Hong Kong horror

Hong kong Horror is vastly different from the Horror genre we are used to in the west. Hong Kong horror typically reflects cultural topics, similar to our own horror genre, however cultural differences brings about very different explorations of these topics, some absurd and most of which are vastly unknown to the western audience. These topics include death, religion, politics, economics, class and the supernatural. All of said topics are covered in the film I will talk about “A Chinese Ghost Story” (1987)

In western culture, the dead and death is often a taboo social subject, and so ghosts and the dead are seem among the most terrifying of the supernatural. Popular horror flicks from recent years provide evidence to this as the 'Zombie flick' Genre has exploded with the likes of "The Walking Dead" AMC TV show. Multiple Resident Evil series installations, World War Z, an Evil Dead reboot and even a Pirates of the Caribbean have all taken on the Zombie genre, and films such as Paranormal Activity have shown a surge in ghost oriented horror films in the west. both genres show the afterlife with zombies and ghosts as horrific and a danger to human life. Chinese horror however is much different in the way. while films of ghosts are still popular, spirits play a very different role. they are usually much more set into the mythos of the world and its structure, rather than the breaking of said structure and mythos like the western counterpart.

In Hong Kong Horror, Ghosts are heavily featured. Usually this is not in a horrific way, but the ghosts are more accepted as a norm by folk. This is something completely alien to western cultures, as belief in ghosts is found within the minority, and not considered a hard truth.

In Hong Kong horror, Ghosts seem to be accepted to be as real as people. There even seem to be a set of rules followed when communicating with ghosts, or acting upon or with them.

The two major religions in China are Daoism (Taoism) and Buddhism. Whilst Buddists believe in reincarnation until Nirvana is attains, Daoism states that souls can survive after death, and travel through space.

Daoism was founded in china, whereas Buddhism was founded in india. This may explain Chinese public's openness to ghosts and their existence. while ghosts are still often relentless or evil spirits in Chinese folk lore and film, it is not their mere existence that causes disbelief or mental abrasion but rather the story they tell and the consequences surrounding them.
Magic and curses is also commonplace in eastern culture, especially Chinese, with rife supernatural folklore it is often not warranted to explain the presence or regulations and rules of such feats, unlike in western culture such as Harry Potter, where a clear distinction must be drawn between the 'Magic' world and the one we live in. 
As seen in the clips below, incredible feats can be pulled off with no effort made to explain how seemingly normal human characters can do such things. whereas in western culture, belief cannot so easily be suspened. Lord of The Rings, for example, must explain the character Gandalf is a wizard, not a normal human although his magic seems to be limited to minor clairvoyance and animal communication.

Politics. Hong Kong until 1997 was ruled by Britain. This was very profitable for Hong Kong and economically and industrially, it boomed over the rest of china. This led Hong Kong to have heightened sense of Class over other countries. Foreigners are often depicted as lower, lesser beings, with primitive lives. This can be seen in the film 'The Ebola Syndrome' where Africa is shown to be a poverty ridden 3^rd world country, where people are laying in make shift beds and have no medical competence.

This led to a sense of fear to outsiders, typically depicted in Hong Kong Horror, like in “a Chinese Ghost Story”

There is also a sense of Corruption in the government in this film, as well as an incompetence in the justice system.

Class plays another important factor in this cinema. There is a visual class system at work in Hong Kong Horror films. And this plays a large role against the character in A Chinese Ghost Story.

Hong Kong Horror seems to tackle common problems within culture and throw them against the protagonist.

Story lines in Hong Kong Horror are often loose, and as far as narrative structure goes it is kept simple. As well as this there seems to be some kind of blatancy to watching a Hong Kong Horror film, everything is very obvious and there is little ambiguity involved. 

This is because culture-wise, Chinese cinema goers are radically different to western cinema goes. As it is seen as rude to talk or make noise in a theatre in the UK or US, in Hong Kong, cinemas are a social place where people do go to chat and catch up. This means that the attention payed to the films narrative is minimal, and so whilst dropping in and out of conversation, one must be able to grasp and understanding of current event in a few minuets. This can mean that for western viewers, the film seems a little tedious.

