Mabel Cheung Yuen-Ting's An Autumn's Tale

Book excerpt: This study of An Autumn's Tale argues that Hong Kong films are a window into understanding the shared pasts and ongoing connections between Hong Kong and other globalized cities. Viewed through the lens of transnational American Studies, the film sheds important insights on both Hong Kong and U.S. history, culture, and identity. Through this important film from a woman director, the author explores the way Hong Kong and the U.S. have been and continue to be connected through flows of people, ideas, and events that make their impact known on both sides of the Pacific. The book reminds readers of the importance of seeing Hong Kong films as cultural texts that address historical events, socio-economic shifts, and the impact of those events on individual lives. With its focus on migration and migrants, An Autumn's Tale especially benefits from the transnational American studies perspective that Dr. Ford brings to her examination. This exciting new field draws from the best of many disciplinary perspectives as well as interdisciplinary perspectives in cultural and postcolonial studies with an eye towards understanding how national identity is both fluid and resilient, even in these global times. The book is readable and teachable for those looking to understand connections between the U.S. and Asia during the closing years of the twentieth century during a dynamic period – the 1980s – in both Hong Kong and New York.