Muqing Niu

In Search for Love: Modernization, Home, and Romance in Wang Kar Wai and Jia Zhangke

Started May 13, 2022

Abstract or project description

Abstract This paper examines the films of Wong Kar-wai and Jia Zhangke as two examples and analyzed the effects of modernization on people in late 1990s China. Through a comparative analysis of Chungking Express (1994) and Still Life (2006), I show how the two films are distinct in their main emphasis and how they reflect the perception of “home” in both areas of China. In the different techniques of cinematography, narrative forms, editing, space construction, etc, we see how Chungking Express stresses individualism compared to collectivism in Still Life, which reflects the definition of home in Hong Kong is closely related to the construction of self-identity while home in mainland China is more connected to its social-cultural unit.