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C.C.T.V. |
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The Chinese Central Television is the public channel (controlled by the Chinese government). Among the CCTV's 12 channels, two are of easy access in Europe via Hot Bird. CCTV 4 (12.169 GHz pol.H) in Mandarin and CCTV 9 (11.034 Ghz pol.V) in English. |
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C.I.D. |
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Central Intelligence Division which could be described as the 'Crime Squad', the one in charge of criminal affairs. |
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Canton |
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Canton was the birthplace of the martial arts tradition in Southern China; the Shaolin techniques developed there especially thanks to the fact that many monks originated from that place. Kung-fu is its main tradition. |
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Cantonese |
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Cantonese (Guangdonghua or yueyu) is the dialect of the province of Guangdong (Canton) which is widely spoken in Hong Kong. If the Chinese characters (apart from a few changes in the writing for some, but it remains a minor phenomenon) are the same as in Mandarin, the pronunciation is completely different.
There is no official phonetic transcription as for Mandarin which uses the pinyin. For Cantonese, there are three systems: Meyer-Wempe, Sydney Lau and Yale. The Yale system has six tones but actually there are nine tones on the whole. There are only four in Mandarin. Hong Kong films are subtitled in both Chinese and English so as to be understood by the whole population. Until the 1970s, there were two industries: the Mandarin cinema (the Shaw Brothers…) and the Cantonese one. Since the latter has imposed its supremacy, it is standard practice to dub a film twice, in Cantonese for Hong Kong and in Mandarin for Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and mainland China.
As a result, two languages can be heard on a DVD and a V.C.D.: one on the left track, the other on the right track (depending on the producer).
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Cantopop |
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Cantonese Pop Music or Cantopop is a very localized and typically Hong Kong musical movement, in the same way as Pop Music is British, Salsa is Cuban and Reggae is Jamaican. We have decided to evoke Cantopop because, beyond the ordinary Cantonese MOR music, it is part and parcel of the former colony's popular culture and it is closely linked to the local film industry. There, stars are versatile and are into all sorts of media. |
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Category / Film Rating |
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The law in Hong Kong obliges cinema owners to rate their films. From Category I 'Universal' to III 'Strictly forbidden to anyone under 18'. See the introduction to Catégorie 3 by David-Olivier for further information on this topic. |
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Chanbara |
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A chanbara is a Japanese sword film, the name of which comes from the onomatopoeia 'chan chan bara bara' which reproduces the sound of the sword cutting up flesh.
The influence of chanbara can be found in HK films such as The Sword by Patrick Tam Kar Ming (Tan Jia-Ming), Duel To The Death by Tony Ching Siu Tung or even Beach Of The War Gods by and with Jimmy Wang Yu.
Selective filmography :
Zatoichi by and with Takeshi Kitano Shogun’s Shadow by Yasuo Furuhata Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance by Toshiya Fujita Lady Snowblood by Toshiya Fujita
The Baby Cart saga from 1972 to 1975 :
The Sword of Vengeance by Kenji Misumi Baby Cart at the River Styx by Kenji Misumi Baby Cart to Hades by Kenji Misumi Baby Cart in Peril by Buichi Sato Baby Cart in the land of Demons by Kenji Misumi White Heaven in Hell by Yoshiyuki Kuroda
A few films by Akira Kurosawa
Ran Kagemusha Sanjuro Yojinbo The Hidden Fortress Throne of Blood The Seven Samurai Rashômon Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail
Others
Miyamoto Musashi by Tai Kato Goyokin by Hideo Gosha Sword of Doom by Kihachi Okamoto Three Outlaw Samurai by Hideo Gosha Kyoshiro Nemuri at Bay by Kazuo Ikehiro Tales of the Taira Clan by Kenji Mizoguchi The 47 Ronin / The Loyal 47 Ronin of the Genroku Era by Kenji Mizoguchi Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman by Tokuzo Tanaka Hara Kiri by Masaki Kobayashi |
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Chinese Area |
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Chinatown (‘zhongguo cheng’ in Mandarin).
As all diasporas, the Chinese tend to unite among themselves giving birth to real Chinese areas, a kind of partial reconstruction of their original environment. In Paris, the Chinese area is in the 13th ‘Arrondissement’ or in Belleville. In the world, the biggest Chinatowns are in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Montreal, Vancouver, Sydney, London, Amsterdam...
