Remake as resistance: re-narrating Hong Kong Chineseness in <i>The Taking of Tiger Mountain</i>

Abstract It is often assumed that yangban-xi (model theatre), crafted by the Chinese Communist Party during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), represents a homogeneous Chinese identity. However, this assumption overlooks the intricate cultural, economic, and political dynamics embedded in these works, especially when remade by Sinophone artists. Following the 2003 Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), these dynamics are further complicated by increasingly blurred boundaries between Hong Kong and mainland China. This paper examines The Taking of Tiger Mountain (Zhiqu weihu shan) (Tsui Hark 2014), a Hong Kong-Mainland coproduced remake of a yangban-xi film. Through an analysis of the film’s intertextual connections with its 1970 predecessor and its genre-blending and narrative strategies, this study argues that the remake challenges the authority of official history by exposing fissures in collective memory and the inherent subjectivity in historical narratives. The paper posits The Taking of Tiger Mountain as a cultural battleground where the top-down homogeneity of ‘Chineseness’ is contested by diverse peripheral voices, reflecting the ongoing negotiation of cultural identities within the post-1997 Hong Kong-Mainland context.