Stars as production and consumption: A case study of Brigitte Lin

Abstract

Taiwan movie star Brigitte Lin Ching-Hsia/Lin Qingxia is considered by some ‘the last star of the East’ (Tetsuya 2005; Williams 2008). Since her debut, Outside the Window/Chuangwai (Song Cunshou, Taiwan), became an overnight success in 1973, Brigitte Lin appeared in over 100 movies produced in Taiwan and in Hong Kong until 1994 when she got married and semi-retired from the industry. Many of her films were commercially profitable in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mainland China and overseas Chinese markets. Lin also participated in several award-winning projects. For example, Girlfriend/Nü pengyou (Bai Jingrui, 1975, Taiwan), Off to Success/Chenggong ling shang (Zhang Peicheng, 1979, Taiwan), Magnificent 72/Bixie huanghua (Ding Shanxi, 1980, Taiwan) and Red Dust/Gungun hongchen (Yim Ho, 1990, Taiwan/Hong Kong) all won the Best Picture at Taiwan’s prestigious Golden Horse Awards in their respective years. Chungking Express/Chongqing senlin (Wong Kar-Wai, 1994, Hong Kong) won the Best Picture and the Best Director at the Hong Kong Film Award in 1995. In terms of personal recognition, Brigitte Lin won the Best Actress at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival for her role as a patriotic girl-scout in The Eight Hundred Heroes/Babai zhuangshi (Ding Shanxi, 1975, Taiwan) and the Best Actress at the 1990 Golden Horse Awards for her depiction of a Chinese female writer of the 1940s who fell in love with a Japanese collaborator in Red Dust.