Reclaiming a Legacy: The New-style Martial Arts Saga and Globalized Entertainment

Abstract

It is a phenomenon worth remarking upon that the new millennium has seen the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in partnership with Hong Kong talent and financing, release a number of big-budget, prestigious, martial arts films boasting major directors and first-rate casts. The directors involved include the likes of Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, John Woo, and Peter Ho-sun Chan, with casts that include most of the best-known martial arts and dramatic stars from Hong Kong and the Mainland. The trend began with The Emperor’s Shadow (1996, Zhou Xiaowen). This was followed by The Emperor and the Assassin (1998, Chen Kaige). Other films within this sudden storm of flashing swords include Hero (2002, Zhang Yimou), Zhang’s own follow-up, House of Flying Daggers (2004) and a third big-budget spectacular, Curse of the Golden Flower (2006). To this ever-growing list we need to add Chen’s The Promise (2005); Jacob Cheung Chi-leung’s regional co-production A Battle of Wits (2006); Feng Xiaogang’s changing career direction with The Banquet (2006); Peter Ho-Sun Chan’s The Warlords (2007); An Empress and the Warriors (2008, Tony Ching Siu-tung); and John Woo’s Red Cliff (2008). Most of these films rely strongly on Chinese history, indeed specific moments in Chinese history, revolving around questions surrounding the formation of a centralized government and resistance to it.