Customer Reviews

At the Hong Kong Movies: 600 Reviews from 1988 Till the Handover

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Fonoroff's book has a special place in the library of Hong Kong film studies, since his is the only one written so far (at least in English) by a critic actually living and working in Hong Kong; but his reviews are so consistently negative that the book has little value as either entertainment or useful guide. It doesn't help that the only film I could find that he gave a four-star review to (ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA II) was one that he happened to have a strong supporting role as an actor in. While there are some interesting items in the book in regards to the Hong Kong film industry, there simply aren't enough to make it worth wading through Fonoroff's continuous seeming hatred of his subject.

at a glance this book seems like a treasure for those who love HK movies and want a handy reference. But once you start reading his reviews, you realize that despite his opening claim that he actually loves these movies---he hates them. He's analyzing them like they're supposed to be the next James Joyce of films, but most HK movies are high octane fun. Start looking at the logic of things and these movies tend to fall apart (as do most all movies).

He loses the sheer exhilaration of the viewer.

So please, someone out there who actually loves these films---put together a comprehensive plot/review of HK films.

Fonoroff's book is very comprehensive, covering if not all, then certainly most, HK films made between 1988 to 1997. He also knows the HK film industry well and it shows in the book. I don't disagree with all the comments below save one. This is NOT a book for the fan or the uninitiated. Fonoroff is perhaps a little too critical to satisfy the ordinary fan and certainly not complimentary enough to attract the uninitiated to the charms of HK cinema. Fonoroff is a film critic and so will be hard on films. However, for a man who has the patience to review 600 HK films, you would think that he must have some love for them. I think that perhaps Fonoroff does love/like HK cinema but you can hardly tell, he compliments too few of them. One comes away feeling that Fonoroff's just watches and reviews them because it's part of the job. I know this is a collection of his reviews written for the paper but I still can't help coming away feeling a little alienated. That said, I still think the book is good, I own it and will recommend it. I appreciate his alternative and objective views which sets this book apart from Logan's "HK Action Cinema" and Hammond's "Sex and Zen and Bullet in the Head." I just don't recommend it to those who are HK film fanatics no matter what. And if you are trying to entice your friend into sampling a different kind of cinema get Hammond's or Logan's book. Now, if you don't need a ra-ra fan book AND would like a reference book then I say get this book. You'll get an insight into how the HK film industry works and you'll get some if not good, then at least alternative, commentary on 600 films.

A middlebrow book with highbrow pretensions. I picked this book up at the airport hoping for a nice light read on the plane, and ended up wishing there was an 'EJECT' chute as I was halfway over the Pacific. Rarely have I ever read a book so bristling with enmity and disdain for its subject matter, and with such terrific cultural ignorance one wonders if any research was done other than hanging around the 'western' concessions and expat hangouts. I had thought that such 'colonial' condescension had passed with the times, but apparently it is still alive and well. That is the tone which informs this entire tome and permeates every review therein.. which is terribly unfortunate, given that the author's rather rare and privileged position would have afforded him valuable glimpses behind this once vibrant filmic community ( one can always hope for a second flowering, considering the recent output and the success of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, though not made in HK)... if only one had chosen to see with fresh eyes, rather than attempt to shoehorn every filmic tradition into tired Hollywood conventions of narrative film making.When faced with situations like this, one should give pause to one's examination of the subject at hand, and call into question the yardstick which is being used to take its measure.

Also MOST notable for missing the boat on Wong Kar Wai.

I found the book extemely useful as a reference, particularly since the credits are in both English and Chinese. This is especially useful to movie fans over here in Singapore, where most HK movie fans would know the titles only in Chinese and often there is little or no relationship between the movie's Chinese and English titles. As for the reviews themselves, I found them interesting, critical, and even when I didn't agree with them I felt I learned something from a different point of view.

This book really tells it like it is, and is comprehensive to boot. Fonoroff is highly critical but he supports his opinions well. It's refreshing to hear such honest opinions and not the usual "rah rah" "isn't it wonderful" that so many Asian movie addicts feel obligated to dish out. Fonoroff is also lavish with his praise when he finds a movie he respects, which admittedly is rare. He also likes the trashy guilty pleasure flicks. I think what he respects most is movies that aren't pretentious, which includes the bad & the ugly along with the good. You can't deny he doesn't know his stuff. Unlike most foreign critics of Hong Kong movies, he's lived there for 20 years and speaks the language, plus he has a solid background in Hong Kong cinema.

I can't believe some of the negative comments I've read here by other reviewers. Whether or not you agree with Fonoroff's opinions, this book is an authorative and informative document covering the decade from the late 1980s to the late 1990s. Unlike a lot of Westerners who review Hong Kong movies on DVD long after their release, Fonoroff saw them when they first came out, and his reviews include many topical references that give an overall feeling for the time and place in which they were made. Plus, there's over 600 reviews in the book, covering all the major and most of the minor movies of the period. There isn't another book in English like it.

This book has universal appeal for all film enthusiasts. Fonoroff's comments are full of wit and wisdom. He provides a lively overview of a ten-year span of Hong Kong movies. Even though only a few of these films may be familiar, the reader gains insight into the essential elements that define a good movie -- in any language.These reviews show why Fonoroff has become a popular film critic and historian in China today.

This book is not only a collection of reviews, but a veritable history of recent Hong Kong cinema, as seen through the eyes of the man who is arguably the leading expert on Chinese Film today. The reviews are not only informed, elegant, witty, and to the point; together they reveal a consistent and illuminating perspective on the Hong Kong film industry of the last decade. Fonoroff clearly has his own, Hollywood-derived aesthetic, but in this his judgments always have the ring of truth insofar as the Hollywood style remains the pretension of most mainstream Honk Kong film products through to today. In this respect, Fonoroff's "At the Hong Kong Movies" is an excellent companion piece to his earlier volume "Silver Light" (still largely unavailable in the US), which is an indispensible pictorial history of Hong Kong cinema from its inception through the 1960s. Together the two volumes provide the best introduction to Hong Kong film that one could wish.

This book is unique. A really insightful and comprehensive view of over 600 Hong Kong movies by someone who really knows what he's writing about. In terms of length, kind of midway between Pauline Kael and Leonard Maltin. Paul Fonoroff writes with wit & insight. You may not agree with his views, but he makes a strong case for his unique point of view.