Lingnan University Digital Commons @ Lingnan University Theses & Dissertations Department of Cultural Studies 2-11-2015 The progression of political censorship : Hong Kong cinema from colonial rule to Chinese-style socialist hegemony Lai To, Herman YAU Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.ln.edu.hk/cs_etd Part of the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons Recommended Citation Yau, L. T. H. (2015). The progression of political censorship: Hong Kong cinema from colonial rule to Chinese-style socialist hegemony (Doctor's thesis, Lingnan University, Hong Kong). Retrieved from http://commons.ln.edu.hk/cs_etd/24 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Cultural Studies at Digital Commons @ Lingnan University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Lingnan University. Terms of Use The copyright of this thesis is owned by its author. Any reproduction, adaptation, distribution or dissemination of this thesis without express authorization is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. THE PROGRESSION OF POLITICAL CENSORSHIP: HONG KONG CINEMA FROM COLONIAL RULE TO CHINESE-STYLE SOCIALIST HEGEMONY YAU LAI TO HERMAN PHD LINGNAN UNIVERSITY 2014 THE PROGRESSION OF POLITICAL CENSORSHIP: HONG KONG CINEMA FROM COLONIAL RULE TO CHINESE-STYLE SOCIALIST HEGEMONY by YAU Lai To Herman A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Cultural Studies Lingnan University 2014 ABSTRACT The Progression of Political Censorship: Hong Kong Cinema From Colonial Rule to Chinese-Style Socialist Hegemony by YAU Lai To Herman Doctor of Philosophy Censorship is an important cultural regulatory instrument for the government of a society, or even a state. In certain socio-political settings, it can become a powerful administrative apparatus (dispositif) and technique (techne) designed to render society governable. Censorship decisions often embody hegemonic views on social and political issues. No matter how virtuous the original intent may be, the practice of censorship is inevitably geared to the social tensions surrounding issues of human rights and political dissent. The theory behind film censorship may once have been benign but banning or cutting a movie always involves an unnatural set of procedures and actions. This study examines this problem in the context of socio-political changes in Hong Kong. It is an enquiry into the evolution of political film censorship in its more conventional form to its full-fledged integration into other institutions and policies under today’s ‘one country, two systems’ policy. It also analyses the discourse surrounding the changes in film censorship practices from the days of early cinema to Hong Kong in the 21st century. By contextualizing Hong Kong cinema from a historical and political perspective, the study of the Hong Kong experience aims to shed light on censorship’s socio-political meanings for, and effects on, filmmakers and film production. CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Censorship as Apparatus and Technique of Governmentality 8 - An Overview of the Phenomenon of Censorship 8 - Censorship in Relation to Government 13 - The Political Problematic of Film in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction 24 - Film Censorship is as Old as the Film Itself 27 - Theoretical Legitimization of Censorship 32 Chapter 2 Development of Hong Kong Cinema and Colonial Film Censorship vis-à-vis Chinese Nation-Building and National Defence 45 - The Beginning of Hong Kong Cinema 49 - Censorship in Early Hong Kong Cinema 54 - Statute Law Not the Only Means of Censorship 60 - National Unity by Silencing Voices of Ethnic Minorities 69 - Hong Kong Cinema on the Periphery of the Second Sino-Japanese War 77 - Chinese National Cinema vis-à-vis Colonial Censorship 83 - The Disobedience of Hong Kong Cinema during the Fall of Hong Kong 93 Chapter 3 The Complex Vicissitudes of Filmmakers and Colonial Film Censorship in the Heat of the Cold War 101 - Hong Kong after New China was Born – an Enclave of Complexity 105 - Hong Kong Cinema and the Colonial Prevention of Communism 111 - Hong Kong Cinema as Battlefront between Left and Right 121 - Filmmakers in Politically Sensitive Era: Left, Right, or Otherwise? 134 i - Colonial Film Censorship Strengthened in Response to Cold War 141 - Britain Recognizes PRC, Colonial Censorship Rejects Communist Propaganda 147 - Peculiarities of Colonial Censorship – Creating Balances amidst Left and Right 156 - Faceless Censorship Force Operates Outside Official Colonial Film Censorship 165 Chapter 4 Film Censorship Evolves from High-Handed-Colonial to Rule-of-Law Style as the ‘1997 Question of Hong Kong’ Surfaces 171 - Film Censorship Evolves as Result of Political Changes 172 - Colonial Censorship Tangled Up with Communist and Anti-Communist Films 177 - The Reinforcement and Institutionalization of Film Censorship in Hong Kong 183 - Dark Side of Colonial Rule – Illegal Censorship 194 - Political Concern about the “Film Censorship Ordinance 1988” Legislation 203 - Enforcement of Film Classification System and Abolishment of Political Clause 218 Chapter 5 Chinese-Foreign Co-Produced Film and Its Problematics 226 - Why is Chinese-foreign Co-Produced Film So Tempting? 