Pandora’s Box: Time-Image in A Chinese Odyssey and the Becoming of Chinese Cinema

<jats:p>This essay is a devoted close reading to show how A Chinese Odyssey has translated the anxiety of identity formation into a universal consciousness of time that fits in the post-revolutionary Chinese context. First, textual reading reveals the centrality of time in identity formation. Exploring the double structure of Deleuze’s philosophy of time, Qian wishes to demonstrate that the virtual aspect of time determines the becoming of the Monkey King’s identity, which not only subverts the image of the Monk King (and other characters), but also articulates the power of falsity in the becoming of identity. Second, the slapstick “wu li tou” style subverts any “serious” reading of Hong Kong’s identity, yet paradoxically, rationalizes its own subversion. It also aims to extend the textual world to the trans-regional context, the spatial dislocation and temporal delay in the reception of this movie address not only a local psychology of Hong Kong’s identity before 1997, but also a consciousness of global time among a broader audience and the becoming of Chinese cinema by the turn of the 21st century.</jats:p>