{"title":"Screening Torture in The Message : The Body and Soul of a Genre Film","authors":"Li Yang","doi":"10.3868/S010-007-018-0006-3","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"AbstractThe 2009 hit espionage thriller The Message ( Fengsheng 风声) was widely regarded as a milestone in Chinese genre filmmaking in the new millennium. Differing from Socialist espionage films, contemporaneous espionage TV series as well as its literary original, the film is first and foremost characterized by its plenitude of torture scenes. A textual critique on these torture scenes reveals the generic elements from both Socialist revolutionary classics and American horror films. The genre mixing in The Message produces the sensorial pleasure of a body genre film while being safeguarded by its revolutionary packaging. As a specimen of the Chinese private film sector’s aggressive dual commercial and political campaign, The Message illustrates the strategies of Chinese genre filmmaking and manifests the splitting logic in the Chinese film industry.","PeriodicalId":53910,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers of Literary Studies in China","volume":"12 1","pages":"102-126"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1000,"publicationDate":"2018-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Frontiers of Literary Studies in China","FirstCategoryId":"1092","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3868/S010-007-018-0006-3","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"ASIAN STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
AbstractThe 2009 hit espionage thriller The Message ( Fengsheng 风声) was widely regarded as a milestone in Chinese genre filmmaking in the new millennium. Differing from Socialist espionage films, contemporaneous espionage TV series as well as its literary original, the film is first and foremost characterized by its plenitude of torture scenes. A textual critique on these torture scenes reveals the generic elements from both Socialist revolutionary classics and American horror films. The genre mixing in The Message produces the sensorial pleasure of a body genre film while being safeguarded by its revolutionary packaging. As a specimen of the Chinese private film sector’s aggressive dual commercial and political campaign, The Message illustrates the strategies of Chinese genre filmmaking and manifests the splitting logic in the Chinese film industry.
期刊介绍:
Frontiers of Literature in China seeks to provide a forum for a broad blend of peer-reviewed academic papers of literature in order to promote communication and exchanges between litterateurs in China and abroad. It will reflect the enormous advances made in China in the field of literature in recent years. In addition, this journal also bears the mission of introducing the academic achievements on Chinese literature research to the world. The coverage will include the following main branches of literature, both theoretical and applied: ancient Chinese literature, modern Chinese literature and contemporary Chinese literature.