The Lost Cantonese Identity: An Organizational Society Approach to Hong Kong Cinema

Abstract

This study aims to explore the lost Cantonese identity portrayed in Hong Kong Cinema. This paper sets out a framework of the interrelated concepts of identity in an organizational society. Nine films depicting the lost identity in Hong Kong society prior to and following the 1997 handover of power are analyzed. This study finds that the lost Cantonese identity has become an important characteristic of Hong Kong cinema. It is concluded that, in the name of efficiency, the institutionalization of organizations cage individuals’ identities. At the same time, the function of the division of labour causes alienation. Being anomic becomes one choice of life of the denizens. Ironically, the time-space compression misleads the Cantonese to believe that it is easy to escape to a new identity, although eventually it is nothing but a loss.