ABSTRACT
This chapter explores different cinematic visions of urbanity as a result of the unique history of Hong Kong. Exiled filmmakers from China were instrumental in the foundation of the extensive Hong Kong film industry in the first half of the twentieth century. A nostalgic relationship to China shaped the rise of the martial arts genre with an emphasis on sword play. The vast number of production companies established a flourishing film industry. In the early 1970s Bruce Lee emerged as a global star of the martial arts genre, followed by Jackie Chan in the early 1980s. The chapter offers a comparative discussion of the symbolic significance of the two martial arts stars. During the 1980s, the heroes cycle, a hyper-violent urban gangster genre, and the global art cinema, the New Wave, developed. Both are urban genres that circulated globally but differ fundamentally in their aesthetics and narratives. After the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997 created a caesura, films in the twenty-first century include a range of genres and styles.
