Fracturing, fixing and healing bodies in the films of Fruit Chan

• Main Author: Liew, Kai Khiun
• Other Authors: Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Mass media::Broadcasting::Motion pictures and films
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/90709; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/6812
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This article explores the treatment of the issues of disability and healing in the films of Hong Kong’s independent filmmaker, Fruit Chan, between the years 1997 and 2004. These films include: Made in Hong Kong, Little Cheung, Longest Summer, Hollywood Hong-Kong, Durian Durian, Public Toilet and Dumplings. Distinguished by his efforts to forefront subaltern subjects in the city, Chan’s films highlight the complexities of the relationship between social marginality and disability, as well as the medical market and healing cultures. By contrasting diverse forms of healing in his highly hybridized and transnational vernacular medical marketplace, Chan’s films are instrumental in displaying the underlying tensions of bio-politics on screen.