East Asia Program’s “Bringing East Asia to the SU Classroom Series”
Maxwell Hall, 108
Add to: Outlook, ICal, Google Calendar
“Brahms in Hong Kong Film: Nostalgia, Politics, and the Post-Colonial Identity in 'Infernal Affairs II'”
The East Asia Program’s “Bringing East Asia to the SU Classroom Series” featuring Joanna Chang, visiting assistant professor, Department of Music, College of New Jersey.
This talk examines the soundtrack of "Infernal Affairs II" with its rare inclusion and interplay of Brahms’s Third Symphony, Chinese Opera and Indian classical instruments. The selection of Western and global musical traditions sensitively reflects and narrates conflicting tensions of identity and loss in pre-1997 Hong Kong.
Filmmakers paired Brahms with protagonists, such that the symphonic scoring suggests nostalgia for a former era of prosperity, security, and stability. Contrastingly, diegetic and nondiegetic strains of Chinese Opera and Indian music coincide with the antagonists, calling forth questions in their audiovisual associations. The unprecedented role Brahms plays at the crossroads of an East-meets-West culture invites reflection of nostalgia in Hong Kong’s postcolonial identity.
Category
Diversity and Inclusion
Type
Lectures and Seminars
Region
Campus
Open to
Alumni
Faculty
Staff
Students, Graduate and Professional
Students, Undergraduate
Organizers
MAX-East Asia Program, MAX-Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs
Accessibility
Contact Matt Baxter to request accommodations