2019/1/30
Exploring Hong Kong
Through Film and Popular Music
LECTURE 3
(Semester 2, 2018-19)
National Identity and Local Identity (I)
PART 1
Hong Kong Before Mid-1970s
Centre of Chinese-language Film and
Music - From Shanghai to Hong Kong
• Before 1949, Shanghai was the centre of Chinese film
and music industries.
• 1949: The People’s Republic of China was founded –
Commercial film and music market ended in early
Communist China, as film and music industries
were seen as capitalist and thus banned
The Shanghai film and popular music
industries fled the Mainland and resumed their
business in Hong Kong
Many people, including businessmen,
filmmakers, directors, singers and musicians–
brought capital and expertise to Hong Kong
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Centre of Chinese-language Film and
Music - From Shanghai to Hong Kong
Hong Kong replaced Shanghai as the centre of
production of Chinese-language cinema and popular
songs.
Hong Kong people were dominated by a kind of “refugee
mentality” during the 1950s and 1960s.
• According to the official statistics of the 1961 Census, less
than half (47.7%) of the population was born in Hong
Kong.
•During the 1950s and early 1960s, Hong Kong was not
considered a permanent home by many new comers who
had left Mainland China for political and other reasons.
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Chu (2017) p.28
Co-existence of Mandarin and Cantonese
Films in 1950s to 1960s
• During this period, both Mandarin and
Cantonese films were produced in Hong
Kong.
• Mandarin films were generally considered as
superior to Cantonese films.
• Films are seen as a hybrid (混雜) which
possess elements ranging from musical,
action, comedy and melodrama. (e.g.
“Mambo Girl” 《曼波女郎》, 1957; “Our
Sister Hedy” 《四千金》, 1957 – both films are
in Mandarin)
• Martial arts and Wuxia (武俠) films also
became important in the 1960s.
5
Cantonese Cinema – from Golden Age to
Decline in 1960s
• There was a golden age of Cantonese cinema in the 1950s –
more “social substance and progressive thinking” by a
campaign initiated by the left-wing movement
• For example, “In the Face of Demolition” 《危樓春曉》
(1953) directed by Lee Tit (李鐵), emphasized on the rich-
poor gap and powers of the people. A catchphrase ‘One
For All and All for One’ （「人人為我，我為人人」）
illustrated one of the themes of the film.
Fu ed. (2012): pp.49-50 6
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Cantonese Cinema – from Golden Age to
Decline in 1960s
• After this golden age, Cantonese films, even
though they were sometimes more numerous and
popular, were considered inferior:
quantity overwhelmed quality: Cantonese
cinema was primarily a popular mass medium,
with the image of being a “fast-food” cinema:
cheap, mass-produced, easily consumed and
discarded
lower budget compared with Mandarin films
Mandarin films had bigger export market
HK-made
Mandarin-pop (Mandapop) in 1950’s-1960’s
• Many music companies, musicians and singers
moved to Hong Kong from Shanghai, and they mainly
produced Mandapop in 1950s-1960s.
• HK-made Mandapop became mainstream popular
music in Hong Kong, and ironically, even though most
Hong Kong people were not good at Mandarin.
• Mandarin songs in Mandarin films were also popular.
• Influenced by the lifestyle of the rich Shanghainese
immigrating to Hong Kong, people enjoyed singing
and dancing with Mandapop songs in night clubs and
cabaret.
8
HK-made
Mandarin-pop (Mandapop) in 1950’s-1960’s
• Compared with Cantonese pop
songs, the Mandarin pop songs
were considered to be superior:
• produced by big companies
with higher budget
• regarded as having superior ‘Love Never Ends’ movie
production quality and higher soundtrack (1961)
creativity
• more recognized by the mass
media – radio
“Ja Jambo” (〈說不出的快活〉) by Grace Chang (葛蘭).
featured in “The Wild Wild Rose”(《野玫瑰之戀》)
https://youtu.be/zdR9KGCjb0w 9
Chu (2017) p.24-26
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Cantopop as Inferior to Mandapop
• In the 1950s and the 1960s, Cantopop was not
considered mainstream in Hong Kong, despite the
fact that Cantonese was spoken by over 90 percent
of the people.
• Some Cantopop songs could be said to be popular
among the Hong Kong audience (particularly
among working class), but most people considered
them inferior to mainstream Mandarin and English
pop songs. Movie and radio drama theme songs in
Cantonese were quite popular.
10
Discussion
As mentioned, Cantonese films were considered
inferior to Mandarin films, and Cantonese songs were
very much marginalized.
• How would you compare this situation of Mandarin
and Cantonese films and songs in the 1950s-1960s to
their situations in Hong Kong today? What
similarities and differences can you identify?
