This conference paper will explore Hollywood’s depiction of Hong Kong through the theoretical lens of intertextuality and globalization. It posits that intertextuality serves as a form embodying the tension between heterogenizing glocal and homogenizing grobal forces. By examining the palimpsestic and intertextual constructions of Hong Kong in recent Hollywood films, this paper aims to explore the intricate dynamics of filmic representation in an increasingly interconnected and globalized cinematic landscape, as well as to reconsider the complex interrelationships between local specificity and global influence, between cultural authenticity and globalized representation, and ultimately, between the local and the global in the cultural production of the 21st century. This paper will draw upon a range of 21st-century Hollywood action films including Brett Ratner’s Rush Hour 2 (2001), Keanu Reeves’ Man of Tai Chi (2013), Rupert Sanders’ Ghost in the Shell (2017) and Rawson Marshal Thurber’s Skyscraper (2018). These films serve to illustrate the manner in which Hollywood cinema engages in an intertextual dialogue with prior representations of Hong Kong on screen, deploying them in the cinematic construction of the city as an urban setting. The aim is to explore these representations as not mere reflections of the city but also active constituents in its ongoing cultural and symbolic formation.

Authors:
Chun-Lung Ma, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong

About the Presenter(s)
Chun-Lung Ma is Senior Lecturer in English Language and Culture at the Hong Kong Metropolitan University, and currently also a PhD student in Film Studies at King’s College London. His project focuses on Hong Kong in 21st-century Hollywood cinema.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

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