Living for the city: cinematic imaginary of the cityscape in China's transnational films

Abstract

This essay focuses on urban-set transnational films -films that employ transnational or trans-regional capital and creative talents, and are shown to both domestic and international audiences. The films in question are also culturally important for their depiction of contemporary Chinese society and their exploration of social and spatial transformations in the era of globalisation. The three films selected are set in the city of Shanghai: Shanghai story (Peng Xiaolian 2004), The postmodern life of my aunt (Ann Hui 2006), and The longest night in Shanghai (Zhang Yibai 2007). Through a close analysis, the article examines how these films engage with issues related to Shanghai's urban transformation, such as the relationships between the local and the global, the traditional/communal and the postmodern/monumental spaces, as well as the position of women in the changing cityscape.