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Bruce Lee: a Hong Kong star,
a Chinese “National Hero”
• Bruce Lee (李小龍) emerged as the
first Hong Kong star to achieve
worldwide fame.
• Bruce Lee in these Hong Kong-
made movies (produced by Golden
Harvest 嘉禾) represented a
“national hero” of China, for the
way he embodies Chinese pride
and nationalism (民族主義) in the
movies.
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Discussion
Watch this clip from “Fist of Fury”《精武門》(1972) and
the trailer of “The Way of the Dragon” 《猛龍過江》(1972)
https://youtu.be/6Mv3p5w6IlM .
• How did Bruce Lee construct Chinese national pride in
these movies? How is a “Chinese hero” represented in
these movies?
• How might Hong Kong people (in the 1970s and today)
feel towards this “Chinese hero” image created by Bruce
Lee?
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PART 2
The Young Generation in the 1960s
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Locally-born New Generation
• According to the official statistics of the 1961
Census, less than half (47.7%) of the population was
born in Hong Kong. But that figure went up to 53.8
percent in the 1966 by-census, indicating the
emergence of a locally born generation in a
migrant society.
• It was the gradual emergence of the first post-war
generation that shaped changes in the social
horizons and popular consciousness of Hong Kong
society.
Chu (2017) p.28 15
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The Youth Culture in the 1960s
• With a large number of post-war baby boomers in
their late teens and early 20s, local films and popular
music had gradually become an essential part of
youth culture in the 1960s.
• The young generation were much influenced by
Western cultures – fashion style, pop music, dance,
lifestyle, etc.
• The local awareness of the Hong Kong people was
growing gradually, which enhanced the development
of local lifestyles, as well as paved the way for the
later rise of Cantonese popular culture in the 1970s. 16
Idols and Fans
• While the musical films in the
late 1950s and the 1960s were
dominated by Mandarin
productions, the rise of a new
generation of Cantonese movie
stars such as Connie Chan (陳寶
珠) and Josephine Siao (蕭芳芳),
gradually changed the scene.
A music album
“Youthful A-gogo”,
• Their fans were so attracted to featuring Connie
their idols that they were willing Chan and Josephine
Siao
to purchase their albums,
regardless of the lower quality.
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Chu (2017) p.34-36
Rock Bands
• Rock band wave in Hong Kong in the 1960s – many
young people form bands to play rock music
(mainly songs in English)
• Many of these former band members turned
Cantopop in the late 1970s (such as Sam Hui 許冠傑,
Alan Tam 譚詠麟, George Lam 林子祥, Teddy
Robin) – they were highly influenced by Western
Rock’n Roll and were completely diverging from
the tradition.
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Discussion
Watch the clips from these movies.
Compare the young Hongkongers in
the 1960s and those of today – their
lifestyle, fashion, or values
Can you identify some similarities
and differences?
Film clips from:
七彩難兄難弟 Colourful Partners (1968)
彩色青春 Colourful Youth (1966)
飛女正傳 Teddy Girls (1969)
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PART 3
The Rise of Local Consciousness,
Cantonese movies and Cantopop in the
1970s
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Local Consciousness
• After the riots in 1967, the Hong Kong government
designed a series of programs with the aim to
construct a kind of local consciousness to curb
national and/or anticolonial sentiments of post-1967
society.
• Before 1967, Hong Kong people had never been self-
conscious about their own identity – Hong Kong was
traditionally seen as a transient shelter rather than a
true home.
• A distinct Hong Kong identity first emerged in the
1970’s. Chu, 2017 p.41
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“While before the 1970s Hong Kong was largely
regarded as a refugee society, the 1970s saw the
coming of age of a new class of educated youth,
who were born or brought up in Hong Kong,
having a better sense of belonging to Hong
Kong”
Cited from Ma, N. (2009) “Social Movements and State-Society
Relationship in Hong Kong” in Social Movements in China and Hong
Kong: The Expansion of Protest Space. ed. Khun Eng Kuah and Gilles
Guiheux. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press
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Basic Concept about Identity (身份認同)
• Identity is the cultural descriptions
of individuals (self and others),
groups and sociopolitical entities
which we identify with.
• Identity is related to the sense of
belonging to a community (e.g.
Hong Kong).
• An identity “help us to locate us in
the world” “telling us who we are,
where we have come from, what
we have done”.
Cited from: Robins K. (2005) in Benett T., Grossberg L. and Morris M. eds. New Keywords:
a Revised Vocabulary of Culture and Society 172-173; Shuker, R. (2012) Popular music
culture: the key concepts. 3rd ed. London & New York: Routledge. pp. 182-183 (Identity) 23
“Sense of Identity”
What make people imagine that they belong to the
same community, even though they do not know
each other?
