Hong Kong's Contested Modernity: Social Problematics in the Cinematic Works of Mabel Cheung

Mabel Cheung is one of the directors of the Hong Kong New Wave cinema. Compared to other directors of the same period, Mabel Cheung's filmography is not extensive; most of her films focus on the mundane aspects of daily life, depicting the personal destinies of individuals amidst the grand changes of the era. "Wandering" has always been a key theme in her works, with almost all her films carrying a sense of wandering. At the same time, through the films directed by Mabel Cheung, we can glimpse a series of social phenomena that have emerged during Hong Kong's modernization. Therefore, this article attempts to explore the modern social issues presented in Mabel Cheung's films from three aspects: the characters in the films, the urban space in the films, and the structure of modern families.