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Title |
The Meaning of The Outsiders |
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Author |
Chen, Ru-Shou Robert |
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Associate professor, Department of Radio-TV, National Chengchi University |
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Abstract |
The Outsiders, adopted from Pai Hsien-Yung’s novel of the same name, is marked as the first gay film in the history of Taiwan cinema. Both the original novel and the film have their epoch-making significance in many respects. Both challenge rigid rulings of patriarchy and heterosexuality in Taiwan. The film, ironically made in 1986, was destined to witness the transformation of Taiwan in political system, social tolerance, and cultural diversity. The paper would like to address the meaning of The Outsiders from this perspective. This paper will also study the film from the point of view of cinematic aesthetics. Again, 1986 is an important year for Taiwan cinema, because it was the end of the New Taiwan Cinema movement. It was also the beginning of the gay cinema for the next 20 years, in which The Outsiders plays a pivotal part. Even so, it is overlooked by almost all studies of Taiwan cinema in this period. This paper would like to examine innovations of mise-en-scene and the use of self-reflexivity in this film. Finally, this paper will end with a look of the trajectory of gay film in Taiwan cinema since The Outsiders. |