What make people feel connected with each other in
the same community, even though they do not know
each other?
What make people feel they are different from the
other (those being excluded from the community)?
What make people feel proud of belonging to this
community? What make people feel superior to the
other?
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Shaping Hong Kong Identity
• The people of Hong Kong accumulated their sense
of identities through mass media and the practices
of daily lives.
• The typical characteristic of Hong Kong identity is
that the people do not have an authoritative figure
to tell them who they are.
• It is from their own daily lives that they gradually
discover who they are.
• Local popular culture (including movies, popular
music and TV) is a significant source for Hong
Kong people to find their sense of belonging.
Chu (2013): p.133 25
Shaping Hong Kong Identity
During the 1970s:
• the economy began its long boom and the living
standards of Hong Kong were on the rise
• comparatively affluent and urbanized young
generation:
• lacked memories of the Mainland
• influenced by Western culture
• though often proud to be Chinese, were less
interested in traditional Chinese entertainments
Bordwell (2000) p.31-32 26
Shaping Hong Kong Identity
The restoration of the Guangzhou-Kowloon Through
Train in 1979 – more interactions between Hong Kong
and the Mainland
Hong Kong people began seeing a sharp distinction
between “we” (the locals) and “them” (the new
immigrants /Mainlanders) with a “new sense of pride
and superiority”
Hong Kong people took great pride in their pop
culture, which was an important source of their
identity.
Chu (2017): p.42 27
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Importance of TVB in the 70’s
Television Broadcast (TVB) began
broadcasting in 1967. It quickly
changed the lifestyle of the people
in Hong Kong.
• With the huge amount of
audience, TVB had great
influences on setting trends.
• TVB programmes in the 70’s
also were important in
‘connecting’ people in Hong “Four Golden Flowers”(四朵金
花), formed by 4 TVB stars,
Kong, and were one of the performed in the popular TVB
factors that help to construct variety show “Enjoy Yourself
Tonight” （歡樂今宵)
the identity of Hong Kong http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200907/21/P20090720024
0_photo_1005693.htm
people. 28
Decline and Revival of
Cantonese Movies
• Cantonese movies reached a
saturation point in 1965 and then
declined – in the early 1970s,
almost all Chinese movies that
premiered in Hong Kong were in
Mandarin.
• “The House of 72 Tenants (七十二
家房客)” (directed by Cho Yuen 楚原
), the only Cantonese film made in
1973, which featured a cast of
familiar actors from TV, became
one of the biggest box-office
successes of that year. https://youtu.be/jmGQCg3Pbaw
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Hui Brothers
• Cantonese movies took off again with
the modern comedies of former TVB
stars the Hui Brothers - actor-director-
screenwriter Michael Hui (許冠文), actor-
singer Sam Hui (許冠傑) and actor Ricky
Hui (許冠英).
• Their hugely successful film comedies
“Game Gamblers Play” 《鬼馬雙星》
[1974], “The Private Eyes” 《半斤八兩》
[1976], and “The Contract”《 賣身契》
[1978] tackled social problems via
satirizing social phenomenon and
making fun of situations.
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The Case of Sam Hui
• The pop songs in Michael Hui’s films, written and
sang by Sam Hui, further echo the hearts of the
common people, especially the sense of
powerlessness and feelings of blue collar workers.
(e.g. “Half Catty Eight Taels”(半斤八兩) that we
discussed in Lecture 2)
• Hybridization of music styles and lyrics: Some of
Sam Hui’s pop songs had a Western-style melody
and colloquial Cantonese lyrics, whereas some were
Chinese-styled with literary Chinese lyrics
Sam Hui was able to attract different kinds of
audiences, from teenagers to adults and from white
collars workers to blue collar workers
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Chu (2017) p.50-51
Political, Economic and Social Context in
the mid-1970s
• Rapid economic development
• Rapid growth of local popular culture expressed in
film, music and TV shows
• Hong Kong people worked very hard, sharing a
common goal of improving their standard of living
• On one hand Hong Kong people were not satisfied
with social inequalities, but on the other hand proud
of their own accomplishments in terms of economic
growth
• Hong Kong was shaped as a commercial city,
placing economic development at the top of the
priority list
32
Chu (2017) p.67-68
• Watch a clip from Hui Brothers movies, and discuss
how Hong Kong people were represented in the
movies. List some characteristics of Hong Kong
people represented in the text.
