Chinese Film the 2002 Film Term Paper

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 1947 words ( 6 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 3

Page 1 of 6

In a mirror of the earlier scene where the police officer kicked the dead triad, the elevator doors attempt to close on his body, symbolizing the complete destruction of Chan's identity and humanity, as nothing is left but a piece of meat slumped on the floor. This scene effectively concludes the point made earlier by Wong's death, namely, that action films, and subsequently, the action film audience, simultaneously seek to find meaning in death while remaining dependent on the lack of meaning inherent in the deaths of most characters in action films. Infernal Affairs confronts the audience with this contradiction by melding these two disparate tendencies into the single scene of Chan's death.

Violence and death are integral Infernal Affairs' storytelling, and the film's use of violence continues a trend that began with the Hong Kong action films of the 1980s. However, rather than aestheticize violence along the lines of John Woo's gangster films, the violence in Infernal Affairs is blunt, messy, and callous. The film portrays violence in this way not to minimize it, but rather to highlight the action-film audience's reception of it. For the audience, certain deaths are inherently more meaningful than others, but this meaning is only possible so long as the audience is willing to forgo the possibility of finding meaning in the deaths of less central characters.

Stuck Writing Your "Chinese Film the 2002 Film" Term Paper?

View All Our Example Chinese Film the 2002 Film Term Paper

Have A Custom Example Essay Written

Infernal Affairs contrasts the emotionally impactful death of Wong with the deaths of the triads in a shootout, and in doing so challenges the audience's inconsistent reception of on-screen violence. This challenge reaches its apex during the scene of Chan's death, because the audience is not given any real time to engage in the kind of emotional reaction one might expect from the death of a central character. Instead, the film forces the audience to view Chan's dead body in the same light as any of the unimportant triads killed earlier on, and in doing so does not allow the audience to participate in the kind of moral and emotional equivocation that is central to most action films. Infernal Affairs implicates its audience in the violence represented, and reveals how popular receptions of violence, even when they purport to offer an emotional reflection on the nature of violence or death, in reality contribute to that violence by selectively interpreting the importance of any given on-screen death......

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Chinese Film The 2002 Film" (2012, June 07) Retrieved June 29, 2024, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/chinese-film-2002-film-58501

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Chinese Film The 2002 Film" 07 June 2012. Web.29 June. 2024. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/chinese-film-2002-film-58501>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Chinese Film The 2002 Film", 07 June 2012, Accessed.29 June. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/chinese-film-2002-film-58501
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example