Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema (Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts)

Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema (Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts)
Lisa Odham Stokes | 2007-02-28 00:00:00 | The Scarecrow Press, Inc. | 640 | Movies
Reviews
Ever since her co-written book CITY ON FIRE, Lisa Odham Stokes has become one of America's foremost authorities on Hong Kong Cinema. It is not surprising that the new series of dictionaries by Scarecrow Press has brought out this comprehensive work which every University Library should obtain. Based on a detailed knowledge of Hong Kong Cinema and familiarity with reference material published by the Hong Kong Film Archive and Hong Kong Film Festivals, this dictionary presents a wealth of information that should prove indispensable for anybody undertaking detailed research in this area.



Previous books have covered Hong Kong's martial arts cinema and its various genres. But the merit of this dictionary is its meticulous attention to influences from pre-war Shanghai cinema, Mandarin and Cantonese melodramatic and operatic traditions, as well as the past and present cultural interplay between Mainland China and the former British colony. Those seeking references to transient action heroines such as Cynthia Khan and Moon Lee will be disappointed but they have already been covered extensively in popuular surveys. What makes this dictionary really distinctive is both its sense of a particular historical tradition that has influenced the development of one of the world's most exciting national cinemas as well as references to the current state of the industry. The friendship between Jacky Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai and the former's positive influence on the latter in his personal life is just one of the many nuggets of information that the author has supplied. She also mentions the Chinese as well as the English titles of various films as well as the full Chinese names of several actors and stars.



This series is designed for university libraries as a reference work. It really fulfills that function but it should also attract any individual eager to learn more about Hong Long cinema despite its high cost. I've already learned much from this work and have cited it in a monograph I'm writing so believe it will be true for many other people. The author has every reason to be proud of her work in this field, both in her previous indispensable book on Hong Kong cinema as well as her continuing contributions to the journal ASIAN CINEMA and her various interviews with many leading Hong Kong actors and directors. This is definitely an outstanding work.

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