Genre storytelling and glocalization in Mainland Chinese cinema at the turn of the century: The Missing Gun as a case study

Critics have identified poor storytelling as the Achilles’ heel that hobbles the sustainable development of the film industry in Mainland China. This article tackles the issue of storytelling in Mainland Chinese cinema by focusing on the turn-of-the-century detective film Xun qiang (The Missing Gun) (Lu, 2002). Approaching the film from its adaptation of a published novella, this article examines the film’s storytelling strategies regarding plot, narration, emotional appeal and censorship. It reveals the conscientious adoption of classical Hollywood storytelling principles and their integration with contemporary Chinese cultural, social and political materials and contexts, a cinematic glocalization that creates a distinctive Chinese detective genre with innovative and engrossing storytelling. The article argues that The Missing Gun foreshadows the indigenization of international commercial genres and constitutes a viable model for genre storytelling in Mainland China in the twenty-first century.