國
立
交
通
大
學
外國文學與語言學研究所文學組
碩
碩
碩
碩
士
士
士
士
論
論
論
論
文
文
文
文
《
《
《
《無間道
無間道
無間道》：
無間道
》：
》：
》：類國族寓言以及
類國族寓言以及
類國族寓言以及
類國族寓言以及「
「消失
「
「
消失
消失」
消失
」
」政治
」
政治
政治
政治
The Quasi-National Allegory and Politics of Disappearance in the Infernal Affairs
Trilogy
研 究 生：周怡欣
指導教授：張靄珠 教授
中
中
中
中
華
華
華
華
民
民
民
民
國
國
國
國
九
九
九
九
十
十
十
十
七
七
七
七
年
年
年
年
七
七
七
七
月
月
月
月
《
《
《
《無間道
無間道
無間道
無間道》：
》：
》：
》：類國族寓言以及
類國族寓言以及
類國族寓言以及
類國族寓言以及「
「消失
「
「
消失
消失
消失」
」
」
」政治
政治
政治
政治
The Quasi-National Allegory and Politics of Disappearance in the Infernal Affairs
Trilogy
研 究 生：周怡欣 Student：Yi-Hsin Chou
指導教授：張靄珠 博士 Advisor：Dr. I-Chu Chang
國 立 交 通 大 學
外國文學與語言學研究所文學組
碩 士 論 文
A Thesis
Submitted to Department of Foreign Literatures and Linguistics College of Humanities and Sciences
National Chiao Tung University in partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Master
in
Foreign Literatures and Linguistics
July 2008
Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China
i
《
《
《
《無間道
無間道
無間道》：
無間道
》：
》：
》：類國族寓言以及
類國族寓言以及
類國族寓言以及
類國族寓言以及「
「消失
「
「
消失
消失
消失」
」
」
」政治
政治
政治
政治
學生：周怡欣 指導教授
：張靄珠博士國立交通大學外國文學與語言學研究所文學組碩士班
中文摘要
本文主要以國家之間的曖昧游移，歷史空間(anthropological places)與過渡空間
(non-places)間的辯證關係為立足點來閱讀電影《無間道》三部曲，並從三種面向析論。
首先，從香港黑幫電影的曲折重新回顧香港的殖民歷史；並且探討九七移交對於電影《無
間道》三部曲的重要性；最後以類國族寓言的模式來探討《無間道》所反映的認同問題。
首先，本文探討香港及其文化生產，以及黑幫電影的中間性。透過時間的斷裂與重
組，《無間道》舖陳出黑幫電影類型的傳統，呈現回歸母國懷抱時身分建構的曲折。藉
由類國族主義的方式來呈現電影所反映的香港，英國，以及中國間的三角關係。
再者，本文從後現代拼貼的方式呈現懷舊氛圍；佛經中反覆闡述不可超脫的輪迴意
象則讓主角墜向虛無。從江湖概念的紛沓開始，舖展「跨文類的意義」；透過非全知敘
事的時間重組，彰顯九七大限的重要性，並且帶出懷舊的主題。貫穿全片的主題「無間
地獄」，則泛指佛教概念中「無間斷的受苦受難」，把存在焦慮，精神扭曲，以及躊躇
徘徊的心態扣連起來。
最後，就「消失」政治而論，本文視香港為一「消失」空間，並且與主角的「消失」
息息相關﹔而《無間道》三部曲中歷史空間與過渡空間的並置，更強調香港在九七之後
的「曖昧游移」。歷史空間與過渡空間在電影中並非處於相對的位置，而既共存又相互
映照。本文析論「消失」（隱藏，缺席，不存在）空間，透過警察與臥底間的「消失」
來闡述互助共生以及偽裝的概念，更強化輪迴與墮落的主題。
關鍵字：無間道、黑幫電影、江湖、國族寓言、類國族、佛經、後九七、消失、
過渡空間、馬克．奧古、阿巴斯
ii
Trilogy
Student：Yi-Hsin Chou
Advisor：Dr. I-Chu Chang
Department of Foreign Literatures and Linguistics
National Chiao Tung University
ABSTRACT
In this thesis, I try to focus on the slippage and in-between-ness of the nationhood, and
the dialectics between anthropological places and non-places in the Infernal Affairs trilogy,
and conduct my investigation in three directions. First of all, I revisit Hong Kong’s colonial
past by mapping the refractions of gangster genre; investigate how post-97 atmosphere
reinforces the Infernal Affairs trilogy; finally, how quasi-national allegory is generated.
First, I demonstrate the in-between-ness of Hong Kong itself, its cultural productions,
and gangster films. Through the interruption and rearrangement of time, the Infernal Affairs
trilogy unfolds the heritage of gangster genre and provides the refractions in identity
construction to embrace the Motherland China. A quasi-national allegorical approach in the
Infernal Affairs
trilogy unfolds the triangular relationship of Hong Kong, Britain and China
from a neutral perspective.
Second, I investigate the postmodern pastiche in the continuously nostalgia aura and the
nihility toward the Buddhism with repeating image of reincarnation. I start from the variation
on the concept of jianghu to unwrap the “cross-generic signification”, and then analyze the
rearrangement of timeline that violates the total omniscient narrative in demonstrating the
importance of the deadline 97, bringing up the theme of nostalgia. Moreover, the penetrating
theme of “infernal” refers to the Buddhist concept of “continuous hell” which intricately
interlocks all the anxiety of existence, psychological distortion and tottering instability.
Third, in terms of politics of disappearance, I focus on the space of disappearance in
Hong Kong in connection with the disappearance of protagonists, and the juxtaposition
between anthropological places and non-places in the Infernal Affairs trilogy, accentuating
“quasi-ness” in post-97 Hong Kong. Anthropological places and non-places in the Infernal
iii
other. I demonstrate the space of disappearance (non-appearance, absence, lack of presence)
with the mutual-illumination and camouflage between the cop and the undercover through
each other’s disappearance, which reinforces the themes of reincarnation and degeneration.
Keywords: Infernal Affairs, Gangster Films, Jianghu, National Allegory,
Quasi-Nation, Buddhism, Post-97, Disappearance, Non-Places, Marc
Auge, Abbas
iv
First of all, I would like to thank my advisor, Prof. Ivy I-Chu Chang, for her
great p
atience and support for my research project. I have benefited a lot from her intellectual
inspiration as well as her academic devotion. I am deeply indebted to her for her advice and
wish her all the best. In addition, I want to thank my committee members Prof. Eric Yu and
Prof. Wendy Lai for their insightful critiques and inspiring thoughts to help me improve my
thesis.
