TOWARDS A LOCAL IDENTITY: FOOD AND CARE LABOUR IN ANN HUI'S DOMESTIC FILMS

Abstract

This thesis focuses on representations of food and care labour in relation to local communities and identity in Hong Kong female film director Ann Hui’s domestic films, Song of the Exile (1990), Summer Snow (1995), July Rhapsody (2002), The Way We Are (2008), All About Love (2010) and A Simple Life (2011). Through lenses of food and care labour, I examine Hui’s representations of quotidian Hong Kong life. Drawing upon scholarly studies on food preferences and exchanges, commensality, as well as care labour distribution and commitment, I evaluate Hui’s articulation of local identity through her depiction of evolving cross-cultural identifications, rejuvenating familial relationships and strengthening communal bonds. Hui’s consistent narrative focuses on female characters also add female perspectives and female lived experiences onto the local identity discourse. Such a local identity complements readings of Hong Kong films as national allegories, providing a nuanced and complex interpretation of Hong Kong identity.