Hong Kong movies have played a giant role in shaping the pop culture of the world. We'll take a look at the history of Hong Kong and its movies through the lenses of its most popular genres.
In the first of this four part series, we'll take an overall look at the formation of Hong Kong, the growth of the movie industry. The focus will be on the Kungfu genre. We'll look at the legends of the genre. We'll explore the history behind the martial arts and their schools, and how Kungfu took the world by storm.
Movies cited:
The Big Boss, 1971
Fists of Fury, 1972
Way of the Dragon, 1972
Enter the Dragon, 1973
Five Fingers of Death, 1972
Master of the Flying Guillotine, 1976
The Thirty Sixth Chambers of Shaolin, 1978
Drunken Master, 1978
Mystery of Chess Boxing, 1979
Return to the 36th Chamber, 1980
Once Upon A Time in China series, 1991-1997
Ip Man series, 2008-2019
Some great resources:
Accented Cinema: https://www.youtube.com/@AccentedCinema
The 37th Chamber: https://www.youtube.com/@the37thchamber93
Cool History Bros: https://www.youtube.com/@CoolHistoryBros
Never Grow Up, by Jackie Chan
Bruce Lee: A Life, by Matthew Polly
Chinese Martial Arts: From Antiquity to the 21st Century, Peter A. Lorge
The Cinema of Hong Kong: History, Arts, Identity
Martial Arts Cinema and Hong Kong Modernity: Aesthetics, Representation, Circulation, Yip Man-Fung
Madness and Terror!
Do you dare listen, to subject your ears to awful tales of murder and brutality? If the whispers lure you in, you will discover in the dark labyrinth of the mind such fearsome figures as:
- The most murdered woman in the world.
- The mad psychologist who used his knowledge of the human psyche to inflict horror.
- The dark master of the art of infernal public attractions.
- The sinister former chapel where a secret cabal of the depraved enjoy nightly delights.
You are about to listen to a story of a simple theater. A simple theater whose carnival of blood has driven mad the creative arts, whose long tentacles slowly, silently, creep with sinister intent all over the soul of cinema. Only the bravest will remain unscathed, for the wise have long left for safer places.
Disclaimer: This podcast is not responsible for any fainting that occurs while listening to this episode.
Further Reading:
Grand Guignol: The French Theatre of Horror; Michael Wilson, Richard J Hand
Theatre of Fear and Horror; Mel Gordon
The Most Murdered Woman In The World https://crimereads.com/the-most-murdered-woman-in-the-world/
The Many Deaths of Paula Maxa https://gingernutsofhorror.com/features/the-many-deaths-of-paula-maxa-the-blood-princess-of-paris-by-gg-graham
A genre popular in Japan once upon a time suddenly gains worldwide notoriety decades after it's been forgotten. Music and technology, cultural shifts, the nature of nostalgia- and more!
Notes:
Haruomi Hosono Red Bull Musical Academy Interview https://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/haruomi-hosono/
Taeko Onuki Red Bull Muiscal Academy Interview https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/12/taeko-onuki-interview
Yamashita Tatsuro Interview http://kumomi.org/2021/09/28/yamashita-tatsuro-interview-2016/
Chocomusic History of City Pop: https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/12/taeko-onuki-interview
Japanese City Pop and the Rise of Future Funk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Althvag63pw
VisualPolitik How Did Japan's Great Financial Bubble Develop and Burst? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUu2qmOXYnI
“A naked woman sits before a portrait of Stalin and smokes marijuana.”
This was how one critic described the movies of the late 80s. Obviously something drastic has happened. The state of cinema shifted dramatically in such a few short years. We'll see the seismic changes that rocked the last few years of the Soviet Union, and its impact on film and the film industries.
Find out how anti-war film, Mikhail Romm's students, the search for Tarkovsky's heir, "dark" movies, rock music and corpses informed the movies of the late Soviet era, perestroika.
Movies discussed:
Come and See, 1985
Repentance, 1986
Kin Dza Dza, 1986
Letters from a Dead Man, 1986
Courier, 1986
Forgotten Melody for a Flute, 1987
Dear Elena Sergeyevna, 1988
Assa, 1988
Little Vera, 1988
Black Rose is an Emblem of Sorrow, Red Rose is an Emblem of Love, 1989
Fountain, 1989
Is Stalin With Us?, 1989
Asthenic Syndrome, 1990
Soviet Elegy, 1990
House Under the Starry Sky, 1991
After the death of Stalin, the Union went through a dramatic series of transformations. This was felt in the movie industry as well. This episode will deal with the rollercoaster rise and falls of the 30 years after.
In this episode you'll find out:
- How youth became central to the movie industry.
- How comedies got sad.
- The movie that reduced the Party leadership to tears.
- The film that inspired music videos
- Attempts to challenge and dismantle all previous theories on cinema.
And we'll meet perhaps the most well-known director of the era.
Movies discussed
The Forty-First, 1956
Carnival Nights, 1956
The Cranes Are Flying, 1957
Ivan's Childhood, 1962
I Walk Around Moscow/Walking the Streets of Moscow, 1964
I Am Twenty, 1965
Operation Y and Other Adventures of Shurik, 1965
Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors, 1965
Wings, 1966
Andrei Rublev, 1966
Kidnapping Caucasian Style, 1967
The Color of Pomegranetes, 1969
You and Me, 1971
Solaris, 1972
Ivan Vasilievich Changes Professions/Ivan Vasilievich Back to the Future, 1973
Irony of Fate or Enjoy Your Bath, 1975
Office Romance, 1977
The Ascent, 1977
Stalker, 1979
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears, 1980
Nostalgia, 1984
The 1930s and 40s were a tumultuous period for the Soviet Union. The Stalinist regime and five year plans transformed the political and cultural structure of the country, and the second World War was looming. Cinema felt these seismic shifts. How would the directors of the era, the ones used to the creative freedoms of the avant-garde 1920s, respond to the challenges?
Movies Discussed:
Enthusiasm: Dziga Vertov, 1931
Komsomol- Leader of Electrification: Esfir Shub, 1932
The Three Songs About Lenin: Dziga Vertov, 1934
Chapaev: Grigori and Sergei Vasiliev, 1934
Circus: Grigori Alexandrov, 1936
Bezhin Meadow: Sergei Eisenstein, 1937
Volga-Volga: Grigori Alexandrov, 1938
She Defends The Motherland: Fridrikh Erlmer, 1943
Ukraine in Flames/Battle for Our Soviet Ukraine: Alexander Dovzhenko, 1944
Ivan The Terrible Part 1 and 2: Sergei Eisenstein, 1944 and 1958
How did cinema develop its own language? In this episode we'll discuss the development of cinema in the early days of the Soviet Union, and the directors who theorized the cinematic techniques that are still used to this day.
We'll talk about:
The beginnings of the country.
The experiment that changed how we view movies today.
The film that caused a stir in 1920s Berlin.
The film that was an attempt to create a plot-less, character-less movie.
How people reacted to this new forms of art.
And much more.
Tune in to part 1 of 4, of the History of Soviet Cinema!