My paper examines the nostalgic films about the Republican Era (1912-1949) Shanghai produced in post-84 Hong Kong and argues that through reimagining the golden era of Shanghai film industry, which represents the once flourishing Shanghai cosmopolitan modernity, Hong Kong filmmakers renegotiate and reposition their identity-in-crisis in the years prior to the handover of Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Beginning in the early 1980s, Republican-era Shanghai reemerged in various cultural productions, including literature, film, and television originating in both Hong Kong and the PRC, as China’s neoliberal economic reform deepened.
By analyzing Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan’s 1991 production Center Stage, I argue that the film’s self-mythologization reflects an identity-in-crisis in the Hong Kong film industry and sheds light on its crucial role in bringing nostalgic expression to China’s modernity. Through reading Center Stage and the representation of the legendary film actress Ruan Lingyu’s life in the film, I tackle a series of questions about this cycle of Hong Kong films, including the qualities of Republican Era Shanghai that have intrigued these New Hong Kong Cinema filmmakers, and how nostalgia for Republican Era Shanghai operated in a post-1984 Hong Kong film culture. Ultimately the most important question I address is what Hong Kong’s nostalgia for Republican Shanghai tells us about the present.

Authors:
Yongli Li, College of the Holy Cross, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Professor Yongli Li is a University Assistant Professor/Lecturer at College of the Holy Cross, United States

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