It almost feels like home

The cinematic articulation of community resilience in post-2019 Hong Kong melodrama

Bibliographic Data

ID21788598
AuthorsMei Ting LI (0000-0002-4841-8233, Chinese University of Hong Kong, corresponding author)
Year2025
Pages1-18
Publication date2025-10-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Chinese Cinemas (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1750-8061 • E-ISSN: 1750-807X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17508061.2025.2571371
OpenAlexW4415172868
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited26

The trope of father–son relationships in ‘family-home’ melodramas has been a critical characteristic of Hong Kong cinema that can be read in parallel with the ever-changing local society. This paper investigates the ways in which Drifting (2021), Hong Kong Family (2022), and The Sunny Side of the Street (2022) re-imagine modes of local community formation through the genre of family-home melodrama in the aftermath of the 2019 Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) Movement. By featuring a dysfunctional father seeking redemption and an avoidant son searching for an independent sense of self and community outside of the family, I argue that these film characters could be read allegorically as the government and the people, corresponding to the political divide that has persisted since 2014 in Hong Kong. Furthermore, by contextualising these films within a social atmosphere characterised by post-protest grief and resilience, I expand my discussion to the formation of affective communities made possible by shared experiences of trauma and a common desire for resilience

Community resilience · Embodied cognition · Narrative · Psychological resilience · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics

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