Wenyi, Wenqing and pure love: The European imaginary in Xu Jinglei's films

Abstract

ABSTRACTWhile much has been written about the use of wenyi in the film industry and among cultural theorists, as well as about the general features of wenyi pictures, the embodiment of wenyi sentiments in contemporary Chinese cinema has remained understudied. This article fills a gap in scholarship and addresses the extent to which the Chinese wenyi tradition, first developed in the early twentieth century, nurtures the cinematic appropriation of the European imaginary in the contemporary era. I illustrate this point by examining two movies made by the actress-turned-director Xu Jinglei: Yige mosheng nüren de laixin/Letter from an Unknown Woman (2004) and You yige difang zhiyou women zhidao/Somewhere Only We Know (2015). Engaging in a comparative reading of both movies, this article argues that Letter embodies the connotations of wenyi through its cultivation of cosmopolitan aspirations, while Somewhere makes a departure from this tradition by commodifying wenyi elements. Seen in this light, Xu Jinglei's changing strategies to appropriate wenyi sentiments function as significant barometers of the drastically changed market conditions, as well as Xu's strategic responses to these conditions.