I would like to thank FL93 rockers and Tammy, who shared my anxiety and enriched my
everyday life and study. My gratitude also goes to Glen Lo, for everything is easier when he is
beside me. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude toward my family, who devote their
unconditional love to me.
v
中文摘要... i
ABSTRACT... ii
Acknowledgement ... iv
Contents ... v
Chapter One: Introduction ... 1
Hong Kong’s History and Gangster Film Genre... 2
The Quasi-National Allegory of the Infernal Affairs Trilogy ... 5
Politics of Disappearance and Spatiality in the Infernal Affairs Trilogy ... 8
Chapter Two: Hong Kong’s History and Gangster Film Genre... 14
Revisiting Hong Kong’ Colonial History ... 14
A Historical Sketch of Hong Kong Gangster Films... 18
The Affinities/Dissimilarities Between Hollywood Gangster Films and Hong Kong Gangster Films ... 23
Post 97 and Postmodern... 28
In-Between-ness, Triangular Relationship and Quasi-National Allegory: Theories and Methodology .... 33
Chapter Three: The Quasi-National Allegory of the Infernal Affairs Trilogy ... 40
Synopsis of the Infernal Affairs Trilogy ... 40
Postmodern Pastiche of the Infernal Affairs Trilogy: Nostalgia and Buddhism... 42
Quasi-National Allegory of the Infernal Affairs Trilogy ... 47
A Comparative Study of the Infernal Affairs Trilogy and the Godfather Trilogy ... 53
Chapter Four: Politics of Disappearance and Spatiality in the Infernal Affairs Trilogy... 59
Space of Disappearance in the Infernal Affairs Trilogy... 59
Anthropological Places and Non-places in the Infernal Affairs Trilogy... 66
Chapter Five: Conclusion ... 74
Works Cited... 80
Chapter One: Introduction
Despite that Hong Kong’s handover to China took place a decade ago, the issues of “Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong”, “one country; two systems”, or “the promise of remaining unchanged for 50 years”1 still remain prominent in Hong Kong. The daily lives and cinematic representation of Hong Kong people are as if the 97 deadline has never been “due.” The Infernal Affairs trilogy evidently exemplifies this phenomenon, not only in the character’s anxiety of self-identification by the wishful thinking of cleaning up the past so as to lead a new life, but also in oscillation between police and gangster, that has been dramatized with the undercover with shifted and fluid identities. As the film title Infernal Affairs implies: the protagonists struggle in eternal turmoil, and endure fatal tragedies, much like walking corpses leading lives of endless sufferings. After the handover in 1997, have Hong Kong people attained the security and prosperity they were promised, or are they still struggling in between British the ex-colonizer and China the motherland?
From the struggle and wretched fate of the undercover to the playfulness of transitional identity, and political fidelity as metaphorized by the “changing face” (變 臉)(Law 10) in Sichuan opera,2
Hong Kong people have not only experienced the
1 In 1984, Deng Xiao-Ping (鄧小平) proposed to apply the principle to Hong Kong after British
government’s dominance was expired, and upon this treatment, despite the practice of socialism on Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau can still retain their highly autonomy at least within fifty years. As Hong Kong Basic Law Article 5 reads: “The socialist system and policies shall not be practiced in the HKSAR, and the previous capitalist system and way of life shall remain unchanged for 50 years.” However, after the 50th year reunification, either voluntarily or not, there is still the great uncertainty and possibility to be integrated into China’s socialist system. As if trying to witness and scrutinize the promise, the theme of “unchanged for 50 years” is repeatedly represented in cinema and literarily works. See: http://www.cmab.gov.hk/en/issues/basic.htm. Chinese translation for these phrases are: Hong Kong people govern Hong Kong is 港人治港, country; two systems stands for 一 國兩制; and unchanged for 50 years is 五十年不變.
2
“Changing-face is a is an ancient Chinese dramatic art that is part of the more general Sichuan opera. Performers wear brightly colored costumes and move to quick, dramatic music. Their faces are vividly colored, for they are wearing masks. However, within a fraction of a second, their masks' change —
cultural flow in their everyday lives, but also lived in the imagined community of a destined nationalism and socialism. In this respect, I will try to focus on the slippage and in-between-ness of the nationhood, and the dialectics between anthropological places and non-places in the Infernal Affairs trilogy, and conduct my investigation in three directions. First of all, I will revisit Hong Kong’s colonial past by mapping the refractions of gangster genre, and then investigate how post-97 atmosphere reinforces the Infernal Affairs trilogy, and finally, how quasi-national allegory is generated. In the second chapter, I will conduct the textual analysis from three perspectives: firstly, I will investigate the postmodern pastiche in the continuously nostalgia aura and the nihility toward the Buddhism with repeating image of reincarnation. Next, I will analyze the quasi-national allegory that unfolds the intricate relationship among Hong Kong, China and Britain. Finally, I will conduct a comparative study on the Infernal Affairs trilogy and the Godfather trilogy. As for Chapter Four, I will focus on the space of disappearance in Hong Kong in connection with the disappearance of protagonists, and the juxtaposition between anthropological places and non-places in the Infernal Affairs trilogy, accentuating “quasi-ness” in post-97 Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s History and Gangster Film Genre
First, I will be engaged in revisiting Hong Kong’s colonial past of
administration-state and society by employing Ngo Tak-Wing’s (吳徳榮) theory in re-mapping Hong Kong before the handover. Ngo’s viewing Hong Kong as the “comprador” shares the similarities with Law Wing-Sang’s (羅永生) “collaborative colonialism” in his Collaborative Colonialism and its refractions in Undercover revealing completely new and vibrant visages.” Quoted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bian_Lian.
Movie.3 This term catches the characteristics of the ingratiation, and performative attitudes of Hong Kong toward China and Britain. It may provide an alternative perspective in revisiting Hong Kong movies, with an emphasis on the “conspiracy of forces and flows” and “illuminating the place’s rather murky pasts” in the
political-gangster genre. In order to survive between the two powerful regimes, the in-between-ness becomes a risky, yet necessary device; therefore, Hong Kong still plays the role of middleman after the handover.
Besides collaborative colonialism, Law Wing-Sang also points out the
intertwining relationship between colonial history of Hong Kong and gangster genre. Gangster films not only bring up the moral anxiety and conflicting identity crisis of Hong Kong, but also reflect the geo-political situation: a place located in-between local politics and British managed modern order. To rewrite and to represent undercover’s refractions can be regarded as to re-inscribe Hong Kong’s fate. For instance, Man on the Brink(《邊緣人》)(1981) allegorizes the incapability of the Royal police and the bushed future via the tragic death of the undercover, and brings up the question of Hong Kong people’s identity after 97. The classical gangster film City on Fire(《龍虎風雲》)(1987) suggests the dilemma between ethnical brotherhood and morality; the institutionalized duties among undercover, police, and gangster; and modulates the heroic but tragic image of the undercover. In addition, the gangster genre may combine with comedy, and rid itself from the image of social victims: Fight Back at School (《逃學威龍》)(1991) and The King of Comedy (《喜劇之 王》)(1993) are two such examples of comic-gangster films. Moreover, Stephan
3
This paper is issued in the Fifth Annual Conference of the Cultural Studies Association (Taiwan ) Jan. 8-9, 2005, National Chiao Tung University , Hsinchu. Transnational Chinese, Cultural Migrations in Chinese: 羅永生。解讀香港臥底電影的情緒結構和變遷。While the English abstract is accessed on Oct. 17th. See: http://tinyurl.com/y6m8jc.
Chow’s (周星馳) “undercover is the best actor” explicates the performativity of undercover and dramatizes Hong Kong history from a comic perspective rather than a tragic one. Searching for identity and wandering between the good and the evil are the main themes in Hong Kong gangster films; however, after 1997, are gangster films still able to allegorize the in-between-ness of Hong Kong and its people? If the answer is positive, will there be any difference between the pre-1997 gangster films and the post-1997 gangster films? And if so, what cause the differences?
