Peter Ho-Sun Chans Hes a Woman, Shes a Man (The New Hong Kong Cinema)

This concise book is an in-depth analysis of Hong Kong director Peter Chan's dramedy 'He's a Woman, She's a Man,' including the artistic, cultural, socio-economic and political aspects of the film, with an emphasis on audience/spectator response, globalism, gender and sexual orientation, and the figure of actor Leslie Cheung. This raucous, gender-stretching comedy follows the disruptions of a glamorous Hong Kong music couple's tumultuous romance by an “ordinary” fan's noisy arrival in their lives. With great comic story development, the film confronts social stereotypes of masculine females, male anxieties about homosexuality, and the limits of male femininity. This book offers important background on comedic narrative structure in Cantonese opera and other traditional sources that have influenced Hong Kong cinema. PETER HO-SUN CHAN’S He’s a Woman, She’s a Man 4 Copyright 5 Table of Contents 8 Series Preface 10 Acknowledgements 14 1. Comedy and More 16 2. Camera, Sound, and Music 28 3. Cross-Dressing, Gender-Bending, and Sexual Orientation 46 4. Commerce and Globalization 74 5. Audience 100 Notes 124 Credits 160 Filmography 164 This comedy confronts social stereotypes of masculine females, male anxieties about homosexuality and the limits of female femininity. The book also offers background on comedic narrative structure in Cantonese opera and other traditional sources that have influenced Hong Kong cinema.