Yang and yin: gender in Chinese cinema: a film to celebrate 100 years of cinema: by Stanley Kwan

Episode of Series “The Century of cinema”.
Yan and Yin: gender in Chinese Cinema is a fascinating insight into Chinese films. In this context ‘Chinese’ incorporates films from Hong Kong and Tawain as well as mainland China. Kwan’s documentary is a highly personal view which looks in particular at subtextual issues of homosexuality and transexuality in Chinese films. The film includes interviews with John Woo, Ang Lee, Hou Hsiao Hsien, Leslie Cheung, Chen Kaige and Chang Cheh, who was an integral director in the Shaw Brothers martial arts films from which Bruce Lee emerged. There are also countless excerpts from films which span the century, including early Chinese cinema and Cantonese Opera Films featuring Yan Kin-Fai and Baak Suet-Sin, a famous lesbian couple who were extremely popular in the fifties. There are also excerpts from “Way of the Dragon” (Bruce Lee), John Woo’s “A Better Tomorrow” and “The Killer”, Wong Kar-Wai’s “Fallen Angels” (309301) and “Ashes of Time” (309077), Chen Kaige’s “Farewell My Concubine” (306547) and “The Big Red”, Xie Jin’s “Hibiscus Town”, Ang Lee’s “The Wedding Banquet” (306767) and Hou Hsiao Hsien’s “A City of Sadness”. With photography by Chris Doyle and narration read by Tony Rayns. In English, Cantonese and Mandarin with English subtitles.