In A Chinese Ghost Story, all of these things are touched upon. And like many Hong Kong Horrors, it seems to suffer an identity crisis when it comes to genre. While Hong Kong Horror does apply some generic horror conventions: Zombies, Darkness, Death and sinister undertones. It also mashes it with slap-stick comedy, Romance and classic Martial Arts “Kung Fu”. At face value this combination would not work. And for the majority of western audience it doesn't. It does however work for those with cultural understanding, and a willingness to be open about how a film should be.

Korean Cinema 

Korea's political history leaves it with a lack of cultural identity within its Cinema. Whilst under Japanese control from 1886 to 1945, japan heavily censored Korean cinema. Only Pro-Japanese films could be shown in theatres, as the theatres where owned by japan. This meant that what little Cinema industry Korea had to call their own, relied solely on imports. With Japan Surrendering in 1945, the censorship that japan enforced was lifted, and Korea enjoyed a bloom in the film industry. Their liberation was the main focus of their films. This was short lived however, as during the Korean war, production of films in Korea grinded to anything but a halt, with only 5/6 films being produced each year between 1950 and 1953. After the war, the rise of a new presidency made the industry bloom once more, and Korea had begun to give its self a cultural identity in cinema. Once again this freedom was short lived, as when a new presidency came into power in 1962, government control over cinema began to heighten. And it began to place strict censorships on the industry. Despite this, the industry now had a foothold. Devoted cinema goers kept the industry alive.

In 1970 the clutch of the government tightened even more, this year it reached it maximum influence over Korean cinema and nearly destroyed everything film makers had worked on over the past 15 years. 

Despite its ups and down Korean cinema struggled through the censorships and propaganda, even the rise of the television and made a revival between 1980 and 1996. censorship loosened on the industry and more adventurous films were being made as a result.

In 1988, president Roh Tae-woo gradually began to eradicate censorship of cinema, and film makers began to embrace this and reopen the creative identity they had made for themselves.

Once again however, the industry dipped. This was due to the opening of imports in South Korea, mainly that of U.S films. Like most film industries, South Korea's was dwarfed by Hollywood.

 From 2000's Domestic South Korean films began to surpass Hollywood's blockbusters in the Korean Box office. 

I will now move on to the 2006 release that was Oldboy. Oldboy is a massively successful South Korean film and has gained a large fan base and the title of a modern masterpiece of cinema. This is a vengeance film about an imprisoned man, forced to see himself being framed for his wife’s murder and believe his daughter to hate him. He is imprisoned for 15 year, and effectively 'Censored' he can only eat certain food, watch certain T.V and is limited to one room. Once he is freed he goes on a vengeance spree and hunt for identity. The film's antagonist reveals that he hypnotises the protagonist into falling in love with his own daughter, because his rumours drove the antagonist's sister and lover to suicide. This film relies heavily on the connotations of an uncensored Korea, where brutal violence, rape, incest, sex and eating live animal's can be shown. As well as a hatred for the past, both for the antagonist throughout the film, and the protagonist's imprisonment.
Oldboy's influence can be seen reaching outwards to the west in multiple ways, the art direction of the film is incredible and subtle hints are left throughout, only to be sen in a second or third sitting. noticeably decorative scissors are seen on the office desk of the antagonist early in the film, the same scissors used in the climax later on. and the antagonist constantly references his and the protagonists history throughout the film. 
Oldboy also shows a very unconventional hero arc, our main protagonist, Oh Dae-Su, starts of as an obnoxious intoxicated buffoon with pent up anger issues, his time spent imprisoned shows him attempt suicide multiple times showing him the be helpless and vulnerable. this is not often how western culture would portray their main protagonist right off the bat. Oh Dae-Su attempts to take matters into his own hands and becomes empowered doing so, he attempts a slow but sure escape, while training to become physically fit for when he leaves. just as we see him about to escape, his effort is ripped away from him and he is released of the antagonists own will, setting up the idea that Oh Dae-Su will never be in control. this is a theme throughout and could be subconsciously linked to the history of Korean cinema, at least in correlation. after being released we see Oh Dae-Su as a calm, calculated hero who fights with efficiency yet often gets hit back, we see him fight in a strange coordinated yet sloppy intensity where control of the fight seems to sway in his favor purely from focus and drive. this is where we see Dae-Su at his peak in his hero arc, though we keep being given dialogue and hints from the antagonist that this 'monster' Oh Dae-Su is the real him, and the life he had before will never be attainable. this is pure uncensored, unadulterated Oh Dae-Su and his visceral and intense characteristics. after following the clues and piecing everything together Oh Dae-Su confronts our Antagonist, the mild mannered, polite, rich and smug Lee Woo-Jin. in the climax Dae-Su lays out all the information he has collected and comes to a conclusion about Woo-Jin, his captor. Woo-jin reveals Dae-Su is wrong and reveals the horrific truth to him. we see a sudden shift in Oh Dae-Su's behaviour as he becomes distraught and upset, flickering between intense anger and wrath to sorrow and begging for forgivness, even becoming subservient to Woo-Jin and cutting out his own tongue. Woo jin forgives Dae-Su through actions not words, and hands Dae-Su a device to Woo-Jin's pacemaker that will allow Dae-Su to kill him, though once more this is a trick and Dae-Su is stripped of all power when attempting to use the device, as Woo-Jin commits suicide instead.

