The aesthetics of fantastic realism : a study of Wuxia film

Abstract

By referring to André Bazin’s and Siegfried Kracauer’s theoretical frameworks of film realism, the paper constructs an analysis of how such theories postulate a narrow array of possibilities for creative filmmakers like King Hu, Wong Kar-wai, Zhang Yimou and Hou Hsiao-Hsien. The study commences with an analysis of Hu’s aesthetic as the pioneer who deconstructed the wuxia genre by tracing its roots to the traditional Beijing opera. Wong, Zhang and Hou, who came after, built upon Hu’s stylised aesthetic and further intensified it to create their own idiosyncratic visions of existence. Significantly, as the paper argues, the aforementioned visionary filmmakers transcend restrictive theoretical frameworks like Kracauer’s and Bazin’s realist aesthetic