After briefly summarizing the tides and refractions of gangster genre by auteur from 80’s; the great variety reinforcing the treacherous politics; and the fear of embracing the coming hangover, I will provide the affinities and dissimilarities between Hollywood and Hong Kong gangster genre. Gangster is a syndicate without legitimacy, which indicates that the underworld dominates the hierarchy beyond law reinforcement; therefore, breaking rules and conducting the violent deeds romanticize individualism, especially in Hollywood genre. In contrast, being a part of jianghu,4 individualism is embedded in gallantry, camaraderie, candor, and brotherhood with the values that interlock with traditional Chinese principles. By highlighting the undercover as the social actor, the Infernal Affairs trilogy prolongs the aura of 97 and displays how it is categorized during the post-97; moreover, how the post-97
atmosphere embeds itself within the Infernal Affairs trilogy. The term “post-97” was first quoted from Cen Lang-Tian’s (岑朗天) observation in his Post 97 and Hong Kong Cinema, which emphasizes the themes of “un-presentable and unattainable” that derive from postmodern theory to demonstrate the impossibility to reach the
4 Literally means “rivers and lakes” (江湖). In Stephen Teo’s Director in Action.: Johnnie To and the
Hong Kong Action Film, he gives jianghu a definition as: “[…] kind of mythic space[…], referring to the world in which triad-based gangsters, hired killers and even the police-detectives operate according to prescribed codes and rituals.[…] where “the ordinary laws of nature are slightly suspended” and in which the hero must be portrayed as “doing something.” (Teo 4-5)
authenticity of memory construction. However, does post-97 have a definite ending? As Cen Lang-Tian’s argument, post-97 will only be terminated until Hong Kong recognizes itself with a new identity.
The Quasi-National Allegory of the Infernal Affairs Trilogy
Finally, I will conduct the theory of quasi-national allegory by connecting two scholars’ perspectives. The first being Chu Ying-Chi, her discourse in reading Britain, Mainland China and Hong Kong as colonizer, motherland and self supports me to define the triangular relationship. By verifying the contradictory concept of a “nation”, I will employ Aijaz Ahmad’s critiques on Fredric Jameson’s theory in his national allegorical reading of third-world texts, and replace the concept of a “nation” with “collectivity”. The term has retained the discrepancies of so-called third-world literature, and pointed out the distinctiveness of Hong Kong in-between Britain and China. Therefore, I would like to investigate the Infernal Affairs trilogy as a
“quasi-national allegory.”
Based on Fredric Jameson’s “national allegory”, it illustrates the necessity of connecting all third world texts to political unconsciousness, and points out the correlation between socio-political context and textual creation. While critics are dealing with issues related to fate and the uncertain future of a third-world nation, the political implications will be illustrated and displayed in the form of national
allegories. However, here comes the question, that is, if Hong Kong is never a nation,
could one read the Infernal Affairs trilogy as a national allegory?
Chu Ying-Chi postulates her argument in Hong Kong Cinema: Coloniser, motherland and self by pointing out the triangular relationship among Hong Kong, Chinese the motherland and British the colonizer, and regards Hong Kong’s national
identity as the “lack” without being endowed with political power and sovereignty. Under intersected domination by China and Britain, Hong Kong will never be able to get away from the triangular relationship. According to Anthony Smith, the
construction of “nation” requires two essential elements: territorial and ethnic (Smith 1989: 135); however, because the geopolitical identity of Hong Kong is
border-crossing, and its cultural identity a hybrid, Hong Kong ’s national identity is always under construction and never fixed. Therefore, Hong Kong’s status could be read as quasi-national allegory. Accordingly, an allegorical reading of the Infernal Affairs trilogy is an effective method to analyze the deeply intertwining relationship among ex-colonizer, the motherland and the local milieu, and between
personal/national and public/private.
To explicate the Infernal Affairs trilogy as a quasi-national allegory, I would like to assume the neutrality of the Infernal Affairs trilogy itself, placing aside its
cinematic representation of collaborative colonialism with themes of betrayal and loyalty; crime, choice and inferno. As the cinematic time has traversed before and after the 97 handover (from 1991 to 2003), the Infernal Affairs trilogy neither suggests that spectators should identify with Chinese ethnicity, nor does it construct the negative image of Royal Hong Kong police during British colony. On the other hand, it does not present China as the Other, nor emphasize the poverty of China in contrast to the capitalist lifestyle. It depicts the refractions of colonized Hong Kong as a journey through which the undercover searches for identity, brotherhood and
personal loyalty. The demonstration given above brings up the uniqueness of
quasi-national allegory in analyzing the Infernal Affairs trilogy of Hong Kong people who have undergone the times of turmoil. Everyone is an undercover in some way or another, when one tells oneself that “it will be fine tomorrow” in films.
Postmodern Pastiche in the Infernal Affairs Trilogy: Nostalgia and Buddhism
In the second sections of my thesis, I will firstly investigate the postmodern approach in the Infernal Affairs trilogy to unmask the similarities and disparities before and after the deadline 97,which interlocks with many postmodern
characteristics in retrieving back to 1992, 1995 and 1997. To violate the chronology is a way to violate the memory, to intrude the possibility of amnesia, and to unfold the atmosphere of nostalgia. The director demonstrates this turmoil in the prequel of Infernal Affairs II and the sequel of Infernal Affairs III; moreover, he uses a jumping timeline method in Infernal Affairs III. In Infernal Affairs II, the dichotomy between good and evil is still blurring, and the brotherhood, romanticism and camaraderie of jianghu are glittered. Being embedded within the ideology of such jianghu is a way to refuse the turmoil and sufferings; moreover, to secure his/her idealized authenticity. Buddhism penetrates though the trilogy, which emancipates or traps the anxiety and suffering of the Infernal Affairs trilogy. The total omniscient narrative along with the rearrangement of time and space reinforces the repeated theme of “continuous hell”. Fatalism illustrates the impossibility to escape while nostalgia makes the past a secure place to hide, and the future becomes a falling into the infernal.
From the metaphor of gangster and police as families to Britain or China, the quasi-ness takes place allegorically in referring to the patriarchal structure. The withered Ngai Kwan (倪坤) and Ngai Win-Hau (倪永孝) symbolize the termination of real father figures in the Infernal Affairs trilogy, and the rise of Superintendent Wong Chi-Shing (黃志誠) and Hon Sam (韓琛) generates the epoch of surrogate father figures throughout the trilogy. Moreover, the appearance of Shen Chan (沈澄) and Superintendent Yeung Kam-Wing (楊錦榮) disturb Ming’s self-identification, for
their shadowy and mysterious existence turns them into the substitute father figures of the Chinese gangster and the police of post-97 Hong Kong respectively. To elucidate, every death deconstructs and reinforces the quasi-ness of the Infernal Affairs trilogy.
A Comparative Study of the Infernal Affairs Trilogy and the Godfather Trilogy
In the final part of Chapter Three, I will conduct a comparative study of the family threshold between the Infernal Affairs trilogy and the Godfather trilogy. Family relationship in Hong Kong gangster films is not as apparent as those demonstrated in Hollywood movies. In prequel of Infernal Affairs II, family
relationship bounds intimately with the triad variations, this is further stylized in the Godfather trilogy directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Paralleling with the Corlen family with Mafia tradition, the triad infiltration of the Ngai family in the Infernal Affairs trilogy shares two common perspectives of: “parameters of legitimate social society (the family and patriarchal power) “(Mason 2002: 130) and “hermetically sealed world” (131).
