Hu Ge (director)

Hu Ge (Chinese: 胡戈; pinyin: Hú Gē; born 1974) is an amateur director[1] in the People's Republic of China who rose to fame through social satire and the Internet. His works, which are videos which can be downloaded from video-sharing sites such as YouTube, and freely distributed by his permission, are viewed by millions. His outrageous humour and his use of innumerable parodies had gained a degree of international attention and drew notices from the Communist Party's Department of Propaganda. He has since directed a number of hugely popular online commercials for companies such as 7Up and McDonald's.[2]

For the actor-singer, see Hu Ge.

Biography

Hu Ge grew up in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.

Hu Ge became well known by Chinese netizens after his first short movie, A Murder Case Caused by a Bun (a spoof on Chen Kaige's The Promise), in late 2005. His subsequent works have also been well received.

Techniques

Hu Ge focuses on enhancements through satire in social and cultural realms, reflecting numerous problems in Chinese society to a backdrop of loosely pieced together current events or well-known footage from big-name films, including Harry Potter, The Matrix, Shaolin Soccer, Hero, etc. He has immense focus on elements of parody on multiple levels. The music he uses are usually satirical, be it Chinese instrumentals, Hollywood movie soundtracks, American pop songs or spinoffs of Michael Jackson songs.

Public and official response

Hu Ge's films, which are distributed freely on the Internet, received widespread attention on Chinese video-sharing networks, beating Huang Jianxiang's crazy commentary at the World Cup in Germany (because of the large number of networks the statistics are inconclusive). In January 2006, after the popularizing of Hu's first creation, A Murder Case caused by a Mantou, Chen Kaige, director of The Promise and subject of Hu's satire, announced plans to take legal action against Hu for apparent copyright violations and defamation.[1] The amateur films became the discussion topics on various Chinese forums, and received overwhelming support from the general public, which led to bad social repercussion against Chen, who later dropped the lawsuit. In late 2006, because of its subtle social commentary that could be interpreted at a political level, Hu's films gained the attention to the Communist Party's Propaganda Department, in charge of China's media controls. There were talks of a ban in late 2006, with the pretext that Hu's films are too long and too intricate in design, that they can no longer be categorized as amateur Internet videos. In early 2007, however, after Hu's newest release, 007 vs. Man in Black, there are no signs of a ban.

Filmography

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References
  1. "陈凯歌起诉《馒头血案》胡戈:停止恶搞". Oriental Morning Post. 13 February 2006. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  2. "Hu Ge Interview: Of Parodying Chinese Society and Viral Ads". 14 July 2011.
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