the Main theme of OldBoy is Truth, vengeance may be the catalyst and means, but truth is the underlaying current. Oh Dae-Su is a direct contrast to Lee Woo-Jin, Woo-Jin is ultimately wealthy, whereas Dae-Su is clearly a working man, even his name mean "Getting through one day at a time" and Woo-Jin is the keeper of the truth, and Dae-Su being the Seeker. After finding the Truth, Dae-Su attempts hypnosis to forget, and after keeping the truth, Woo-Jin commits suicide. confining the tragic tale of Oh Dae-Su to the film we see in Korean Cinemas.

Czech new wave

Czechoslovakian new wave is an early 1960's Czechoslovakian film movement, where film makers were annoyed by the Communist regime. Their goal was to make people aware of the oppressive society they lived in.

Czech new wave offered Dark humour, strong narratives, unprofessional actors and a real sense for the strange and absurd. Mise en scene, plays a heavy role in Czech film. And this can be seen in the 1988 film Alice.

Czech film in this period was heavily political and Anti- regime. Highly satirical humour came into play.

The movement came to an abrupt end when Soviet forces invaded Prague and film and media faced heavy censorship.

Czech film was all about oppression and corruption, this created some of the richest and wildly creative cinema to date, the conventions are totally absurd in comparison to american  and western cinema.

Jan Švankmajer's 'Alice' perfectly explains and depicts Czech cinema. It is a little late from Czech new wave, but still shows characteristics.

Alice is the time old story hailing from 1800's England that everyone knows. Švankmajer takes this story and shows it in a light quite different from a children's tale. Right off the mark we are faced with sinister imagery and ambience. Any child would be terrified of the grating teeth from the white rabbit in this version. 

The entire Mise en scene of this film is very effective. most of the film looks crude and primitive with jerky stop-motion animation scenes, This only adds the the films overall tone.

What i take from this film is that a well known and accepted world (Story), has dark connotations and throughout the film, alice is faced against a regime. The queen of hearts in this film can be interpreted as the communist force, and Alice as the Czech population or disillusioned youth.

This film adaptation rejects the Fairy tale connotations of Alice in wonderland, and instead implies alice dreams the events, and takes a trip through her Amoral subconscious. 
The depiction of Alice as a Doll in her smaller form is a fantastic way to emphasise the idea that Alice is a puppet for other peoples amusement both within the films settings, and the real world Czech issues. 

Although Czechoslovakian new wave could not be pinned down by one set of conventions, their interests often touched upon the same ground, that is the concern of ordinary people faced with large political troubles. One could state similarities between Czech and French new wave, and although Czech new wave did take inspiration; the highly driven story lines are drastically different.

Czech new Wave to me, proves the importance of setting, and Mise en scene. Alice is riddled with clunky Dialogue and poor technology, making it look messy. But this adds to the atmosphere when you are faced with the world alice is traveling through. And that is how it feels, instead of watching a film you feel as though you are gazing into this surreal bizarre and deeply sinister world, it totally absorbs you into its literature, and this is all done by how the film looks.

On top of this, because a western audience typically would not know the history of the culture this film is from, its connotations are lost and misunderstood. This to some brings a sense of exploration and due to lack of understanding, the scenery, costume, story and concept may seem more strange and bizarre than originally intended.

