- Title
- Lost in translation: disrespect and the importance of cultural nuance in Hong Kong/Hollywood cinematic relations
- Creator
- Christensen, Joyleen
- Relation
- Hollywood and the World p. 89-98
- Relation
- https://www.interdisciplinarypress.net/online-store/ebooks/diversity-and-recognition/hollywood-and-the-world
- Publisher
- Inter-Disciplinary Press
- Resource Type
- book chapter
- Date
- 2014
- Description
- This chapter considers the production and reception of Hollywood/Hong Kong remakes and adaptations. Specifically, this work will focus on an extended reading of the Hong Kong blockbuster, Infernal Affairs (Lau & Mak, 2002) and its Hollywood remake, The Departed (Scorsese, 2006), with attention given to both the commercial and critical reception of each film. Aside from a geographical relocation of the original story from Hong Kong to Boston, a key difference between Infernal Affairs and The Departed is the reliance upon audience recognition of 'gestures' to other films. Infernal Affairs is a stylish thriller about triads and police, populated with generally likeable characters, which operates on a parallel storyline highlighting the mythical bond between men on the opposite sides of the law recalling such Hong Kong classics as City on Fire (Lam, 1987), The Killer (Woo, 1989) and Running Out of Time (To, 1999). Its remake, however, is a far more explicit and infinitely gorier effort somewhat akin to an urban war film which draws influence from films such as The Godfather (Coppola, 1972) and Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). In addition to drawing out complex nuances between two of the world's most dynamic film industries, this work also argues for a better understanding of how transnational cultural flows operate within national cinema discourse. Of particular interest is the period immediately following Hong Kong's 1997 reunification with mainland China when leading figures of the territory's entertainment industry relocated to Hollywood and foreign films out-grossed local Hong Kong productions for the first time in almost twenty years.
- Subject
- Hollywood cinema; production; translation; sound; politics; technology; distribution; reception; costume; wardrobe; settings; representation; film history; typography
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1065974
- Identifier
- uon:18029
- Identifier
- ISBN:9781848882652
- Language
- eng
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