The Hui Brothers’ 1970S Films and What It Meant to Be a Man in Hong Kong, 1974-78
Wai, Hai Mai Lam Yun Lei Ga? [Hey, You a Man or Not?] The Hui Brothers’ 1970s Films and What It Meant to Be a Man in Hong Kong, 1974-78 A graduating essay submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in The Faculty of Arts History Department We accept this essay as conforming to the required standard. ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ University of British Columbia 12 April 2007 Ronny, don’t forget, when we die, our movies don’t die. Your grandson, your great-great grandson, will be watching that. Movies are immortal. --Michael Hui to Hong Kong New Wave film director Ronny Yu 1 1 Lisa Odham Stokes and Michael Hoover, City on Fire: Hong Kong Cinema (New York and London: Verson, 1999), 170. Table of Contents Prefatory Remarks: A Personal Take on the Young Man i Introduction: The Hui Brothers’ 1970s Films and What It Meant to Be a Man in Hong Kong 1 Chapter 1: Generational Masculinities: Cheap Bosses, Centripetal Families, and the Ethos of Complaint 14 Chapter 2: Practical Masculinities: Masters of Improvisation, the Pak Dong Spirit, and the Ethos of Pragmatism 33 Chapter 3: Playboy Masculinities: Paying the Family, Chasing Girls, and the Ethos of Luxury 51 Conclusion: Wai, Hai Mai Lam Yun Lei Ga? 63 Bibliography 68 Prefatory Remarks: A Personal Take on the Young Man A question and a look have always haunted me whenever I have told people that I am slaving away at a thesis. The first: “What, you’re a graduate student?” Apologetically, I begin to answer, “No, I’m working on a thesis on men in 1970s Hong Kong for my B.
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