中文摘要 |
King Hu’s (1932-1997) wuxia film Dragon Inn (King Hu, 1967) screened for a record-setting sixty-five days upon release in Taipei, out-pacing both domestic and imported films by earning NT$445,000 and breaking records in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia as well. At the same time, director Zhang Che’s (1923-2002) famous kung fu film One-Armed Swordsman (Che Zhang, 1967) was in theaters, solidifying the genre’s influence and appeal. This paper situates King Hu’s notable films within a Cold War socio-political and historical context, rather than exclusively within the wuxia tradition, in order to examine the brilliance and popularity of the director’s films by exploring the philosophical situations located in King Hu’s martial arts films in a manner which invites further conversation and inquiry. To do so, I first set up the parameters of the discussion in terms of the context of the Cold War, the biography of King Hu, and a brief discussion of the philosophy of King Hu’s films. Like blockbuster films today, Hu’s films presented straightforward and accessible narratives crammed with action-packed sequences which are displayed on a grand scale. In these ways and more, fascinatingly the catastrophes King Hu depict mirror actual concurrent Cold War conflicts. As a result, we discover how Hu did not only reimagine and invigorate an enduring wuxia tradition, but also captured the imagination of the Cold War era, rendering both its fears and fantasies visible and concrete. (This text uses the international standard Hanyu pinyin romanization system with an exception of names already familiar in the manner in which they most frequently appear romanized in the Wade-Giles system, such as King Hu and Chang Cheh, and locations such as Taipei.) |