Politics of Disappearance and Spatiality in the Infernal Affairs Trilogy
In the third section of my thesis, I would like to explore the dialectical relationship between places in the Infernal Affairs trilogy. Hong Kong is a city of transition, modifying from old to new, and wrestling between “anthropological places” and “non-places”. I will employ Ackbar Abbas’s theory of “space of
disappearance”, and Marc Auge’s concept of anthropological places and non-places to verify the outwardly, inwardly, upwardly and downwardly in-between-ness, and to reinforce the struggle and turmoil of both the undercover and the city inside/out.
non-places are reminiscent of Ackbar Abbas’ theory of “space of disappearance”. Abbas postulated “space of disappearance” in the year of 1997, when Hong Kong was faced with the deadline of the handover. Abbas indicates that disappearance does not refer to an erasure, but also to “reverse hallucination” (Abbas 1997: 6), which “is not seeing what is there”. While the city is undergoing constant dismantling and
construction, the skyline of Hong Kong becomes the competitive landmark of global capitals; hence, the outlook of Hong Kong is no longer recognizable. To this extent, even after the colonizer retreated from Hong Kong, the cosmopolitan urban blueprint still paves its way toward utopia and the globalization of capitals. Abbas considers that Hong Kong is “a city of transients” (Abbas 4), occupying a “strong sense of temporary” and “floating identity” (4). However, faced with the takeover of the upcoming ethnical but “alien” China, Hong Kong people caught by the “always already lost” and fabricated identity, suffered from the crisis of not knowing “who I am (which is exactly what the Infernal Affairs trilogy indicates)”. Therefore, politics of disappearance not only regards the re/mapping of the physical and the cultural space, but also regards the mis/representation of Hong Kong people with their uncertain self-image.
Marc Ague describes, the anthropological places are “historical---combining identity with relations” (Ague 1995: 54); they provide residential memory and
nostalgia, which are helpful in reconstructing identities. Relatively, non-places are the products of supermodernity, they “do not integrate the earlier places” (78), and have characteristics such as “anonymity, alienation and impermanence” (Tomlinson 1999: 110). Moreover, non-places are “sort of simulacrum of anthropological places” (110), such as clinics, airports, train stations, apartment houses, and so on.
Anthropological Places and Non-Places in the Infernal Affairs Trilogy
In the Infernal Affairs trilogy, there are obvious back and forth spatial
movements to and from anthropological places and non-places. The anthropological places where the gangsters start and expand their underground business are
distinguished with geographical names and historical allusions. For example, in
Infernal Affairs I, Hon Sam’s gangster business starts from Tuen Men Tsuen (屯門村), where he deals his cocaine business with his Thai friends in Urmston Road (or
Dragon Drum Channel, 瀧鼓灘); Urmston Road is actually one of the central regions in Tuen Men Tsuen5. The anthropological places do not only remind the audience of Hong Kong’s past history, but they also highlight Hong Kong as “a city of
disappearance”. In other words, Hong Kong is a city where the undercover can metamorphosize and shuttle between old places and new ones, shifting his identity between a gangster and a police.
The demolition of anthropological places and the construction of non-places simultaneously mark the dis/appearance of Hong Kong. Moreover, the architectures of Hong Kong and the psychological ambiguity of the undercover are made graphic in the space of disappearance. For instance, non-places such as the rooftop and elevator are gathering places of murderers, and they may also be seen as a passage from life to death, from heaven to hell.
As mentioned above, according to Marc Ague’s argument, non-places are characterized as temporal, transitional and impermanent. Non-places in the Infernal Affairs trilogy correspond to what Abbas demonstrates as the space of disappearance in Hong Kong. In the Infernal Affairs trilogy, the elevator can be regarded as an image of connection and passage, implying the dis/appearance in Hong Kong. On the one
hand, the elevator signifies Chang Wing-Yan’s (陳永仁) falling and his death; on the other hand, the upward and downward movements denote Superintendent Lau
Kin-Ming’s (劉健明) struggle in lining up with his own expectation of rebirth. Therefore, the elevator is a passage and transit between heaven and infernal world. Despite the fact that both Chan Wing-Yan and Superintendent Wong Chi-Shing (黃志 誠) are killed near the rooftop with their physical bodies falling downward (whether being carried by elevator or thrown down from the rooftop), their spirits seem to remain lingering on the rooftop, the non-place of their routine meeting, where both are identified with good police. Lau Kin-Ming, as sole survivor in this battle, bears all the hidden treacherous schemes, which imprisons his spirit and physical body without redemption. Non-place like elevator not only symbolizes special transit and temporal passage, but also functions as the carrier moving characters back and forth, life and death, good and evil.
The relationship between the shifted identities of the undercover and disappearance are made palpable by the downfall and the burial of undercover. However, compared to the endless sufferings of the living, death may not be such a bad outcome but rather a relief. In each opening and ending of the trilogy, there are Buddhist scriptures, which apocalyptically and allegorically illuminate the
predicament of the undercover, and insinuate the dilemma of Hong Kong during the phase of transition.
Conclusion
To conclude, I will conduct this thesis from revisiting Hong Kong’s colonial past
5
The English names and its relation are quoted from Wikipedia, Category: Hong Kong geography stubs, http://tinyurl.com/wwpet.
to view the imposed rule of “economic laissez-faire and political non-intervention” as the bilateral connections of “administrative-state society” relationship. Historical sketch of Hong Kong gangster film by auteur verifies the collaborative relationship and its geo-political in-between-ness, while Hollywood gangster films infiltrate and inject some similarities and differences in Hong Kong movies, as the transplanted modernity does in colonized process. Post-97 aura in memory reconstruction, nostalgia and amnesia continues to haunt Hong Kong cinema. Parallel with “one-country; two systems”, post-97 reincarnates the “un-presentable” and “unattainable” themes in the chronological timeline. Through the interruption and rearrangement of time, the Infernal Affairs trilogy unfolds the heritage of gangster genre and provides the refractions in identity construction to embrace the Motherland China. The repeated theme in this paper is therefore to demonstrate the
in-between-ness of Hong Kong itself, its cultural productions, and gangster films. A quasi-national allegorical approach in the Infernal Affairs trilogy will unfold the triangular relationship of Hong Kong, Britain and China from a neutral perspective. In the third chapter of this thesis, I will investigate two themes from a
postmodern perspective: nostalgia and Buddhism: starting from the variation on the concept of jianghu to unwrap the “cross-generic signification”, the rearrangement of timeline to violate the total omniscient narrative in demonstrating the importance of the deadline 97, bringing up the theme of nostalgia. The penetrating theme of “infernal” refers to the Buddhist concept of “continuous hell” which intricately
interlocks all the anxiety of existence, psychological distortion and tottering instability within a prison, which can not escape.
In the final section, I will demonstrate the space of disappearance through Abbas’ observation, and how two protagonists’ disappearances deal with each other,
and how reincarnation becomes a downfall image of degeneration by death.
