2020 CTS Film Week: Re-examining "Vengeance of the Phoenix Sisters" and its Generic Hybridization

Professor Ru-Shou Robert Chen (National Chengchi University, Taiwan)

Abstract

Based on my previous study, I would like to ask the following questions: what happened when Hong-Ming CHEN, editor of Dragon Inn (1967), became the director of Vengeance of the Phoenix Sisters (1968)? Within the span of a year, how was Chen able to follow the genre conventions of the wuxia film set up by Dragon Inn, while creating his own trademark?

That Vengeance of the Phoenix Sisters was strongly influenced by Dragon Inn is undeniable. However, by closely analyzing it, Vengeance of te Phoenix Sisters does have its own innovative ideas, learnt not only from Dragon Inn, but also from Japanese chambara films as well as the western. A further study might be done to examine if such a flamboyant mix of genres in Vengeance of the Phoenix Sisters can be found in other Taiyupian as a narrative strategy.

Speaker Biography

Ru-Shou Robert Chen is a professor at the Department of Radio-TV, National Chengchi University, Taiwan. His study fields include Taiwan cinema, film theory, popular culture, and Walter Benjamin.

* All SOAS Centre of Taiwan Studies are free and open to all to attend. We suggest you arrive a few minutes early at the venue to secure your seat.

Organiser: SOAS Centre of Taiwan Studies

Contact email: ml156@soas.ac.uk