Hong Kong in the Hollywood imaginary: Deterritorialization and reterritorialization in John Woo's A Better Tomorrow and The Killer. Issue 1 (1st April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dissanayake, Wimal
• Is Part Of: Asian cinema. Volume 29:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 15
• Page End: 35
• Publication Date: 2018-04-01
• Subjects: Motion pictures -- East Asia -- Periodicals; Motion pictures -- Southeast Asia -- Periodicals; Motion pictures -- Periodicals; Asians in motion pictures -- Periodicals; 791.43095
• DOI: 10.1386/ac.29.1.15_1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1059-440X

Abstract

This article examines the way Hong Kong figures in the Hollywood imaginary by examining John Woo's films A Better Tomorrow and The Killer. For the purpose of my investigation, I show how the two films exemplify the twin concepts of deterritorialization and reterritorialization with regard to a variety of analytical categories including genre, gender, values, somatic pleasure, affect, melodrama, religion, nostalgia, morals, and the social and cultural context. My analysis demonstrates the hybrid nature of John Woo's films and provides evidence that cultural identities are flexible and change as they are faced with different contexts and challenges.