Anthropological places and non-places in Auge’s work are not that polarized as they appear to be, they coexist and contrast with each other.
Chapter Two: Hong Kong’s History and Gangster Film Genre
Revisiting Hong Kong’ Colonial History
It is the eleventh year since Hong Kong was retreated back toward China, the promises and political proclaims as “unchanged for 50 years” or “Hong Kong people govern Hong Kong” are waiting to be examined and have been repeatedly
reinterpreted and anticipated in both literary and visual works in the supervised perspective. Within eleven years, Hong Kong has experienced and withstood the Asia finical crisis, SARS outbreak, the Article 23 controversies6 and the following parade to fight against the policy and to demand the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Tung Chee-Hwa (董建華)7, to step down. These turmoil and sufferings keep reminding me of the importance of 97, for it functions as a driving force of decision making, border crossing and reflective thinking of Hong Kong people.
There are too many contradictions of Hong Kong over 150 years under colonized rules. The most competing narrative revolves around the dichotomy between
colonialism and nationalism, in which Britain turns Hong Kong from a fish village into a capitalist paradise, and this legendary transformation has constantly been emphasized by British government. It is often stated that nationalist interpretation views the colonized history as a part of China enduring the humiliation of Western
6
The hurricane of Article 23 originated from revising the security law, which Hong Kong Government drafted the National Security Bill to implement Article 23 and replace British colonial era laws on the subject”, and the protests of Hong Kong against the article by leading a massive demonstration. Hong Kong people worry about the law might erode the freedom of speeches for any organization banned by PRC under security reasons would also be banned at Hong Kong anytime. See:
http://www.basiclaw23.gov.hk/english/focus/focus5.htm
7
The first Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (HKSAR)from July 1,1997 to March 12, 2005. His Chief career is hampered by Article 23 controversies, Asian financial crisis, outbreak of SARS and his style of governance. His increasing criticism from both Hon Kong and central government attack his reputation and ability; finally, he announces his resignation due to his “health reasons” on March 10, 2005. Reference:
invasion, as such Sino-British Joint Declaration in 19848 after the handover was considered one of the main contributions to Hong Kong’s development. These signatures preserve the colonial state-society indirect system in both perspectives of political non-intervention and economic laissez-faire. However, these narratives overly and ideologically simplify the underling struggles of Hong Kong, and eliminate the variety of social factors influencing the transition between British domination and Chinese indigenous society. By highlighting the triangular
relationship among Britain, China and Hong Kong, I will elaborate the benevolent, rebellious and even collaborate dimensions of Hong Kong, and try to avoid the established dichotomy of the ruler and the ruled (paradoxically in the context of transplanted modernity); moreover, I will demonstrate Hong Kong’s initiative in shaping its own history. Furthermore, no matter how intertwined Britain and China are with Hong Kong during the transition, Hong Kong’s role as the middleman will never be a devoiced witness and straddle; instead, it will struggle against the manipulated and assigned colonial identity, and then, create its own unique social-political landscape.
The view portrays British as the “administrative state” and the one imposing the semi-conducted rule of “combining the economic laissez-faire and political
non-intervention” (Ngo 1999: 3). Despite that this indirect domination modulates the image of its neutrality, the liberal monopoly cannot maintain 150 years without resistance and complicated co-operation. As Ngo Tak-Wing observes in Hong Kong’s History, Hong Kong hangs in suspense “on the painstaking process of state-society interactions in accommodating, dissipating, marginalizing or even suppressing the
8
Full name: The Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong.
conflicts” (Ngo 7). The deliberate distance retains local Chinese inhabitants as a less subordinate and oppressive colony, but emphasizes the economic policy of free markets and profits that transitional pivot could capture. By focusing on the business interests, the administrative state is not polarized as it claims to be; instead, it is supporting the elites collaborating with both sides, as claimed by what Ngo: “British business interests had to rely on the pre-existing Chinese trading networks in order to penetrate Asian markets” and then, “rewarded the collaborator with social and
economic privileges so that they became the first generation of Chinese bourgeoisie in the colony” (4).
“Modernization is an agent of political manipulation in British Hong Kong”, as well as “the colonial state as being an agent of modernization” (Ngo 7), is further complicated by the constrained and advanced prosperous colonized state, the dominant financial and commercial factors. Though it is often stated that modernization in British Hong Kong accelerates the economic success and industrialization, it has not achieved the identical success throughout the whole
society; instead, lower class as coolies and labors can only receive limited advantages. By highlighting the transplanted modernization9 as a transformation of colonized process and the bilateral connections of “state-society” relationship, the characters of “social actors--- including the Chinese compradors, the commercial and banking elites, the rural landlords, etc” become indispensable in the colonizing process. For “the
9
The idea of transplanted modernity comes from Taiwan’s prompt democratization after the declaration of Martial Law ended in 1987 till the first presidential election in 1996, and its collateral colonialism, which is against the process of how modernity is constructed in Western Europe. That is to say, modernity in Taiwan goes along with the propagation of colonialism and capitalism, but not from the cultural accumulation or industrial revolution; therefore, it is difficult to identify the modernity of Taiwan. So as Hong Kong, the modernity is not originated from where it is practiced, but comes along with British colony. The policy is furthered adopted by China. However, the modernity in Hong Kong is furthered complicated by the position of “social actor”, forming the assigned hierarchy. Therefore, I conclude the modernity in Hong Kong as “transplanted modernity”, which infiltrates from the administration-state, agent to the society.
group of social actors---big business” is the only colonial system that was “not
separated from the state” (Ngo 3). The duality of social actors functions to collaborate with both the indigenous people and the state, and accelerates “the intermediaries between European imports/exports and native consumers/producers” (Hui 1999: 36-37) of pre-Chinese trading network. As well as building of new economic infrastructures, social actors could also be implemental in following out the transplanted modernization from the standpoint of forerunners and collectors or self-interests. With the unwitting separation and cooperation of bourgeoisie and indigenous people, the administration reaches its political, economic and social development successfully and shows that “legal discrimination existed at every level of Hong Kong society” (Carroll 1999: 14). Moreover, it constructs an ideological face of British Hong Kong: the image of free state and economic progress, in contrast with nearby China as the complementary and hypothetical enemy.
The pattern that Hong Kong is not a categorized colony is analogous to the situation before its indirect administration by Britain and consequently after its reunification toward China. Long been impressed by its in-between-ness, colonial politics can not be oversimplified as totally negative or totally positive, but negotiated, advanced and constrained by the bilateral connections to reach Hong Kong’s
economic development and social stability. Analogous to the British regime of Hong Kong, Chinese government tends to buffer the expected rebounding of its calling of communist nationalism by the strategy of economic laissez-faire and political non-intervention after handover. Paradoxical as it appears to be, Hong Kong has to survive through maintaining its position as social actors, such as collaborator, comprador or the middleman during every transition of dominance. Therefore,
consistently under cooperation or resistance to both authorities, as well as the transplanted modernity underlying economic infrastructure limited within social actors. Coherently as what Hui Po-Keung (許寶強) argues, “their flexible loyalties to different national regimes also put them closer to the center of decision-making”, thus allowing them to advance their wide ranging business interests despite being
politically marginalized (Hui 1999: 41). Consequently, colonial authorities maintain surveillance over Chinese residents and adopt the discriminating measures in Hong Kong. However, the colonial administration “continues its reliance on Chinese
middlemen to manage and rule the domestic community” (Hui 40) in which the social actors the play active and lucrative role in collaboration. Consequently, during the British domination, both the Chinese compradors and Hong Kong indigenous people have been equipped with discernible dualities: culturally, they lead Chinese ways of living in their everyday lives; politically, they endure to cope with the British system.
