Middle-aged women in search of female identities and new visions of home : a study of Ann Hui's films

Abstract

In the past decade, Ann Hui as a well-known filmmaker has produced several films concerning women in their middle and older age. My research examines two of her films, The Postmodern Life of My Aunt(2006)and All About Love(2010). By carefully reading and analyzing the two texts, my research reveal show Chinese middle-aged women construct their gender identities and develop their visions of home in Shanghai and Hong Kong respectively. It focuses on how this group of women experience inner and social contradictions in the process of establishing individual subjectivities as well as how they deal with tensions and difficulties in the domestic sphere. I argue that the two films represent middle-aged females’ fractured identities and their intense struggles between individual desires and domestic obligations. They have created alternative meanings for femininity and home, subverting the traditional image of women as dutiful wives and mothers as well as the romanticized vision of home as a haven for security and comfort. Moreover, the ambivalence and multiplicity of meanings in the two texts may lead us to reflect upon the complexity of middle-aged women’s lived experiences amidst unrelenting economic development and confining social norms. By studying Ann Hui’s cinematic representation of aging women’s lives, it is significant for us to explore possible ways for females to challenge conventional gender roles, to create new meanings of home, as well as to realize gender equality and sexual diversity in society.