City on fire : Hong Kong cinema /

This excellent introduction to the "Hollywood of the East" outguns rivals like Frederic Dannen's Hong Kong Babylon (LJ 11/1/97) and Stephen Teo's Hong Kong Cinema: The Extra Dimensions (British Film Inst., 1998). Stokes and Hoover (humanities and political science, respectively, at Seminole Community Coll.) employ a political economy approach in offering context for a film industry that ranks first in the world in per capita production and second in film export. They subsequently review the high-octane product of action directors like John Woo and Tsui Hark, not losing sight of Ann Hui's meditations on exile or international stars such as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. In examining this "crisis cinema," the authors refer to both poststructuralist theory and fanzines like Asian Trash Cinema. The enticing result is a volatile mix that resembles its subject. Recommended for both academic and large public libraries.ÄNeal Baker, Earlham Coll., Richmond, IN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.