Martial Arts and Masculine Identity in Feng Xiaogang's The Banquet

Abstract

Cluster: Asian Shakespeares on Screen: Two Films in Perspective

Edited by Alexa Huang

As cinematic clichés go, the image of the Asian martial arts master is about as well-worn as it comes. And yet in the hands of a director like Feng Xiaogang, the image is revitalized in ways that not only make it fresh again, but also reflect how the director re-imagines Shakespeare's characters. This paper considers the role of the martial arts in the conception of masculinity in Feng's The Banquet. As an adaptation of Hamlet, The Banquet subtly negotiates the strand in theatrical and critical history that effeminizes Hamlet as the sensitive melancholiac — but within a specifically global context in which China is an emerging superpower. As the paper examines how Feng refigures masculine identity in Hamlet, it will also argue that the film is confronting the issue of Asian masculine identity itself as represented in global cinema.