In 1966, the ten-year Cultural Revolution began in mainland China, and Hong Kong’s left-wing film companies were directly affected, as they drastically reduced their output and their influence faded. It was not until the mid-seventies that Hong Kong films became more focused on local culture by escaping from the creative principle of realism. And the demographic structure also shifted to mainly young people, whose aesthetic preferences were an essential factor influencing the development of Hong Kong films. In addition, the economy of Hong Kong at that time was dominated by labour-intensive industries, with a large number of workers doing repetitive work on assembly lines. During the same period, factories were the setting scenes for many films. For example, “Return To The 36th Chamber” is about workers who have unintentionally learned kung fu while repeatedly building shacks. Let us imagine that when workers who have finished a full day of repetitive work and go to the theatre during their leisure time, they can probably find solace and inspiration for their work and life from this movie.
SHI YAN, ZHANG
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