PLANET HONG-KONG: POPULAR CINEMA AND THE ART OF ENTERTAINMENT

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. SurpassingLisa 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.