A Historical Sketch of Hong Kong Gangster Films
As above-mentioned, manipulation of conflicts (the dominant of pre-existing Chinese trading center and the transplanted modernization, etc) through these social actors is the vital reason to uphold the stability of colonized Hong Kong. This
collaborative relationship and mutual hostilities constituted main faces of state-society interaction, and the character of in-between-ness becomes indispensable to
multiple-colonized history, which modulates Hong Kong itself as the social actor, as well as the agent of modernization. The issues of collaborative relationship and
in-between-ness further penetrate the refraction of film industry in Hong Kong. Just as martial arts film builds itself on rhyming swords and blades, kung-fu films embody the quintessentially Chinese disciplines through hardship and training, and gangster
movies apotheosize gun as stretching masculinity and admirable virtues that interlock loyalty, camaraderie, justice, gallantry and code of yi (義)10 to the extreme. The popularity and distinctiveness of gangster movie of Hong Kong lies in its multifariously inter-genre with the comedy, romance, crime, historical epic and thriller etc, which involve by Triad, a secret underworld hierarchy engaging in crime, such as trafficking drugs, gambling, money laundering. With the arbitrary blending of fictional and realistic narratives, gangster movie is further complicated by explanatory real-life figures as Limpy Ng Sik-Ho (伍仲豪)11, Lee Rock (雷洛)12, and Du
Yueh-Sheng (杜月笙)13, whose melodramatic legendaries are remade into screen biographies in both representing corruptive defective of legal system and
gangster-police collaboration of Hong Kong’s colonial history.
Having highlighted the gangster film’s characters in connecting with the daily
10 Chinese translation:義.Stephen Teo’s definition of yi is “an unwritten code that ‘postulates a system
of brotherhood, honor and justice binding all who operate within a (class-and-caste-defined) fraternity, wheather criminal or otherwise.’” A person with the code of yi is willing sacrifice oneself for saving the other’s life while his friend is in danger, as well as “A friend in need is a friend in deed”; however, yi should not be impetuously blind, but with reasonable judgment and wisdom to be helpful of friends.
11
A real-life character, who is also known as Ni Sik-Ho(1930-1991), he starts his drastic life from an impoverished gangster in Triad and climbs up to the highest position, empowering the hierarchy by dealing with heroin and brutal actions. To Be Number One (1991)(Chinese title: 《跛豪》) is the autobiographical film is released after his released from prison, and this film romanticized triad actions and ignored moralist overtones through glorifying the power and triad lifestyle.
Information of Limpy Ho, see:
http://zh.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%E5%90%B3%E9%8C%AB%E8%B1%AA&variant=zh-tw
Film information: http://hkmdb.com/db/movies/reviews.mhtml?id=7439&display_set=eng
12
Lee Rock is also a legendary figure, who is correlated with Limpy Ho, and is served as the best prototype as modulating Hong Kong dreams. Lee Rock comes from China and joins police force for “putting food on the table,” and “reaches the high position of chief of sergeant-majors before his resignation in 1969.” Lee Rock (1991)(Chinese title:《伍億探長雷洛傳》)is “melodramatic and glamorized depiction of this particular character, which owes much to Triad infiltration of the film industry and continuing problems of bribery and corruption in the police force.” (Williams, 369) Film information, see: http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/lee_rock.htm
13
Du Yueh-Sheng(1888-1951), a businessman involves in opium trade banking establishment, whose most notorious and infamous activity is participation of Shanghai Massacre of 1927 with Communists as a political machine. His autobiography Lord of the East China Seas (Chinese title:《歲月風雲之上海 皇帝》), is released in 1993, constituted by a serious historical betray of Du as a “victim of
circumstances and a pawn in the political machinations of the Nationalist Government than as the key player he actually was” (Williams, 369).
Green gang history: http://www.yiyou.com:1980/b5/shanghai.yiyou.com/html/14/168.html
life of Hong Kong and its representative narrative in grasping the history, it would be easier to map how the visual vocabulary reinforces the director’s style to allegorize the identity crisis, the blurred dichotomy, and embodiment of masculinity with traditional values. Man on the Brink(《邊緣人》)(1981)14,directed by Cheung Kwok-Ming (章國明), discloses the undercover story with its indulgence within French New Waves. The violent and unjust death of the undercover illustrates those who shuttle in between the police and gangster and bear the double but shadowy identity will end up in misery. While later on during 80’s to 90’s, John Woo (吳宇森) manufactures his “jianghu”15 with extreme masculine visual vocabulary from the prototype of aesthetics of violent. In A Better Tomorrow(《英雄本色》)(1986)16, The
Killer (《喋血雙雄》)(1989)17
, and Hard Boiled (《辣手神探》)(1992)18
dancing bullets wave simultaneously with complicated undulation of gallantry, candor and
camaraderie between police and gangster. The depiction of royalty and brotherhood with choreographed gun-shooting sequences demonstrate the anxiety of identity in the film. As for Woo’s visual vocabulary, it was appreciated the most as it combines symbolism with visual contradictories. For instance, he would have a battlefield scene situated in the church which is initially dark but lightened up by candles and has a statue of Saint Maria’s sitting by with doves dispersing. The blurring of moral dichotomy, romanticized chivalry, and the idiosyncrasy of violent sequence
14
Cheung, Gwok-Ming. Man on the Brink. Hong Kong, 1981. See:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185188/
15 Literally means “rivers and lakes” (江湖). In Stephen Teo’s Director in Action.: Johnnie To and the
Hong Kong Action Film, he gives jianghu a definition as: “[…] kind of mythic space[…], referring to the world in which triad-based gangsters, hired killers and even the police-detectives operate according to prescribed codes and rituals.[…] where “the ordinary laws of nature are slightly suspended” and in which the hero must be portrayed as “doing something.” (Teo 4-5)
16
John Woo. A Better Tomorrow. Cinema City Film Productions. Hong Kong, 1986. See:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092263/
17
John Woo. The Killer. Film Workshop. Hong Kong, 1989. See:
(convulsing audience’s visual experience) of John Woo’s films are the milestones of the 80’s gangster movies in Hong Kong.
The penetrative reach of the gangster movies in Hong Kong continues to spread in the 90’s. In contrast to the serious and decent narrative combining the philosophical but poetic visual vocabulary in John Woo’s gangster movies, prolific Stephan Chow’s Fighting Back to School (1991-1993) (Films title:《逃學威龍》(1991),《逃學威龍 2》 (1992), and《逃學威龍三之龍過雞年》(1992) in respectively)19 series disclose the gangster genre with his “wulitou” (無厘頭)20 viewpoint of “nobody”, ordinary people or lower class people with humorous, witty and relaxing attitude. In challenging the boundary of high and low art, Chow disengages himself from the 80’s context in making gangster movies. Although Chow’s films may seem superficial and reject reasonable narrative, they do not discredit his criticism against the corruptive government. Fighting Back to School unfolds itself from the classroom; the
involvement of undercover exploits the problematic infiltration of Triad hierarchy and gunrunning business at school. In effect, the sense of wulitou emancipates the limits of gangster genre with facetious self-transcendence and semi-seriousness to fight against the untoward circumstances, which generates its exclusiveness in Hong Kong’s political-cultural landscape.
