Hong Kong Neo-Noir
Edited by Esther Yau, Tony Williams
The first comprehensive collection on Hong Kong neo-noir cinema, this book examines the way Hong Kong has developed its own unique version of noir since the late 1940s, while drawing upon and enriching global neo-noir cinemas. With a range of contributions from established and emerging scholars, this book illuminates the origins of Hong Kong neo-noir, its styles and contemporary manifestations, and its connection to mainland China before and after the 1997 Handover.
Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction: Hong Kong Neo-Noir, Esther C. M. Yau and Tony Williams
SECTION A: SEEDS OF NOIR IN HONG KONG CINEMAChapter 1: ‘A Rose by Any Other Name’: Wong Tin-lam’s The Wild, Wild Rose as Melodrama Musical Noir Hybrid, Lisa Odham Stokes Chapter 2: Black & Red: Post-war Hong Kong Noir and Its Interrelation with Progressive Cinema, 1947–1957, Law Kar Chapter 3: Sword, Fist, or Gun? The 1970s Origins of Contemporary Hong Kong Noir, Kristof Van den Troost
SECTION B: NEO-NOIR FILMS IN CLOSE-UP Chapter 4: Doubled Indemnity: Fruit Chan and the Meta-Fictions of Hong Kong Neo-Noir, Adam Bingham Chapter 5: Running on Karma: Hong Kong Noir and the Political Unconscious, Gina Marchetti Chapter 6: Beyond Hypothermia: Cool Women Killers in Hong Kong Cinema, David Desser Chapter 7: Tech-Noir: A Subgenre may not exist in Hong Kong Science Fiction Films, Kwai-Cheung Lo
SECTION C: COSMOPOLITAN CITYSPACE AND NEO-NOIR Chapter 8: Location Filmmaking and the Hong Kong Crime Film: Anatomy of a Scene, Julian Stringer Chapter 9: Running out of Time, Hard-Boiled, and 24-Hour Cityspace, Kenneth E. HallChapter 10: Exiled in Macau: Hong Kong Neo-Noir and Paradoxical Lyricism, Jinhee ChoiChapter 11: The Tentacles of History: Shinjuku Incident’s Return of the Repressed, Tony Williams
BibliographyFilmography
An indispensable study of a neglected genre, this anthology traces the cultural history of Hong Kong’s noir cinema, identifies key figures in the genre’s development, and furnishes incisive analyses of essential neo-noir films. Collectively, the book's chapters capture the artfulness, ingenuity, and exuberance of this remarkable cinematic tradition.
