In contemporary studies of Chinese cinema, "funny" or "laughter" often function as the implicit criteria for “identifying” comedy cinemas, which remains undertheorized and insufficiently examined. Nevertheless, existing discussions fail to adequately address films that incorporate certain comic features, such as humorous lines and “clown-like” characters (King, 2002, pp. 40–41), yet remain excluded from scholarly discussions of comedy cinema.

Art College 1994 (2023) is the film that positioned within this classification ambiguity. As an animated movie, it incorporates verbal and Chinese accent-based humorous gags. However, these comic factors do not aim to produce affective pleasure nor lead to the "release of stress". Instead, humor serves a negative, absurdist narrative, operating through the protagonists’ self-sarcasm that emerges from the gap between ideal aspirations and reality within a specific historical context.

Therefore, the function of humor provides an appropriate case for further consideration of the narrow definition of comedy films in Chinese academia. This study uses Art College 1994 as a case study to relocate the function of humorous elements in films excluded from mainstream comedy conventions, shifting the focus from laughter and pleasure to humor as a mode of self-mockery and critical engagement with social reality. Rather than denying pleasure as a recognizable feature of comedy, the study aims to broaden the conceptual boundaries of the term “comedy” in contemporary Chinese cinema studies.

Authors:
Frank Yue Xing, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong

About the Presenter(s)
Frank has extensive experiences in the Chinese comedy industry, including positions such as director at comedy TV shows, comedy stage drama director, stand-up comedian and the producer of a few comedy podcasts.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule

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