Philippa Gates - Transnational Asian Identities in Pan-Pacific Cinemas

Routledge Advances in Film Studies

1 Nation and Identity in the New German Cinema

Homeless at Home

Inga Scharf

2 Lesbianism, Cinema, Space

The Sexual Life of Apartments

Lee Wallace

3 Post-War Italian Cinema

American Intervention, Vatican Interests

Daniela Treveri Gennari

4 Latsploitation, Exploitation Cinemas, and Latin America

Edited by Victoria Rutalo and Dolores Tierney

5 Cinematic Emotion in Horror Films and Thrillers

The Aesthetic Paradox of Pleasurable Fear

Julian Hanich

6 Cinema, Memory, Modernity

The Representation of Memory from the Art Film to Transnational Cinema

Russell J.A. Kilbourn

7 Distributing Silent Film Serials

Local Practices, Changing Forms, Cultural Transformation

Rudmer Canjels

8 The Politics of Loss and Trauma in Contemporary Israeli Cinema

Raz Yosef

9 Neoliberalism and Global Cinema

Capital, Culture, and Marxist Critique

Edited by Jyotsna Kapur and Keith B. Wagner

10 Koreas Occupied Cinemas, 18931948

The Untold History of the Film Industry

Brian Yecies with Ae-Gyung Shim

11 Transnational Asian Identities in Pan-Pacific Cinemas

The Reel Asian Exchange

Edited by Philippa Gates and Lisa Funnell

First published 2012
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2012 Taylor & Francis

The right of Philippa Gates and Lisa Funnell to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Transnational Asian identities in Pan-Pacific cinemas : the reel Asian
exchange / edited by Philippa Gates & Lisa Funnell.
p. cm. (Routledge advances in film studies ; 11)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Includes filmographies.
1. Identity (Psychology) in motion pictures. 2. Culture in motion
pictures. I. Gates, Philippa, 1973 II. Funnell, Lisa, 1980
PN1993.5.A75T75 2011
791.43611dc23

ISBN: 978-0-415-89354-1 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-203-18139-3 (ebk)

The editors gratefully acknowledge that financial support for this book project was received from the Research Office at Wilfrid Laurier University with the award of a WLU Book Preparation Grant. The editors would like to thank Erica Wetter at Routledge for her passion for, and assistance with, this book project. We would also like to thank our colleague Madelaine Hron for helping us with the books title thanks to her punning wit!

On a more personal note, Philippa would like to thank her parents, Micaela and Philip Gates, for their love and encouragement but, especially her mother, for all of her editing and research support over the years. Lisa needs to thank her partner, Dr. Travis Gliedt, for sharing her love of East Asian film and for providing unconditional support for all of her endeavours. Lisa also thanks her parents, Mary and Lorne Funnell, for instilling in her a genuine love of film. Finally, Lisa thanks her brother Dave, her sister-in-law Caren, and their children Tailor and Harrison for their unending love, support, and encouragement.

The editors are grateful for the kind permission to reproduce selections from the following copyrighted material:

An earlier version of Chapter 5, Learning Bushid from Abroad: Japanese Reactions to The Last Samurai, by Jayson Makoto Chun appeared as part of a special issue of the e-journal International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies on Pop Culture in Asia (July 2011). Copyright 2011 by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Press. Used with permission of the International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies .

An earlier version of Chapter 7, Translating Hollywood Film to Chinese Audience: The Role of Agency and Appropriation in Transnational Cultural Encounter, by Zhiwei Xiao was published in Huayu dianying gongye: fangfa yu lishi de xin tansuo ( The Chinese Language Cinema: Explorations in Methods and History ), edited by Emily Yeh, Beijing: Peking University Press, forthcoming. Used with permission of Emily Yeh.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) helped to usher in a new phase of mainstream and commercial pan-Pacific filmmaking. Crouching Tiger was transnational in terms of its production and international in terms of its unprecedented success. The film was co-produced by Taiwan, Hong Kong, the U.S., and mainland China. It starred a pan-Chinese cast including Hong Kong action stars Chow Yun-Fat, Pei Pei Cheng, and Michelle Yeoh, Taiwanese pop-star Chang Chen, and mainland actress Zhang Ziyi, and it featured the choreography of Hong Kong action director Woo Ping Yuen, the musical score of mainland composer Tan Dun, and was filmed by notable Taiwanese American director Ang Lee. Although produced on what Hollywood might regard as a small budget at U.S. $17 million, Crouching Tiger became the highest-grossing foreign-language film in the U.S. (Wu and Chan 196) and earned more than U.S. $213.5 million worldwide at the box office. In addition to being a popular success with international audiences, the film also earned acclaim from critics and the industry, winning dozens of awards, including four Oscars. More importantly, the films success sparked a new era of transnational film production between various East Asian cinemas and/or with Hollywood.