IMAGES OF FEMALE WARRIORS IN THE FILM WORKS OF MICHELLE YEOHAS AN INDICATOR OF RETHINKING THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY

Zhang Jingwen

Abstract


The article studiesthe work of film actress Michelle Yeoh, in particular, the evolution of the images of female warriors created by her. It is shown that the various stages of the actress' creativity reflect the global processes of reinterpretation of female characters in adventure, fantasy, spy movies, wuxia and kungfu movies. It has been proven that the dramatic talent of Michelle Yeoh is fully revealed in adulthood and complements the images of female warriors with Taoist-Buddhist values.

The subject of the article is the images of female warriors in the works of film actress Michelle Yeoh.

The research methodology is based on search, system-historical, analytical and comparative methods, which allowed to carry out a comprehensive artistic analysis of Michelle Yeoh's creativity at various stages of her film career.

It was concluded that several types of warriors can be distinguished in Michelle Yeoh's work: "a girl with a gun"; master of martial arts; protector - sorceress - mentor; superheroine from science fiction films; a multifaceted dramatic character focused on universal existential questions. It is emphasized that the creative path of M. Yeoh is consistent with the general process of feminization of world cinema, the transfer of emphasis from the patriarchal understanding of the role of women in society to the issue of gender equality and the study of the deep nature of femininity.

Key words: Chinese cinema, Michelle Yeoh, wuxia action films, kung fu films, feature film.


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References


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References:

Eperjesi, John. (2004). Crouching tiger, hidden dragon: Kung fu diplomacy and the dream of cultural China. Asian Studies Review. 28. 25-39. 10.1080/1035782042000194509.

Dong, Lan. Mulan's Legend and Legacy in China and the United States. Springfield: Temple University Press, 2010. 263 p.

Funnell Lisa. Warrior Women: Gender, Race, and the Transnational Chinese Action Star. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2014. 294 p.

Hunt, L. (2003). Kung Fu Cult Masters: From Bruce Lee to Crouching Tiger, London: Wallflower Press.

Jay, Jennifer W. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: (Re)Packaging Chinas and Selling the Hybridized Culture in an Age of Transnationalism. Reading Chinese Transnationalisms: Society, Literature, Film, edited by Maria N. Ng and Philip Holden, Hong Kong University Press, 2006, pp. 131–42.

Khoo, Olivia. Spies, Vamps and Women Warriors: Translating the Exotic into the Technics of Chinese Femininity. The Chinese Exotic: Modern Diasporic Femininity, Hong Kong University Press, 2007, pp. 69–110.

Michelle Yeoh Breaks Down Her Most Iconic Characters.GQVideos.URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHOSiFzcHJ8&feature=youtu.be

Pang, Laikwan, and Day Wong, editors. “Front Matter.” Masculinities and Hong Kong Cinema, Hong Kong University Press, 2005. 356 p.

Steenberg, L. (2006). A Dream of China. Translation and Hybridization in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. EnterText 6.1. https://www.brunel.ac.uk/creative-writing/research/entertext/documents/entertext061/ET61Wux6SteenbergED.pdf

Tikkanen, Amy. Michelle Yeoh. Encyclopedia Britannica, Invalid Date, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michelle-Yeoh. Accessed 2 June 2023

Vojković, Saša, History as Science Fiction: Women of Action in Hong Kong Cinema, in Lina Khatib (ed.), Storytelling in World Cinemas: Contexts (New York, NY, 2013; online edn, Columbia Scholarship Online, 19 Nov. 2015),

https://doi.org/10.7312/columbia/9780231163378.003.0012

Williams, Tony. (2001). Michelle Yeoh: Under Eastern Eyes. Asian Cinema. 12. 119-131. 10.1386/ac.12.2.119_1.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.26886/2520-7474.2(56)2023.3

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