East by Southeast: Encounters with Thailand in Contemporary East

East by Southeast:
Encounters with Thailand in
Contemporary East Asian Cinema
Adam Knee, School of International Communications,
University of Nottingham Ningbo
Japanese Films with Thai Settings
• Drama
– Shining Boy & Little Randy (Shunsaku Kawake, 2005)
– Sayonara Itsuka (John H. Lee, 2010)
• Manga-adapted action
– L: Change the World (Hideo Nakata, 2008)
– MW (Hiroshi Iwamoto, 2009)
• Art film
– Nanayo (aka Nanayomachi, Naomi Kawase, 2008)
– Children of the Dark (Junji Sakamoto, 2008)
– Pool (Mika Omori, 2009)
Drama
Manga/Action
Art Film
Japanese Representations
Contexts
• Japanese relationship to
Asia: sameness, but also
superiority, nostalgia
(Iwabuchi)
• Top direct investor in
Thailand
• High tourist entry numbers
• Top use of Thai location
shooting
Cinematic tendencies
• Emotional regeneration
• Spirituality
• Rural, underdeveloped,
resource-rich
• Exploitation
• Nostalgia
Hong Kong Films with Thai Settings
• Air Hostess (1959), Crocodile River (1965),
The Big Boss (1971), Full Contact (1992),
Infernal Affairs series (2002-03)
Hong Kong Representations
Contexts
• Long standing diasporic
connections, business
connections (incl. film
industry)
• Hong Kong’s ambivalent
relationship to Southeast
Asia
•
A Knee, “Thailand in the Hong Kong Cinematic
Imagination,” in Gina Marchetti and Tan SeeKam, eds., Hong Kong Film, Hollywood, and the
New Global Cinema (Routledge, 2007).
Cinematic tendencies
• Stereotyping
• Touristic space
• Unregulated,
underdeveloped
• Nature/the supernatural
• Erotic/romantic possibilities
(excitement and/or danger)
• Connections to past
• Connections to family
Mainland Chinese Phenomenon
Journey to the Southeast
Shouldn’t happen to a dog . . .
Thank You