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.
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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