Filming Margins: Tang Shu-shuen - A Forgotten Hong Kong Woman Director

Filming Margins: Tang Shu-shuen - A Forgotten Hong Kong Woman Director

by Yau Ching

Hong Kong University Press $375

Unassuming in public, but vociferous in private; stylistically diverse, yet uncompromisingly principled; instilled with western culture, but grounded with local knowledge of Hong Kong. These are characteristics shared by Cecile Tang Shu-shuen, one of the most accomplished directors in local cinema, and Yau Ching, a scholar in feminism and cultural studies and also an independent filmmaker. Given their similarities, it's no surprise that a sympathetic yet insightful book emerged when the latter cast a critical eye on the former.

The granddaughter of a provincial governor in Yunnan, Tang was born in Hong Kong and educated in Los Angeles, before returning to make four critically acclaimed movies in the 1970s. Her debut, The Arch, was showered with awards in Hong Kong and Taiwan and shown at Cannes. In 1979, she moved to Los Angeles, where she's now more famous feting than directing film stars in a restaurant she owns near Beverly Hills.

This is more than enough material for a straightforward narrative. Filming Margins, however, offers more. Rather than dithering on the 'what' - the critical examination of Tang's oeuvre - Yau is more interested in the 'why': the unique cultural contexts that fed into Tang's movies.