Commerce and the critical edge : negotiating the politics of postsocialist film, the case of Feng Xiaogang
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Journal of Chinese Cinemas
Publication Date
11-2009
Volume
3
Issue
3
First Page
193
Last Page
214
Publisher
Routledge
Keywords
commercial films, critical edge, cultural intervention, negotiation, postsocialist condition
Abstract
This article investigates Feng Xiaogang's (b.1958) film-making in the new millennium. Drawing upon his three films, Yi sheng tanxi/A Sigh (2000), Shouji/Cell Phone (2003), and Tianxia wu zei/A World without Thieves (2004), I examine how the uneven postsocialist situation in China fundamentally shapes his film-making and how his films are broadly symptomatic of the current condition and politics of Chinese cinema. I argue that, in the postsocialist condition, Feng's cultural intervention is strategically embedded within its apparently commercial form. My investigation begins with an analysis of the social space in postsocialist China as represented in his films. It then deals with the major focus of his films common people's everyday lives, and it ends with an examination of the most intriguing aspect of his films and the most powerful weapon of his cultural intervention: his humour.
DOI
10.1386/jcc.3.3.193/1
Print ISSN
17508061
E-ISSN
1750807X
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2009 Intellect Ltd. Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Gong, H. (2009). Commerce and the critical edge: negotiating the politics of postsocialist film, the case of Feng Xiaogang. Journal of Chinese Cinemas, 3(3), 193-214. doi: 10.1386/jcc.3.3.193/1