Abstract
This paper discusses the Qiong Yao films directed by Bai Jing-rui in the 1970s, arguing that these romantic dramas took a proactive part in representing a cultural identity in Taiwan society of the time. The paper investigates how various issues, such as “home”, nationhood and diaspora, are treated in the films. In the process, the paper situates the filmic discussion in the wider context of a highly politicised environment in general and the industrial discourses of “healthy realism” and “healthy variety-show” in particular. The paper proposes that Bai Jing-rui’s Qiong Yao films grew out of a push-and-pull between three elements: (1) the authorities that wanted to promote certain moral and political messages; (2) Bai Jing-rui as an auteur strongly committed to the art of filmmaking; and (3) the audience at large whose support was needed to sustain a film industry. The paper gives close attention to how Bai’s Qiong Yao films tried various ways of reconciling those competing forces. As case studies, the paper examines closely two of Bai Jing-rui’s Girl Friend (1975) and Far Away from Home (1977) to show how they blended modernity with nativism in articulating a sense of cultural identity.
Funding source: Faculty of Arts, University of Auckland
Award Identifier / Grant number: Faculty of Arts Research Development Fund (2018-19)
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Research funding: This work was funded by Faculty of Arts, University of Auckland (No. Faculty of Arts Research Development Fund (2018–19)).
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Analysis of China’s Film Industry in 2022
- Theory of the Filmic: Classical Interpretation of Chinese Film Aesthetics
- Perspectives on Narrative Time in Chinese Cinema
- “Kongqi” Theory and the Aesthetic Spirit of Chinese Film
- On the “Imagination Consumption” of Film in the Internet Age
- A Revisionist Reading of The Goddess: Visual Narrative Power in Chinese Silent Cinema
- “Home, Sweet Home”: Identity and Diaspora in Bai Jing-rui’s Qiong Yao Films
- A Comparative Analysis of “Rural Science Fiction”, a New Chinese Film Genre
- Animating Eco-aesthetics: Multiplanar Images, Interspecies Government, and Eco-conscious Gaming in The Legend of Hei (2019) and Its TV Series (2011–Present)
- Jinxed by Incantation? Contemporary Chinese Netizens’ Reactions to a Horror Film
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Analysis of China’s Film Industry in 2022
- Theory of the Filmic: Classical Interpretation of Chinese Film Aesthetics
- Perspectives on Narrative Time in Chinese Cinema
- “Kongqi” Theory and the Aesthetic Spirit of Chinese Film
- On the “Imagination Consumption” of Film in the Internet Age
- A Revisionist Reading of The Goddess: Visual Narrative Power in Chinese Silent Cinema
- “Home, Sweet Home”: Identity and Diaspora in Bai Jing-rui’s Qiong Yao Films
- A Comparative Analysis of “Rural Science Fiction”, a New Chinese Film Genre
- Animating Eco-aesthetics: Multiplanar Images, Interspecies Government, and Eco-conscious Gaming in The Legend of Hei (2019) and Its TV Series (2011–Present)
- Jinxed by Incantation? Contemporary Chinese Netizens’ Reactions to a Horror Film