The subject has been of a great interest in the USA giving rise to films like Cimino’s Year of the Dragon, The Joy Luck Club, Romeo Must Die or The Corruptor. Those areas can also be seen in Jackie Chan’s international films like Rumble In The Bronx, Mr Nice Guy, First Strike or Rush Hour. |
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Chinese New Year |
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The Chinese commonly call the New Year celebration (nianjie) ‘chunjie’ (the Spring celebration). It marks the first day of the lunar calendar. Officially, the New year festivities last three days, but the majority of people stop working for a whole week. The date varies every year between the second half of January and the second period of ten days in February. The preparations occur a fortnight prior to the celebration, during which lanterns, banderoles with maxims, garlands, cut pieces of paper stuck on doors and windows, etc. are made. In the past, one offered sacrifices to ancestors and gods, this tradition endures in some countrysides.
At night, people light up fireworks and beads of firecrackers, supposed to frighten evil spirits. The day after, the first day of the year is the time to pay homage to ancestors by burning incense in front of funeral tablets, by putting fruits and a lot of wine. Then, wishes are presented to the other members of the family. Children get the famous red envelopes from their parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts… after having greeted them with their right hands in the palm of their left hands.
Numerous folk events occur such as the Dragon dance, the Lion dance, the Boat dance, the Donkey dance or even the Stilts dance. The Spring celebration ends on another one, the lanterns celebration (yuanxiaojie). Each year is under an animal sign of the Chinese horoscope. In Fight Back To School 3 by Wong Jing, one can see the hilarious Stephen Chow with Anita Mui Yim Fong give red envelopes but take them back few seconds after. It’s also one of the periods of the year (with summer) when the big budget films of HK cinema are released. Generally, these are family comedies with the it-stars or blockbusters.
Source : Le grand guide de la Chine (ed :Gallimard)
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Chinese ravioli / Jiaozi |
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Chinese ravioli or jiaozi are among the Chinese favourite dishes during Spring celebration’s eve.
Jiaozi is the Chinese title of Fruit Chan’s segment in the film Three... Extremes with Miriam Yeung and Bai Ling. |
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Chun-Li |
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Chun Li ('spring beauty') is a fictitious character who first appeared in 1991 in the videogame 'Streetfighter 2' by Capcom. This young Chinese girl is the only female character in this best-selling play game and very soon she has proved a tremendous success with many players. The lightning kick and the whirlwind kick are her favourite techniques.
Jackie Chan is disguised as Chun Li in City Hunter by Wong Jing with Gary Daniels in this wild parody of the game. And the heroine is incarnated by the beautiful Chingmy Yau in the parodic Future Cops which uses almost all the main characters in "Streetfighter 2".
Wen Ming-Na plays the role of the Chinese fighter in the hopeless American film Streetfighter by Steven E. de Suza starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Chun Li can also be seen in cartoon full-length films like Street fighter 2 the animated movie by Gisaburo Sugii, Street fighter alpha the movie by Joe Komersa and Shigeyasu Yamauchi or even in the television series Street fighter 2 V by Gisaburo Sugii.
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Clearwater Bay |
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In 1961 the Shaw Brothers' own studios open on the ground of Clearwater Bay in the New Territories. This 'Movie Town' would include all that was needed to make a film: numerous soundproofed sets (about ten), varied exterior film sets (about twenty), huge prop and costumes rooms (of a unique richness), processing equipment (copy printing and post-production), study and printing studios for publicity material and magazines, and even dormitories for actors on contract, technicians and administrative staff… On the whole, nearly 1,500 actors and actresses on contract and some 2,000 technicians work for the company! In short, the Shaw brothers almost controlled the whole genesis of a film from A to Z.
The arrival of the New Wave directors in the 1980s threw the Shaw Brothers company and its studios into a serious crisis that was to be fatal. Luckily, television took over and shootings still keep going on in the fantastic Clearwater Bay studios. |
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Crane (technics) |
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One of Kung Fu's animal styles. The crane style has never been very popular among Hong Kong choreographers, probably because it's not spectacular enough, not granted any film with its name. Nonetheless, this style was used in a few films such as Burning Paradise. Note that this technique is often associated with positive characters. |
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