‘...frequently we know little of the cultural and political tensions within the societies that produce them. As a result, the main selling point about foreign films tends to become their very exoticism. They seem to be in conversation with some other film tradition, with some other culture, which we do not entirely understand. They become, in Chris Anderson’s words “freaky treasures”’ 

Hawkins, J., ‘Culture Wars: Some New Trends in Art Horror’ ian Conrich, I. (ed.), Horror Zone (I.B.Taurus, 2010)

Mise en Scene is highly recognised in Horror films, and without anything explicit happening on screen, setting and costumes can tell the viewer all they need to know, and make them feel the desired emotion. Oddly, Alice to me has some Horror connotations, whether they are purposeful or brought about by my understanding of western cinema.

Contemporary American Cinema

Everyone knows of hollywood and its blockbuster film. They are unescapable, but how much do people know about hollywoods history? 

Hollywoods past is riddled with politics and means to make money for the film industry, and like it or not; money is one thing heavily influencing modern american cinema. Some say that hollywood corrupts the art of film making, the vast majority of people are quite happy to throw money at the next big blockbuster the year has to offer. I will be exploring Hollywood and what makes it what it is.

'The Big 5' the big 5 refers to a group of conglomerate companies, which owned their own studios, theatres and distribution divisions in the mid 1920's.

These companies were:

• RKO
• Warner Bros.
• LOEWS Inc.
• FOX
• Paramount

Alongside these companies, there were three other well known companies. These were known as the Little 3. these companies owned little, or no theatres at all. Meaning no promised film sales.

These companies were as follow:

• Universal pictures

• Columbia pictures
• United artists

Because the Big 5 studios were vertically integrated companies, this gave little chance for independent film studios, or smaller companies to make money from their films. The big 5 owned their theatres, which they showed their films in. so, the studios had the writers, the producers, directors and actors under contract. 

In 1948, it was ruled that this vertical integration was in fact an illegal monopoly. This opposition came from eight independent film producers: Hal roach, Walt Disney, Samuel Goldwyn and Walter Wanger were among these producers.

The supreme court ruling stopped the act of Block-Booking and pre-selling. Block booking was where the studios would sell a package of films to independent theatres. They would sell a number of A movies, and a small amount of short films and B movies that would be unlikely to make any money. These packages were blind-bought by the theatres, that is without seeing the films. Meaning that the production companies would make a huge profit. This ruling was called the Paramount Decree, and the government Ended up suing the 5 major conglomerates. This decree ended up crippling the industry. It took a long and slow recovery afterwards.

Blockbusters.

Blockbusters as we know them today all started in the 1972 with the Wildly successful 'The Godfather' making $81.5 million and was the highest grossing film ever made for a time. 

Everyone has seen blockbuster films and they ultimately define modern cinema to the masses. Blockbusters tend to all show similar conventions and are often referred to as 'Popcorn' films to 'leave your brain at home' this is not strictly true to all blockbusters, but as a majority. 

Blockbusters could be seen as the embodiment on the consumerist ways of western culture. Even with advertising for products making their way into cinema, even with whole film themes based from corporate product rivalry. In the Transformers blockbuster film, the main protagonist drives a sentient car, the 2009 Chevrolet camero. This transformers rival is a Ford mustang. Chevrolet's main competitor in the market. 

The whole industry seems to be more of a money making scheme. And it sure is good at it. The highest grossing film of all time was made in 2009 and is directed by James Cameron, that film is Avatar. Avatar has grossed over 3 billion U.S dollars once home video sales are accounted for. To most people, Avatar is a pretty uninspired storyline. Its story is basically a clash of Princess Mononoke and Dances With Wolves.

People often use Blockbusters as a form of escapism. They like to leave their life and problems behind them. Because of this most blockbusters have a 'Happy ending' structure. This is reflected in the 1979 sci-fi horror hit Alien, where director Ridley Scott had intended for the main protagonist to die at the end of the film, but producers insisted that the antagonist must die.
History plays a hugely important role on the popularity of modern blockbusters. a recent Boom in Superhero movies can be observed, as a previously untapped resource for film, although their stories can be aligned with historical or current events in america. Blade was a success upon release and at the time there was a large visceral scare among americans of blood transmitted diseases and infections. and so a tale about vampire slaying seemed to take Marvels cinematic endeavours into the Millions. looking past this we have seen a huge increase in superhero films post 9/11. being a great form of escapism the cinema offers a place for americans to go and forget about the current situation of the world, and hope that a more powerful being or entity will be able to stop the forces at hand, this provides a great form of public morale as people go to view a 'Superman' film or 'Captain America' and hope not to loose faith in their own world or government.