Scan barcode
julzella's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
This gave me exactly the historical and cultural context I needed. I'm impressed by the discussion of not only sexuality but also gender, both in a historical context and how the perspective of the film shifted in the public eye after Leslie Cheung's death. It allowed me to re-contextualize a few scenes from the film that left me confused and deepened my understanding of small details, themes, and symbolism that I missed.
I wish this book was about double the length, and I feel like to really discuss all the symbolism another hundred pages would be necessary. Knocking off a half star because there wasn't enough discussion on Juxian.
Next time I watch it, all of these small pieces will come together to make the whole film even more beautiful and tragic.
Some of my favorite quotes below.
"All who have wielded power over Dieyi have had that power turned back against them: the old eunuch Zhang has become a beggar and his residence turned into a coffin shop; Aoki does not survive the war; Master Yuan is executed by the Communists; and finally, Xiao Si'er will be struggled against by Red Guards. In this light, Dieyi is not the lone victim of oppression; he simply lives in a time of relentless cyclical violence."
"[Dieyi]'s love for Xiaolou can find no viable expression except through the highly gendered and idealized terms of the opera... Because he can only express himself in those terms, Dieyi now appears, within our contemporary discourse of gay identity, suspiciously anachronistic and 'incorrect.' From where he stands, Dieyi has no place in the past, present, or future. While it has been remarked that xianggong 'did not make it into the 20th century' it seems to me that someone like Dieyi never made it into history at all."
I wish this book was about double the length, and I feel like to really discuss all the symbolism another hundred pages would be necessary. Knocking off a half star because there wasn't enough discussion on Juxian.
Next time I watch it, all of these small pieces will come together to make the whole film even more beautiful and tragic.
Some of my favorite quotes below.
"[Dieyi]'s love for Xiaolou can find no viable expression except through the highly gendered and idealized terms of the opera... Because he can only express himself in those terms, Dieyi now appears, within our contemporary discourse of gay identity, suspiciously anachronistic and 'incorrect.' From where he stands, Dieyi has no place in the past, present, or future. While it has been remarked that xianggong 'did not make it into the 20th century' it seems to me that someone like Dieyi never made it into history at all."
More...