Transcultural Appropriation and Aesthetic Breakthrough of Hollywood Film Noir in Contemporary Taiwan Suspense Thriller Films: A Case Study of Who Killed Cock Robin (2017)

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This article analyses the Taiwanese film, Who Killed Cock Robin (2017) as an example of Taiwanese film noir, noting the similarities and differences between traditional Hollywood noir and neo-noir and Taiwanese noir, as exemplified by Cheng Wei Hao’s 2017 incursion into the genre. I found the structure clear and the argument lucid. In terms of cinematics, you appropriately point to the overall palate of the film, with its emphasis on cold colours, with blue dominating. As with noir and neo-noir, it is as much about how it is filmed as the narrative enigma itself. 

I particularly liked your discussion of how tea functions as a signifier of Taiwaneseness, linked to modernity and money. This is such a key point in the film which localizes noir conventions as appropriate to the context of its production and reproduction. The only thing I wonder about is what aspect of Taiwanese film noir, as global and which are regional, in terms of East Asian Film Noir? I also think that the figure of the femme fatale in the neo-noi is closer to what you have here than traditional noir.

There is very little, still, available on Taiwanese cinema. I did have a look as some of the sources are relatively old, although saying this the discourse around film noir is pretty standard. There is a new book out called: Locating Taiwan Cinema in the Twenty-first Century by Paul G. Pickowicz and Yingjin Zhang which was published in 2020, which might be worth mentioning but I have not read it myself so am unsure of its relevance. I also understand that it might not be easy to get hold of. There is another article about the film as ‘noir’ but it takes quite a different tack, and therefore might be worth referencing: Chang, J. I. C. (2018) ‘Disclosing the State of Fear in Contemporary Taiwan-the Indeterminacy of the Taiwanese Film Noir, Who Killed Cock Robin’. IAFOR. Available at: http://papers.iafor.org/wp-content/uploads/papers/euromedia2018/EuroMedia2018_41382.pdf (accessed 6 March 2024). However this is a conference paper and not a fully fleshed out article. 

I really enjoyed reading this and it made me watch the film, which I also enjoyed, and I honestly feel that it is publishable as it is, given what the other reviewer says. Well done, I rarely see an article which is as polished and persuasive as this one. 

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This article sets out a very clear and detailed discussion of the ways "Who Killed Cock Robin" both adheres to and departs from the standard characteristics of Hollywood noir film. The plot synopsis is very thorough and well-written, and in the course of narrating certain aspects of the film, the author provides a careful and convincing analysis of the film's relationship to the noir genre. As an examination of this film as "noir," the article is insightful and very successful. 

The issues I see with this article, though, are that I don't think it really delivers what the title promises: "trans-cultural transformations" and an idea of what "Taiwan suspense thriller films" are. There was not much in this article to indicate anything specific about Taiwan or Taiwanese film - the film is discussed only in relation to Hollywood noir, not Taiwanese cinema (other than box office stats). So while I was definitely able to clearly see the film's transformations of the noir genre, I am still left wondering what is actually "trans-cultural" about them. The discussion of the urban setting and the attendant troubles of urban life seemed generically applicable to any world city under global capitalism, and I wasn't even sure if the film was set in Taipei until it was mentioned toward the very end of the article. The example of the tea seems to carry no more specific, meaningful cultural significance than an indication of the film's setting in Asia, and the dichotomy of urban corruption vs. rural integrity is a standard trope found in most cultural productions dealing with issues of modernity the world over. Furthermore, I remain unclear on what might characterize a "suspense thriller film" as "Taiwanese." Is this case study meant to be representative, and if so, what particular aspects are more broadly representative of specifically Taiwanese films of this genre? 

If the scope of this article is meant to show how one recent Taiwanese film has appropriated certain Hollywood noir elements, and how it has manipulated some of these elements to achieve certain particular effects, then I think this article is great and needs no further amendment. But if this article aims to make broader statements about transculturation and Taiwanese film, it needs some more work (ie., engagement with Taiwanese film scholarship and more significant discussion about what is particularly Taiwanese about this Hollywood appropriation--how does this film relate to a particular cinematic language of Taiwanese film, or Taiwanese noir? etc.).

Overall, though, I'd like to say I enjoyed reading this well-written article and I hope it makes it to publication after more clearly defining its goals, and then revising (or not) accordingly. 

I just found two typos: 

 - at the bottom of page 6, change "controlling love a desire" to "controlling love and desire"    

 - top line on page 5, change "against from further probing" to "against further probing"   

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

As I read this paper I was expecting to read how Who Killed Cock Robin is particularly Taiwanese, as the thesis leads me to believe. Yet the only reference to Taiwanese culture is the final paragraphs on "Tea Culture". The article is well-written, but instead of enlightening the reader about how the film borrows "from" Hollywood Noir to advance Taiwanese cultural elements, this paper rather reinforces how the film "fits into" the Hollywood Noir genre. For example, the discussion of the Femme Fatale is well done, detailed, and interesting. But "how" do these Femme Fatale's represent Taiwanese cultural ideas of women? Or bad women (women who do not conform)? The section on the Femme Fatale points how "how" these women are femme fatale's but now how they are distinctly Taiwanese femme fatales. This omission occurs throughout the paper until the end when the writer "tacks on" a paragraph about the symbolism of Tea. The paragraphs about Tea feel like an afterthought rather than a part of the analysis. 

The conclusion gives extremely brief (and unsatisfying) "drops" of Taiwanese cultural themes---none of them explored or placed within the context of the film or characters. 

I am also curious about the film's development. There is a British TV series called "Midsummer Murders" (1997-present) and one of the seasons (released as a film for TV) is called "Who Killed Cock Robin" that is also about a car accident--a hit and run (available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6VlFsZdsXs&rco=1)   While the British version veers off in a different direction, there is so much similarity of premise, that it should have been investigated as a potential influence to the writers of the Taiwanese version.

Ultimately, this paper is an average analysis of a film that should have enlightened the reader about specific differences in Taiwanese Noir vs Hollywood Noir, and that it just does not accomplish.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

I am very impressed with this author's attention to my comments about the lack of cultural context of Taiwanese Crime cinema and its intersections with Hollywood Noir film. This author did a wonderful job of addressing these concerns and adding needed information that clarified and contextualized the argument. It is a much better, more informative paper than its earlier version. I have no reservations about this paper going forward. This new revised version contributes nicely to the growing scholarship of international cinemas.

Author Response

Thanks for your efforts.