Planet Hong Kong: Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment

As sentimental and outrageous as Hong Kong films can be, David Bordwell demonstrates that they are not merely crowd pleasing; they harbor remarkable inventiveness and careful craftsmanship and in many cases rise to the level of a rich and delightful art. Bordwell surveys the historical conditions that fueled the rise of this cinema: the high output, shrewd entrepreneurship, changing world tastes, and a unique skill in action genres that cross cultural boundaries. Considering both the movies themselves and the bigger picture, he moves from deft and detailed analyses of many classics of this tradition to a broader assessment of the basic strategies and impulses of mass entertainment.