From Library Journal
Hong Kong arguably offered the most dynamic popular cinema in the world between 1970 and the end of the century, and Bordwell (On the History of Film Style) was perhaps the most widely read figure in cinema studies during the same period. Surpassing Lisa Odham Stokes and Michael Hoover's City on Fire: Hong Kong Cinema (LJ 9/1/99), Bordwell's volume is the most comprehensive Western work on its topic to date. Bordwell first considers how the Hong Kong industry has functioned in its local context, then examines how it captured the East Asian market and achieved cult status in the West. Subsequent chapters survey local production methods, generic norms, stars, narratives, and the specificity of Hong Kong style. Finally, Bordwell shows how artistic experimentation makes the commercialized, profit-driven Hong Kong cinema unique. In so doing, he demonstrates that academic film scholarship can itself be fun, spirited, and of interest to a broad audience. Recommended for all libraries with film collections.-Neal Baker, Earlham Coll., Richmond, IN Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
One of our most inventive film scholars, Bordwell (Film Studies/Univ. of Wisconsin) takes on one of the most over-the-top cinemas. For 20 years, the Hong Kong film industry was one of the world's most commercially successful and prolific. Recently Western critics have begun to recognize it as possessing a level of creativity almost equal to its financial successdespite its deep roots in genre traditions aimed at a mass audience. Bordwell examines how these elements interact in Hong Kong films to produce an art that is at the same time both popular and significant. He outlines the history, economics, and production techniques of the Hong Kong studios, particularly focussing on the genres that are most closely associated with their success (the kung-fu film, the swordplay epic, the gangster film, and the urban comedy). These historical chapters alternate with analyses of specific directors, with particular attention paid not only to such well-known filmmakers as John Woo and Wong Kar-Wai but also to some figures worthy of greater attention in the West (such as King Hu). Bordwell is clearly enchanted by the sheer physicality of Hong Kong film: its remarkable ability to convey ``filmic emotion at its most sheerly physical'' through a combination of razor-sharp editing styles, incredibly precise staging of action sequences, and the sheer virtuosity of performers like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. By rooting his analyses detailed readings of the film texts, he is able to conveyas much as mere words canhow this audaciously visceral cinema works. Ironically, Bordwell's decision to join the growing throng of authors with books on Hong Kong film comes at a time when the handover of the former British colony to the China, coupled with the economic shakeouts in East Asia, may well have doomed the island's film industry. Bordwell is not well known outside academic film circles, but he should be; perhaps this volume will give him the exposure he deserves. -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Since the 1970s, Hong Kong has been home to arguably the world's most energetic, imaginative mass-market film industry. At its peak, it surpassed nearly all Western countries in number of films released, ruled the East Asian market, and produced movies (ranging from John Woo's action pictures to the comic adventures of Jackie Chan) that have thrilled global audiences and attained cult status in the West. This book offers a deeply informed and highly engaging look at how Hong Kong cinema has become one of the success stories of film history, and how it has influenced international film culture and the development of film as a medium. As sentimental and outrageous as Hong Kong films can be, David Bordwell demonstrates that they are not merely crowd-pleasing; they harbor remarkable inventiveness and careful craftsmanship and in many cases rise to the level of a rich and delightful art. Bordwell surveys the historical conditions that fueled the rise of this cinema: the high output, shrewd entrepreneurship, changing world tastes, and a unique skill in action genres that cross cultural boundaries. Considering both the movies themselves and the bigger picture, he moves from deft and detailed analyses of many classics of this tradition to a broader assessment of the basic strategies and impulses of mass entertainment.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal