Hong Kong Babylon: An Insider's Guide to the Hollywood of the East

by Barry Long and Fredric Dannen

Book Overview

With the same sharp edge he brought to Hit Men, his daring expose of the music industry, Fredric Dannen explores one of the hottest genres in filmmaking today. Hong Kong cinema is renowned for its... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786883596
• ISBN13: 9780786883592
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Miramax Books
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A good introduction to the Hong Kong Cinema.

Hong Kong Babylon is one of the better books about the wild and entertaining world of Hong Kong Cinema. The writers briefly touch all the bases with the information provided. Get this book and the one by Bey Logan and you'll have a nice overall view of this cinema. Strongly recommended.

Read it for Barry Long's wonderul summaries!

Unfortunately, Fred Dannen's interviews are much too short so if you're looking for an in-depth look into the Hong Kong film business this isn't it. However, the book has a substantial section summarizing/commenting on hundreds of films and they are wonderfully written by Barry Long, a true connossieur of Hong Kong cinema.

Good basic intro to HK cinema world

As some of the other reviews here suggest, this is a bit of a cut and paste job-- Dannen's New Yorker piece on the triads thrown together with reviews and lists compiled by others. But the field has been so spottily documented to date that the serious info and critical context provided here is of real value, even if, as is suggested in one of the reviews above, "Sex and Zen and a Bullet in the Head" is probably a better choice for the fan who just wants to know what cool movies to rent. I would also recommend a British book which should be available here, "Hong Kong Action Cinema" by Bey Logan.