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Watch a clip from Sam Hui’s
song “Finding a Job”(〈搵嘢
做〉) and discuss how Hong
Kong people were
represented in the song. List
some characteristics of Hong
Kong people represented in
the text.
https://youtu.be/j0flMZoT_HA 34
《搵嘢做》（部份歌詞)
曲：許冠傑 詞：許冠傑/黎彼得
從前有個人叫莫大毛 日日攤响屋企等米路
神神化化作風虛無
又唔願剃鬚 (重成日去賭)
窮途意冷走去問前途 但願仙家指點三兩度
如何有法變得富豪
望黃大仙能預告 (呢枝簽話呢)
嗱嗱聲即刻走去搵嘢做
人必須知道自己嘅用途
唔去奮鬥你咪望有酬勞
想搵錢應該快手 Come on let's go
著著聲即刻走去搵嘢做
人必須旨意自己創路途
快去奮鬥您實會攀得高
你要坐Benz靠自己個腦 35
“Finding a Job” (English literal translation of part of the lyrics)
Music by Sam Hui; lyrics by Sam Hui and Peter Lai
There was a man called Mo, always lying at home just waiting
Being weird, doing nothing
No shaving, and always go gambling
So poor that he wants to ask about his fortune
Wish the gods can give him some tips
How to become rich?
Hope Wong Tai Sin can advise (And the advice is : )
Go find a job! Quick quick quick!
You must know what you can contribute
Never think you can be rewarded without being hardworking
Want to earn money? Quick! Come on let’s go!
Go and find a job right now! You can create a bright future only on your own!
Be hardworking and you can climb up high
Want to own a Benz? Use your brain! 36
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Lyrics Text Production
Music Text
Down-to-earth; colloquial but Investment
Hybridity of
sometimes poetic; with a variety from and
Western and
of topics such as social satire and promotion
traditional
parodies, philosophy of life, love strategy by
Chinese style
songs, everyday life problems of international
contemporary HK people; record
Star Text representing local popular style companies
•Distinct personal
image – grown up in
Media
public estate; HKU
Movies, TV,
graduate; fluent in
Sam Hui radio and
English; ability to sing
as an printed media
and play music;
icon/a further promote
handsome look - image symbol and interpret the
that most HK people
“Sam Hui”icon
admired
•Hybridization of Audience
grassroots and - In 1970s, audience admired and identified
Westernized image, with Hui’s image; nowadays people
working class and “reimagine” and construct the image of HK in
superstar image 70s and 80s through his songs and image
37
• TV dramas became the major entertainment
form of Hong Kong people in the 1970s and
1980s. The habit of the whole family eating
dinner and watching TV drama at the same
time was cultivated.
• Theme songs of these TV dramas were able to
capture a large audience when they were heard
every weekday evening during prime time for
four to five months.
• Only big Cantopop stars had the opportunity
to sing these theme songs, and their rising
popularity, in turn, significantly expanded the
market of Cantopop.
• Some songs have signature lines that had
become the pet phrases of Hong Kong people.
For example, “Change alone is eternal” (「變幻
才是永恆」) in “A House is Not a Home”(《家
Chu (2017) p.57
變》) , written by James Wong (黃霑) in 1977.38
Summary of Key Concepts / Topics
• Mandarin movies vs Cantonese movies before mid-1970s
• Marginalization of Cantopop before mid-1970s
• Hong Kong as a “transient shelter” and the “refugee
mentality” before 1970s
• The case of Bruce Lee : Chinese pride and nationalism in
films
• The rise of local consciousness in 1970s
• Basic concepts about “identity”
• Shaping Hong Kong identity in the 1970s and the
contexts in the 1970s
• The case of Hui Brothers’ movies and Sam Hui’s songs
• Importance of TV, TV dramas and their theme songs 39
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References
This set of lecture notes includes quotations and summary of ideas from the
following:
•Bordwell, D. (2000). Planet Hong Kong: Popular Cinema and the Art of
Entertainment. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. pp.31-33
•Chu, Y.W. (2017) Hong Kong Cantopop : a concise history. Hong Kong: HKU Press,
pp. 1-68
•Chu, Y.W. (2013). “Who Sings Hong Kong? Remapping Cantopop in the Global
Era.” Lost in Transition: Hong Kong Culture in the Age of China. Albany: State
University of New York Press. 121-149.
•Fu W. ed. (2012). Hong Kong memories in cinema. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Film
Archive pp.49-52, 70-73
•Shuker, R. (2012) Popular music culture: the key concepts. 3rd ed. London & New
York: Routledge. pp.182-183 (identity)
•Teo, S. (2000), ‘Hong Kong cinema’ in World Cinema: Critical Approaches. Ed. John
Hill & Pamela Gibson. Oxford Univ. Press. pp.166-170
•Wong, Chi-chung Elvin. “Making and using pop music in Hong Kong.” MPhil
Thesis. University of Hong Kong, 1997.
•黃湛森 (黃霑) (2003)，〈粵語流行曲的發展與興衰：香港流行音樂研究1949-1997
40
〉，香港：香港大學亞洲研究中心博士論文
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