228 - Mainland-HK Cooperation in Film Production as United Front Tactic 237 - Politics in Early Mainland-HK Co-Production of Film 244 - Hong Kong Cinema Rescued Chinese Mainland Cinema 248 - Development of Mainland-HK Co-Production Disturbed by PRC Policy 254 - Hong Kong Cinema Impeded by Chinese-Style Socialism 262 Chapter 6 The Story of a Mainland-Hong Kong Co-Produced Film 284 - Why Film The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake in the Chinese Mainland? 284 ii - Obtaining the ‘License for Producing A Movie’ – An Eleven-Month Process 287 - The Road to Public Exhibitions 309 - A Cultural Translation of the Story of the Making of The Woman Knight 318 Chapter 7 Conclusions 334 - Pre-1997 British Colonialism and Post-1997 Chinese Colonialism 334 - A Production Theory of Hong Kong Cinema 342 - Reflection 347 Glossary 349 Bibliography 367 PLATES The original poster of The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake with the original release date 314 The authorization letter by Lai Qishan 314 TABLES Banned Films in Hong Kong – 1965-1974 164 Number of Emigrants from Hong Kong to Overseas – 1980-1994 181 iii Introduction It might be supposed that Mainland-Hong Kong (Mainland-HK) co-produced films, which have become very popular in the past decade, were simply a cultural mix or hybrid of the two regions. However, there is a sound marketing reason for making such movies. They provide a way for Hong Kong cinema to blend into the Chinese Mainland market and enjoy the same potential benefits as those enjoyed by the domestic cinema across the border. It is not the first time that the Hong Kong film industry has been drawn to the economic prosperity of the vast movie-going market and witnessed the popularity of co-productions but, today, its reliance on its northern neighbour is much more significant than it was the first time around in the 1930s. The current economic boom in the Chinese Mainland is owing to the ‘reform and opening-up’ national policy put forward by Deng Xiaoping in December1978. The expansion of the Chinese market was particularly notable after the south tour of Deng in 1992, which aimed to reinforce and speed up the policy in the aftermath of the June Fourth Massacre. In addition, in order to attain “(a) stability in external economic relationships; (b) firmer and speedier economic reform; (c) long-term growth based on efficiency and innovation” (Cheng, Leonard K. 1999), the People’s Republic of China (PRC) put in a great deal of effort — and fifteen years’ worth of work — into gaining membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO), finally attaining its goal on 11 December 2001. While it is still questionable whether China has fulfilled its WTO commitments, its domestic market is never free for 1 products of cultural industries.1 Extensive censorship is widespread across the Chinese Mainland and, to paraphrase George Bernard Shaw, in the right key, one can get pecuniary benefit, in the wrong key, nothing: the only delicate part of the job is the establishment of the key.2 Even before Mainland-HK co-produced films have become common, film censorship was familiar to Hong Kong filmmakers, although it did not resemble the Chinese style. Censorship can be strict or lenient, but its rationale and the criteria for its implementation in the Chinese Mainland make it no easy game for Hong Kong filmmakers to play. They generally perceive Chinese-style censorship as outmoded, weird, erratic and sometimes ridiculous for it is beyond their empirical experience even though they do know about it at an imperfect common-sense level. Most of the contemporary Hong Kong filmmakers were brought up in a more liberal socio-political culture that enabled a greater degree of economic and political freedom than that in the Chinese Mainland. While government censorship is always part of a judicial system, Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland implement law and order in different ways. Hong Kong citizens are used to the rule of law and judicial independence while law and order in the Chinese Mainland is administered in the arbitrary fashion favoured by the autocratic rule of the Communist Party of China (CPC; also known as the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP). At the Third Plenary Session of the Seventh National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) held in 1990, Jiang Zemin, the former General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and President of the PRC, 1 For an account of China’s WTO commitments, see “Protocol on the Accession of the People’s Republic of China” (WTO 23 Nov 2001). 2 Bernard Shaw’s original: “In the right key, one can say anything, in the wrong key, nothing: the only delicate part of the job is the establishment of the key.” 2 urged those holding the reins of government at all levels, including the NPC, the Government, the Court and the Procuratorate to accept the leadership of the CPC (Jiang 2006: 112).