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Planet Kong: Transnational Flows of King Kong (1933) in Japan and East Asia

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Transnational Horror Cinema

Abstract

Using M. M. Bakhtin’s theories of the grotesque and the chronotope, Raphael analyzes the global movement of King Kong (1933), focusing on unofficial remakes released in East Asia in 1976 and 1977 in attempts to capitalize on the release of King Kong (1976). In particular, he looks at critical responses to the Hong Kong Shaw Brothers’ Xing xing wang (1977) (Mighty Peking Man) illustrating how dismissal of the films on criteria of authenticity and technical prowess overlooked their critique of American military power and subsequent appeal to a variety of marginalized transnational audiences.

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Raphael, R. (2016). Planet Kong: Transnational Flows of King Kong (1933) in Japan and East Asia. In: Siddique, S., Raphael, R. (eds) Transnational Horror Cinema. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58417-5_10

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