From Taiwan New Cinema to Post-New Cinema: The Transition of Identity in Cape No. 7 and the Naming Issue of Post-New Cinema

Abstract

In 2008, Taiwan’s cinema began to get back on its feet after an extended lull, with several directors successively releasing critically acclaimed first works. Compared with the well-known Taiwan New Cinema, this new film trend works within the conventions of genre and often focuses on local issues and ordinary life. In doing so, critics and scholars call it Post-New Cinema. Yet, its naming brings difficulties to our understanding on this epoch-making wave, since it neither intends to innovate the paradigm and the framework established by New Cinema, nor does it completely inherit the legacy left by it. Therefore, these uncertain interpretations motivate us to review the legitimacy of this naming. This essay will evaluate firstly the genealogy from the Taiwan New Cinema to the Post-New Cinema in aesthetic and historical–cultural representation, to further propose the paradox about the naming of Post-New Cinema. Secondly, we attempted, by comparing the two most representative films of the two periods, Cape No. 7 and A City of Sadness, an initial look at the transition and the transformation in terms of aesthetical demonstration, historical representation, and ethnic politics, to argue that a subtle change in identity has been created in Taiwanese cinema since 2008.

Keywords

• taiwanese identity
• taiwan new cinema
• post-new cinema
• postmodern history
• locality
• cape no. 7