CAMÉRA STYLO, APRIL 2019

Flourishing on the Borderline: The “In-Between-ness” in Tang Shu Shuen’s The Arch (1969)

Originating from the “in-between-ness” of the late-1960s Hong Kong and Tang Shu Shuen’s personal contested cross-cultural identity, The Arch reifies the dynamic tension and negotiation between dichotomies on multiple levels. With the seeds of Hong Kong New Wave planted and about to surface within a decade, the film set the tone for the next generation of Hong Kong filmmakers to search for their own identity in a turbulent age of globalization, displacement, and decolonization.