall Movie Enterprises Limited |
| To study and compare Hong Kong commercial film studios’ appropriations of PRC-made opera films, including those of Shaw Brothers Studio, Cathay Film Productions Ltd, and local Cantonese film studios |
| To explore the competition among Great Wall, Shaw Brothers, and Cathay in remaking PRC-made opera films |
|
Abstract as per original application
(English/Chinese): |
This project conducts a historical research on the promotion, reception, and appropriation of Communist China-made opera film in capitalist-colonial Hong Kong during the Cold War era. It seeks to contribute to theories of global modernity. The study posits that not only local cultures but also different sociopolitical regimes contribute to “multiple modernities.” The story of socialist opera films in Hong Kong demonstrates that revolutionary modernity and commercial modernity may meet and struggle with each other in appropriating similar historical resources.
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) produced 121 Chinese opera films between 1953 and 1966, half of which were exported to Hong Kong. The popularity of the genre led to an opera film fad in the Colony, created by both leftist and commercial film studios. Interestingly, most Hong Kong-made opera films were reproductions of their PRC counterparts.
The project traces the circulation of PRC-made opera films in Hong Kong and their reception and appropriation by local filmmakers from 1954 to 1966. It focuses on several questions arising from such extraordinary historical phenomenon: (1) How were those communist cultural products promoted in capitalist-colonial Hong Kong during the Cold War era? (2) How were the PRC-made opera films able to survive the censorship of the colonial government? (3) How did Hong Kong’s leftist and commercial filmmakers receive and appropriate the communist-made opera films?
The project sheds light on the modalities of cultural and ideological flow from Communist China to non-communist regions, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities worldwide. The study contends that the cultural influence of the PRC on Hong Kong was significant during the Cold War era. In addition to exploring the cultural exchange across two ideological blocs, the project also proposes a solution to the problem of reception. Rather than studying the general public, this project examines the reception of a particular audience, namely, Hong Kong filmmakers who watched the PRC-made opera films in the cinema and created their own versions.
Untapped archives in Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, and Guangzhou will be consulted; local newspapers and periodicals scrutinized; and interviews with veteran opera performers and film workers conducted to gain a whole picture. By incorporating general analysis with case studies, this project explores in depth Hong Kong’s responses to PRC-made opera films in the 1950s and 1960s and their multiple implications.
這是一個歷史研究的計劃，討論1954到1966年期間中華人民共和國出產的戲曲電影在香港的傳播和接受，以及本地電影工業對它們的挪用。集中探討論由這一特殊的歷史現象而衍生的幾個問題，包括：一、這些社會主義的文化產品如何得以在資本主義的殖民地推廣？二、這些大陸出產的戲曲電影如何通過殖民地政府的審查？三、香港左派和商業電影公司如何挪用這些社會主義的戲曲電影？本計劃幫助我們了解從共產黨中國到非共地區文化和意識形識傳播的基本模式。除了探討不同意識形態地區的文化交流，本計劃集中探討香港電影人如何學習中國大陸的戲曲電影創造自己的作品，也為文化藝術品的接受問題提供一個可行的途徑。
|
| Research Outcome |
Layman's Summary of
Completion Report: |
|