If Fighting Back to School series expose Triad infiltration through school,
18
John Woo. Hard Boiled. Golden Princess Film Production Limited. Hong Kong, 1992. See:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104684/
19
Gordon Chen. Fighting Back to School. Samico Films Production Company Ltd. Hong Kong, 1991.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103045/; Gordon Chen. Fighting Back to School II. Win's Film
Productions. Hong Kong, 1992. See: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105534/; Jing Wong. Fighting Back
to School III. Win's Film Productions. Hong Kong, 1993. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108293/
20
According to Wikipedia, the definition of wulitou is “ a name given to a type of humour originating from Hong Kong during the late 20th century. It is a phenomenon which has grown largely from its presentation in modern film media. Its humour arises from the complex interplay of cultural subtleties significant in Hong Kong. Typical constituents of this humour include nonsensical parodies,
juxtaposition of contrasts, sudden surprises in spoken dialogue and action and improbable and deliberate anachronisms.” Quoted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_lei_tau
Andrew Lau’s (劉偉強) Young and Dangerous series (1996-1998)21, popularly
known as the goowakjai (古惑仔)22 series, reveal more. Unlike A Better Tomorrow or The Killer, the jianghu in Young and Dangerous lacks of modesty, fantasized
gallantry, and overly romanticized aesthetics even on visual effects; however, apparently, that order, hierarchy, kinship-united collectiveness revitalize themselves in gangster movies. In Young and Dangerous series, Triad recruits the teenage
students in trafficking marijuana and rearranging the gangster groups, rejuvenating the power of young rascals. Jianghu, in this context, is crowded with young mobs who are innocent and obedient but complicated with impetuous betrayal, and street
violence; however, these rascals illustrate the primitive spirit of gangster movies with confidence and hope within the series.
After the handover, Hong Kong was initially embedded within the financial crisis of 98 and faced a gloomy future, so was the film industry. Johnnie To’s (杜琪峰)
Election(2005) and Election 2(2006) (《黑社會》and《黑社會 2:以合為貴》)23 reflect
both the cinematic and psychological refraction in the post-97 period. In contrast to circuitous and ambiguous allegory of pre-97 gangster movie, Johnnie To takes gangster genre as the frame in criticizing the politics of the underworld. The sudden emergence of a new force disrupts the power hierarchy and distorts the traditional values through the seemingly righteous election. Protagonist like Jimmy Lee possesses the good and unpretentious manner but is forced to inherit the cold-blood
21
Young and Dangerous series contains six sequels and four unauthorized spin-offs. Originated from the Hong Kong comic book “Teddy Boy, ” which glorified impetuous violence of young adults and sketched out the triad hierarchy toward Taiwan. All the Young and Dangerous series are:
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8F%A4%E6%83%91%E4%BB%94
22
“A term roughly translated as “young rascals” representing a younger version of the slang term “rascals” used by triad films.” (Williams 363)
23 黑社會, black society is often referred to underground society, that is the Triad. The election is a
symbolical sardonicism for the seemingly democracy, which is supported by inner struggles, violence and flowing conspiracies. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_%282005_film%29
cruelty for climbing up the summit of the power hierarchy.
To elucidate, gangsters are indispensable to the colonial history of Hong Kong as they equip Hong Kong with characters of a social actor, comprador, collaborator and middleman. From Man on the Brink, A Better Tomorrow, and The Killer, to Fighting Back to School, the romanticized chivalry and heroic sacrifice for candor, brotherhood and gallantry reverse the myth-like heroism but engage the wulitou in humorous and witty ways to solve criminal cases. In contrast to the individualist movement of undercover in John Woo and Stephan Chow’s films, street mobs collect themselves as a group in Young and Dangerous, goowakjai revitalizes the energy in neon-light over-filled urban city, young rascals brandish and hack out their Triad dreams with blades and swords. If personal ambition and self-interests override the hierarchy as in Election, its sequel must illustrate the conspiracies and power struggles in underworld. Traditional values of gallantry, candor and camaraderie dissolve in legitimate business enterprises. Johnnie To criticizes the Communist government in a sharp and heavy manner, and unfolds his patriotism in stylized jianghu mechanism.
The Affinities/Dissimilarities Between Hollywood Gangster Films and Hong Kong Gangster Films
Gangster genre originated from early American cinema; however, through the passing time, space and culture, it has gained remarkable popularity and has been adapted universally. Nowadays, films encompass a variety of genres such as comedy, tragedy, action or epic, as well as cop and robber movies, detective movies, crime and thriller movies, just as what Marilyn Yaquinto notes, “the gangster has a timeless quality, just like the sins he commits” (Yaquinto 1998: xi)24; therefore, gangster
24
figures are prominent and their stories will be remembered and documented. Gangster films in America are as graphed by Fran Mason in the preface of American Gangster Cinema:
The American film gangster is an iconic figure of the industrial twentieth century in both its modern and postmodern forms, representing a culture of mobility, urban space, excess, and individual license. He is also; however, an anti-social figure within this context because he is the focus for a liberation for hierarchy and from the past (in his embrace of the modern) that society and ideology wish to repress. (Mason vii)
Gangster is a syndicate without legitimacy, which indicates that the underworld dominates its hierarchy beyond law reinforcement. From Little Caesar (1931)25, The
Public Enemy (1931)26 to Scarface (1932)27, American gangsters become the
testimony of modernity, freedom, masculinity and space throughout the crime in the slums, the representation of police corruptions, the loss of individuality, and the “opposition between traditional ideologies and their dissolution in modernity, and it also expresses the contradictions of modernity itself” (Mason 13). Little Caesar starts its narrative from the chasing of the American dream: Rico leaves the poor provinces for the big city for desirable power and status, but ends up within the functional performance in a factory. Contradictorily, gangsters possess the discipline outside the real world by breaking up orders in violence, turning himself from “nobody” into “somebody”. While in The Public Enemy, Tom Powers has a similar street experience as Rico in Little Caesar as Mason illustrates: “The street is the paradigmatic
experience of modernity, a place of movement, change and consumption […], street as a site of narrative action expresses its embodiment of modern principles”. (Mason 17). Both of the films express street culture and their relationship with modernity, in Publishers, 1998.
25
Mervyn LeRoy. Little Caesar. First National Pictures. USA, 1931.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021079/
26
William A. Wellman. Public Enemy. Warner Bros. Pictures. USA, 1932.
which family is the other constraint of freedom and individualism, the frame of traditional hierarchy and ideology. Gangsters in Hollywood films have three
characters: “move freely between different spaces to transgress boundaries as if there were no exclusion zones” (Mason 19); offers this achievement of masculinity” (20); “fluidity allows independence and freedom to live a life of excess” (20). Gangster films metaphorically categorize gangster as a road toward crime, desire, power, or economy excess. However, in Scarface, excess to modernity becomes indispensable to violence, especially manifested with gun. Tony Camonte symbolizes his gun as the extension of masculinity and discipline; however, the embracing of modernity
collapses his hierarchy while he kills his rival and colleague, Rinaldo. Embracing modernity is as risky as destructing it, while desires become uncontrollable.
