By Jean Lukitsh | Published June 29, 2008

The history of Hong Kong cinema is about much more than kung fu movies, although martial arts traditions have always been powerful influences. Hong Kong movies have been commercially successful for decades, but film scholars in Asia and the West have tended to overlook them as a topic for serious research until fairly recently. A CENTURY OF LIGHT AND SHADOW 1905-2005 is an eight-episode TV series broadcast on RTHK in Hong Kong three years ago. It’s now available in DVD format (one not compatible with all players, unfortunately) with excellent English subtitles. (Get it from YesAsia here.) The series looks at the entire history of filmmaking in Hong Kong, starting in 1898 (despite the title) with footage of street scenes shot in the city by an Edison crew.

Left: The Great China Film Company pioneered postwar film production in Hong Kong by making films starring singer Zhou Xuan. Right: Cantonese opera films became popular in the 1950s.

Almost 200 Hong Kong film professionals, from nonagenarian Shek Kin to the Twins, narrate or are interviewed in an impressively entertaining and wide-ranging look at their industry. Veteran kung fu and action filmmakers appearing in LIGHT AND SHADOW include Shek, Yu So-chau, Patrick Tse Yin (looking dapper with futuristic shades and a long ponytail), Connie Chan, Josephine Siao, Suet Nei, Cheng Pei-pei, Ng See-yuen, Gordon Liu, Tony Ching Siu-tung, Jimmy Wang Yu, Ti Lung, Kara Hui Ying-hung, Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, John Woo, and Hsu Feng. They talk (all too briefly, in my opinion) about their work and the work of their colleagues. In a charming touch, many of the speakers use their screen time to pay tribute to co-workers – Shek Kin praises Jackie Chan’s performance in DRUNKEN MASTER; Ti Lung introduces a long clip from CHINATOWN KID with a fond reminiscence of his old pal Fu Sheng.

Kung fu movie veteran Shek Kin praises Jackie Chan’s work in DRUNKEN MASTER.

The series also offers a frank discussion of the tensions between Northern and Southern filmmakers, and left- and right-wing studios. There were several references to a term that translates as “wonton noodle directors,” an insult sometimes leveled against Cantonese directors. Because the music scenes in Cantonese opera films were so long and static, as actors mimed to pre-recorded songs that could go on for ten minutes or more, directors were said to yell “action!” and then leave the studio, locate a street vendor, buy and consume a bowl of wonton noodles, and, chewing a toothpick, stroll back on the set in time to yell “cut!” The implication was that Cantonese movies were poorly made. Later on, in the 1980s, Cantonese speakers got their revenge. Looking down on immigrants from the Mainland, they referred to these economic refugees as “Ah Chan,” after the unsophisticated country bumpkin lampooned on a popular Hong Kong TV show.

Through political turmoil and changing market trends, the Hong Kong film industry has continued to re-invent itself for over 100 years. Anyone interested in learning more about this history is well advised to seek out A CENTURY OF LIGHT AND SHADOW 1905-2005.

Ti Lung introduces a clip from CHINATOWN KID in A CENTURY OF LIGHT AND SHADOW 1905-2005.

Periodically I like to post a list of the resources that I draw on to research this blog. Here are some books that I can recommend for fans of Chinese film history.

Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema by Lisa Odham Stokes, Scarecrow Press 2007. (I was a contributor to this book in a small way.)

For information on early Chinese cinema:
Cinema and Urban Culture in Shanghai, 1922-1943, edited by Yingjin Zhang, Stanford University Press, 1999.
Oral History Series (1): Hong Kong Here I Come, edited by Kwok Ching-ling, Hong Kong Film Archive, 2000. The Archive publishes many other valuable books as well as a newsletter – see the link below.
An Amorous History of the Silver Screen: Shanghai Cinema 1896-1937, by Zhen Zhang, University of Chicago Press, 2006.

Here’s what I’ve been reading recently.
The Cinema of Hong Kong: History, Arts, Identity, edited by Poshek Fu, Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals: A Historical Survey by Brian Kennedy and Elizabeth Guo, North Atlantic Books, 2005. This one has extraordinary old photos of real kung fu masters.

For more information, the following online resources are recommended:
The Hong Kong Film Archive has the best database for the entire history of Hong Kong cinema.

Yu So-chau, the popular martial arts actress on the 1950s and 60s, is retired now, but she has a website (in Chinese) with a great photo archive here.

David Wells has a new blog, Soft Film: Vintage Chinese Pop Cinema, devoted to his comprehensive collection of Hong Kong movie memorabilia.

Finally, I’m starting to post my own collection of early kung fu movie advertising fliers online at electricshadows.com.

Related Topics:
Hong Kong movie history