2016
When Run Run Shaw told King Hu to make a profitable movie using minimum budget within a short period, he did not expect that this “Come Drink With Me” would become the starting point of a new-style wuxiapian era and a classic movie that became the inspiration to later generation. In light of the impressive box office that this movie has achieved and the international influence that the “Golden Swallow” brought to both sides of the bamboo curtain, the collaboration of King Hu and Shaw Brothers was proved to be successful. Based on the clip selected from “Come Drink With Me”, this essay will demonstrate the androgynous character of Hong Kong cinema in a global context in the 1960s by identifying the identity of a heroine that combines both the traditional Chinese elements and the global aesthetics.
As Mao once said, “Women hold up half the sky.” The rise of women rights in the 1960s did get them out of the feudal society, but it is still inevitable that the other half of the sky is held by men. In this clip, the Golden Swallow would not be able to figure out the gathering spot of the villains if the Drunken Cat was not there to help her using a riddle. This could also refer to the gender equality at that period. As the Cold War was initiated, neither parties wanted to be left in the backward society. That is when the women rights started to grow. What we can see from the clip is that, although the Golden Swallow dresses like a man, she still remains her inner feminity within every move and every step. This androgynous appearance reflects her background – To balance the social equality, she is somehow compelled to solve the riddle in order to rescue the hostage, and at the same time, being an authentic female coming from the conservative Chinese culture. The figure of the Golden Swallow is also an allegory of Hong Kong in the 1960s. While surrounded by the competition of ideologies between Communists and non-Communists, Hong Kong had androgynous culture as a place of multiple identities derived from the immigrants and refugees from other communities. As a refugee himself, King Hu created this unique heroine by combining the culture background where he came from and the understanding of rise of gender equality to make a movie that the audiences of British-colonial Hong Kong could truly appeal to. The use of Chinese songs and instruments in this clip can be an illustration of the traditional elements blended in this production. What is worth mentioning is that, King Hu made very good use of the music as transition. With the combination of traditional music and smooth editing, the bond of the female character and the male character in the plot was stressed in a way that the audiences could attach to.
Overall, the production itself was very successful, considering the limited time and small amount of budget. In terms of creating a female warrior combining the past and the present, the local and the global, King Hu and Shaw Brothers had produced something that truly satisfied the audiences in the Cold War context, by demonstrating the androgyny of Hong Kong.
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