Warning! Category III : the other Hong Kong cinema

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Film Quarterly

Publication Date

Summer 1-1-2001

Volume

54

Issue

4

First Page

12

Last Page

26

Publisher

University of California Press

Abstract

This essay analyzes the workings of films classified as Category III in Hong Kong: pictures with explicit pornographic and "porno-violent" content that are restricted to adults only. We also consider Hong Kong's film ratings system in light of political censorship, artistic freedom, and the fortunes of the film industry in the post-1997 period. We note the preponderance of these films in Hong Kong, and see Category III as a microcosm of the industry rather than a reactionary exception. The rating functions as a marketing device to entice as well as warn, and more broadly to reassure the world of the continued existence of Hong Kong's freewheeling, permissive society. Category III films and their regulation reveal the tug-of-war between transgression and control throughout Hong Kong media. © Regents of the University of California.

DOI

10.1525/fq.2001.54.4.12

Print ISSN

00151386

E-ISSN

15338630

Publisher Statement

Copyright ©2001 by the University of California. All rights reserved.

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Davis, D. W., & Yue, Y.-y. (2001). Warning! Category III: The other Hong Kong cinema. Film Quarterly, 54(4), 12-26. doi: 10.1525/fq.2001.54.4.12

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