Jianghu Noir

Jianghu noir are stories of survival – a new film genre that celebrates jianghu heroes’ fight against the power-infused noir cityscape. Jianghu, ‘rivers and lakes’ in Chinese, originally refers to the peripheral universe where ancient martial art heroes make a name for themselves. The term has since evolved and become a powerful concept. 

In the cinema of Hong Kong, the modern jianghu is an urban maze where heroes living on the margins negotiate the overlording centres of power. Jianghu takes on a strong sense of noir when the urban landscape becomes a villain that ensnarls the marginalized heroes. In the films of jianghu noir, jianghu is defined by an individual’s orbital distance from the centres of power, whereas noir is defined by surveillance-enhanced architecture.

Jianghu noir is manifest in the works of six auteurs – John Woo, Johnnie To Kei-fung, Felix Chong Man-keung, Alan Mak Siu-fai, Wong Kar-wai, and Philip Yung Tsz-kwong. Jianghu noir begins in Hong Kong, but it is not exclusive to Hong Kong; it is a universal filmic phenomenon that offers new survival strategies in urban space across different cultures.

Dickson Cheung’s research interests include film and literature, adaptation and remakes, Hong Kong crime and gangster films, cyberpunk, and philosophy. He received his PhD from the University of Hong Kong. He teaches at various universities, offering courses on film and philosophy, world literature and cinema, adaptation and remakes, and the Hong Kong cinema.