To screen new heroes: -a study of Chinese: “youth problem” films

Abstract

Youth is the most dynamic and potentially volatile and independent period of life. In the last twenty years of the twentieth century, the People's Republic of China was experiencing profound transformations. Of all the strands that interweave to make up the period, the changing situation of youth was particularly striking. A younger generation, in the post-cultural Revolution years, thought and behaved in different ways from their elders and were considered “rebels," standing in an antagonistic relationship with mainstream ideology. In a society that had conventionally held age in such great respect, the prominence of young people and their new autonomy were conspicuous. Film both reflects and helps to re-shape society. The late 1980s saw a multitude of “youth problem." In these films, workers, peasants and soldiers who had occupied the central position of the silver screen for more than three decades after 1949 were replaced by angry and alienated youth. Like their British counterparts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, these Chinese "youth problem" movies provide a wealth of substantive images of youngsters living on the periphery of society. The underlying argument of this thesis is that the emergence of these "youth problem" films, as indication of a burgeoning youth culture, provides a touchstone to the tremendous changes occurring to mainland China since the late 1970s. The thesis offers a close analysis of the films and the filmmaking culture in which they were produced. It relates them to social and political contexts and considers their public reception. Although the thesis focuses on China, it includes a comparison with British “angry young man” films as a sample comparative case study. A comparative perspective is important in the study of youth, as it may reveal that the formation of youth culture, in style as well as in content, does not so much depend on distinct geographical locations and social systems as on appropriate social and cultural contexts. Despite the distinctions in conduct, belief and value system, rebellious youth of different cultures share similarities in lifestyle, behaviour, attitudes, and a common opposition to mainstream values. A cross-cultural study of youth is necessary in an increasingly globalised world, through the films that form the main body, of work analysed in this thesis are still, clearly "Chinese" in their immediate concerns and local nuances. Films that receive close study include Awakening (1980), Drive to Win (1980), sunshine and showers (1987), Coffee with sugar (1987), Rock Kids (1988) Masters of Mischief (1988), Samsara (1988), Out of Breath (1988), Obsession (1988), Half Flame, Half Brine (1988), and Beijing Bastards (1993).