Romanticism, chivalry and brotherhood are interlocked Camonte, an ironic figure, is therefore carrying out “everything to excess” but also represents the flexibility and blurred dichotomy of gangster hero.
Paradoxical as it appears to be, Hong Kong gangster film also shares some affinities and dissimilarities with those in American gangster films, as both of them articulate themselves with the modernity, demonstrating not only resistance but also cooperation. Modernity in American gangster is against 18th century Enlightenment which demonstrates the rationality and liberation through the acquaintance of
knowledge, but correlates with the economic bloom, technological advancement and established social orders. Individualism is obliterated by industrialization in that each person functions anonymously; therefore, being a part of gangsters is to escape and to be alienated from the constructed social institution. It appears to be free, and
simultaneously, earns power and status. While being a part of Hong Kong gangster is
27
more than its consideration for obtaining freedom and independence, such as Triad is originated by a patriot group and gradually being equipped with the character of comprador and social actor as the agent of transplanted modernity. As a result,
gallantry, camaraderie, candor and brotherhood which are interlocking with traditional Chinese values define Hong Kong gangster films on mutuality, and dichotomy of good and evil are blurred to demonstrate chivalry and to praise romantic heroism. In contrast, American gangsters possess less apparent character in brotherhood than those demonstrated in Hong Kong in that romanticism centralizes on individualism and personal wish fulfillment, for participating in gangster is a ladder toward power and a dominant status. Family relationship appears to have weaker effects on the films mentioned-above, while gangsters in Hong Kong bond like a family with meticulous hierarchy, but family consanguinity is mostly devoiced if the blood relationship is not inherent in the family business. Like American gangster films, family in Hong Kong gangster film is the embodiment of social orders and a place to be escaped. The display of masculinity and violent spectacles are common in both American and Hong Kong gangster films, and to dominate a gun is to manage the right to give order.
As what Mason notes: “The cultural logic of blur of modernity, the dichotomy of order and chaos, between liberalization and control of desires, and between excess and discipline” (Mason 14) articulate the instability of modernity itself. Both gangster films in America and Hong Kong articulate their modernity in different enlightenment and traditions; consequently, each achieves diversely in its cultural and political context. Romance and heroism in American gangster films are American-Dream stylized from the pursuit of freedom and individuality in industrialized institution, in order to grab power and status. However, with hope for redemption, romance and heroism is manufactured by gallantry, brotherhood, and camaraderie among peers or
even fracture the social hierarchy. Bonding with masculinity, which is extended by violent displays and visual spectacles, the gun-shooting sequences in Hong Kong gangster films possess the poetic aestheticism; however, the manner of gangster as family maps out even complicated and glamorized affections. What merits special attentions is the real-life figures of Al Capone in Scarface and Lee Rock in Alias: Lee Rock I (1991), as they help to shape the cultural identity in both historical contexts. While it is undeniable that Hong Kong gangster films are remarkably affected by American gangster ones; they both reflect their intrinsic value of gangster genre.
Historical sketch in previous section demonstrates the codes of yi (including brotherhood, gallantry, candor and camaraderie etc) in gangster genre. However, these codes have been constructed to extend and develop gangster genre than to reflect the history of colonial Hong Kong. Besides, these codes are recognized as the replication of cultural knowledge. What modernity demonstrates in gangster genre is intriguingly parallel to those in American gangster genre, which encompasses masculinity,
romanticism, brotherhood, and hierarchy. Insofar as during the 80’s, Hong Kong was immersed in the flourishing economic success, so was the film industry, thus gangster genres during that period was characterized by optimism, fearlessness and idealized utopia called “jianghu”, where brotherhood and gallantry were aesthetically presented in visual spectacles with romantic heroism, just as what is perfectly embodied within A Better Tomorrow. Moreover, with blind hope, even a “nobody” in the street in Young and Dangerous series could blade out his own glamorized myth and then initiate a brand new life. Stepping closely toward the handover, gangster genre inclines itself to the postmodern phrase which has been an upsurge since the beginning of 1990 to meet new condition of free market capitalism. From the demonstration of Fighting Back at School series, the circularity of postmodern
injections is obvious: the artistically and aesthetically rejection toward codes of modernity, while characterized as “a tension between order and chaos, between liberalization and control of desires and between excess and discipline” (Mason 14). Wulitou itself is the best embodiment of postmodern gangster genre in that its
innovative performance rejects the secure and traditional ways of modulating a fixed and collective identity.
Post 97 and Postmodern
As what was mentioned in the previous section, little is known before Hong Kong was given to Britain in 1841. Pre-existing trading network is frequently mentioned in the center of Kowloon (九龍) and its adjacent Canton, from initially a fish village to a transnational port after the handover. The obvious in-between-ness and its middleman character are integrated within the history of colonization, and further complicated by self-interests and the seemingly stable detachment of tolerant liberty in a state-society relationship. Characteristics such as duality, double alienation and flexible loyalty indicate that the collaboration between Hong Kong and Britain was constructed mutually. What merits special attention after Hong Kong’s
reunification with China is therefore not focal of the conflicts-free stability and one-sided colonial prosperity, but rather how disturbed the sense of in-between-ness and flexibility still are. Further, by the duality of cultural China and political Britain during the colonial administration, the gap of identification and everyday life aesthetics will even complicated after the handover. To this extent, the “post-97” narrative takes initial shape by tunneling through the deadline of 97.
The meaning of “post” in postmodern context is as what Jean-Francois Lyotard argues, “would have to be understood according to the paradox of the future (post)
and anterior (modo)” (Lyotard 1984: 81). To be granted, the “post” of postmodern does not connote the process of coming back, flashing back or feeding back, but of the Greek preposition “ana-”, which denotes back again, backward, throughout, upward, anew and again.
Post-97 starts from the handover, but does it have a definite deadline? Do Hong Kong people have a deadline to get over post-97 as they did in confronting the coming of 97? What emerges from the post-97 generally encircle issues of identity, memory and time, and is further complicated by the liquidation of the past, nostalgia and anxiety; finally, it responds to the in-between-ness of social actors.
It is not surprising to note that even the construction of identity has to do with resistance, cooperation, double loyalty, and mutual betrayal. Till the coming of 97, Hong Kong people’s awareness of given an assigned identity emerges with the uncertainty of old colonial one, which has not yet been fully ridden of. Therefore, the mass production of memory is urgently needed, even the rearranged identity will eventually disappear with the coming of post-97. In other words, the
memory-reconstructed identity is doomed to disappear in authenticating its existence and reality. Furthermore, the legitimating of identity does not reach its authenticity, but rather modulates its sense of collectivity in retaining the memory of a
reconstructed and rewritten one. To elucidate the point, memory completes itself by defining its disappearance, just analogous to what Lyotard demonstrates in The Postmodern Condition:
“The postmodern would be that which, in the modern, puts forward the unpresentable in presentation itself; that which denies itself the solace of good forms, the consensus of a taste which would make it possible to share
collectively the nostalgia for the unattainable; that which searches for new presentations, not in order to enjoy them but in order to impart a stronger sense of the unpresentable.” (Lyotard 81)
