Things Americans Were Told About China in the 1920s
Posted: October 26th, 2018 | No Comments »from the American newspapers in 1921….
Hong Kong International Literary Festival Opening Night – 2/11/18 – JC Cube, Tai Kwun
Posted: October 25th, 2018 | No Comments »The HKILF opening night is rapidly approaching and it’s in a fantastic new venue, the JC Cube (below) at the new Tai Kwun arts centre on Hollywood Road (and its free)…7-8pm, 2/11/18 – click here
Join us for a dynamic, eclectic and entertaining evening as we celebrate the start of Hong Kong’s 18th International Literary Festival!
Drawing together local and international literary talent, we present a night of storytelling inspired by the theme of journeys. Festival participants Geoff Dyer, Paul French, Nashua Gallagher, Emmy the Great and Jenny Zhang will share their tales of here, there and what lies in between.
One More Midnight in Peking Walking Tour Before it Gets a Bit too Chilly Up There in Beijing – 27/10/18
Posted: October 24th, 2018 | No Comments »This Saturday, October 27th, there is one more official Penguin China & Bespoke Beijing Midnight in Peking Walking Tour before its gets a bit chilly in Beijing to go our walking for a few hours…
Together in one Box – the Von Sternebrg-Dietrich Collection
Posted: October 23rd, 2018 | No Comments »Christmas is coming…and here’s what I think is a perfect gift…all the Von Sternberg/Dietrich flicks in one set from Criterion (here)
So here’s a couple of China Rhyming accompanying articles
On Shanghai Express – Harry Hervey’s original treatment for the movie
On Morocco – Amy Jolly’s Chinese Doll
Tasked by studio executives with finding the next great screen siren, visionary Hollywood director Josef von Sternberg joined forces with rising German actor Marlene Dietrich, kicking off what would become one of the most legendary partnerships in cinema history. Over the course of six films produced by Paramount in the 1930s, the pair refined their shared fantasy of pleasure, beauty, and excess. Dietrich’s coolly transgressive mystique was a perfect match for the provocative roles von Sternberg cast her in—including a sultry chanteuse, a cunning spy, and the hedonistic Catherine the Great—and the filmmaker captured her allure with chiaroscuro lighting and opulent design, conjuring fever-dream visions of exotic settings from Morocco to Shanghai. Suffused with frank sexuality and worldly irony, these deliriously entertaining masterpieces are landmarks of cinematic artifice.
Special Features
- New 2K or 4K digital restorations of all six films, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-rays
- New interviews with film scholars Janet Bergstrom and Homay King; director Josef von Sternberg’s son, Nicholas; Deutsche Kinemathek curator Silke Ronneburg; and costume designer and historian Deborah Nadoolman Landis
- New documentary about actor Marlene Dietrich’s German origins, featuring film scholars Gerd Gemünden and Noah Isenberg
- New documentary on Dietrich’s status as a feminist icon, featuring film scholars Mary Desjardins, Amy Lawrence, and Patricia White
- The Legionnaire and the Lady, a 1936 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of Morocco, featuring Dietrich and actor Clark Gable
- New video essay by critics Cristina Ãlvarez López and Adrian Martin
- The Fashion Side of Hollywood, a 1935 publicity short featuring Dietrich and costume designer Travis Banton
- Television interview with Dietrich from 1971
- PLUS: A book featuring essays by critics Imogen Sara Smith, Gary Giddins, and Farran Smith Nehme
Lancing Girls of a Happy World & the Singapore Writers Festival this November 11
Posted: October 22nd, 2018 | No Comments »I’m delighted to be doing an event with Adeline Foo, author of Lancing Girls at the Happy World, at the Singapore Writers Festival this coming November 11th discussing the underworld and entertainment links between old Shanghai and old Singapore – Resurrecting the Bad Old Days: Researching the Dark Side of Pre-war Shanghai & Singapore. Adeline’s book is a great read for those who want a fuller story of Shanghai’s entertainment industry and its regional reach before and just after the war…
“Dancing was fun; it didn’t seem like a job but a party every day.â€
“They practised dancing seriously; it was their life!â€
“It is an ugly profession; to prostitute oneself… is a commonly accepted practice.â€
Glitz, glamour, and sleaze is what people may remember of the cabaret girls of yesteryear. With curiosity and an open mind, Adeline Foo sets out to uncover the lives of these women and how, even with few dreams and hopes to strive for, these women lived with much heart and courage despite society’s disapproving eye. The music of the dance hall may have faded away, but this book carries the echoes of their dance steps, connecting us with a forgotten past that was inspired by faith, hope and charity.
HKILF 2018 – Why Genre Matters – 4/11/18
Posted: October 20th, 2018 | No Comments »I’m in conversation with Jo Lusby, the co-founder of Pixie B Ltd and former North Asia head of Penguin Random House, on the subject of why genre matters to writers and readers. It’s easy enough browsing bookshelves for your latest read, but how does genre classification affect and inform a writer’s work, and when can the rules be broken?
details and tickets here
The City of Devils is Back to Hong Kong – HKILF – 4/11/18
Posted: October 18th, 2018 | No Comments »I’m doing a session on City of Devils: A Shanghai Noir at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival on Sunday 4/11 at the great new Tai Kwun arts centre on Hollywood Road (pictured below)…there will be pictures; there will be old Shanghai nostalgia…
Ticket details here
Royal Asiatic Society Shanghai – Jim Thompson, Silk King – 21/10/18
Posted: October 17th, 2018 | No Comments »Jim Thompson – Silk King
Anyone who has travelled through Thailand can’t help but see the ubiquitous name “JIM THOMPSON†on storefronts in the airport and throughout major cities. But who was this man?
Jim Thompson was an American OSS officer who fell in love with Thailand during World War II. Dissatisfied with his former life in America, he remained in Thailand and moved into a career as exotic as any novelist could create. In twenty years he built a major industry that profoundly changed the lives of thousands of Thais, became an authority on art that he previously knew nothing about, and assembled a world-renowned collection. He built a home that became a major tourist attraction in Bangkok, and he himself became a legend in Thailand; a letter, simply addressed to “Jim Thompson, Bangkok†would find its way to him in a city of 3.5 million people.
In 1967, on Easter Sunday, 67-year-old Jim Thompson disappeared from the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. Not a trace was ever seen or heard from him. This has become one of the enduring legends and unsolved mysteries of Asia.
This talk will focus on the life and career of Jim Thompson, as well as speculations on his mysterious disappearance.
Anita Laurila holds a dual degree in English Literature and Political Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She has worked for a US Congressman, the Governor of the State of Michigan, and the Michigan State Treasurer. She served as the Public Information Officer of a Non-Profit Agency and as the Assistant to the President of a Catholic Boy’s High School. While living in Thailand for nearly 3 years, Anita was a member of the Bangkok National Museum Volunteers and the Editor of an Expat Association, and became fascinated with Jim Thompson. She has lived in Shanghai for the past 4½ years.
R.S.V.P. to
Entrance fee
Members:Â 0 RMB
Students:Â 50 RMB
Non-Members:Â 100 RMB
Venue
Garden Books, 325 Changle Road, near Shaanxi South Road