Kung Fu films on the decline?

The Golden Era of Hong Kong film is over. As Hollywood embraces stars like John Woo and Jet Li, and coopts the kung fu flick, the city that spawned the genre takes on a more down-to-earth identity.

It may be that every art form reaches a zenith – and then must go down. For Hong Kong films, beyond geopolitics and economic woes lies a core problem of vision. Hong Kong, after all, is not a stable place. Wave after wave of immigrants mean that change is in fact the constant.

The article went on to say that the cause of this was the piracy that is rampant in Chinese. It also blamed Hollywood for sweeping up some of Chinas most talented actors and directors like, Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat, and John Woo.

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