In the long evolving history of the motion picture, metropolis film has undoubtedly become an indispensable part. However, as compared to its western counterparts which have witnessed prosperous development, Chinese metropolis film had faced the barriers of social system and ideological limitations; it was not until China saw its new era ushered in by the reform and open-door policy that Chinese metropolis film started to regain its momentum and was re-invigorated in the past three decades.

With the reform deepening in every aspect of the society, China has seen a dramatic process of urbanization. In the dual context of high-speed modernization and cross-cultural communication, Chinese metropolis society has manifested unprecedented complexity and presented pluralistic landscape. The residue of the past planned economy clashes with waves of consumer culture; the unshakable traditional Chinese culture flows constantly in the blood, while contemporary western thoughts of civilization comes with irresistible temptation. Therefore, Chinese metropolis society struggles in the contestation between modernity and counter-modernity, modern consciousness and counter-consciousness.

In the transition from the urbanization mode guided by industrial culture to the metropolisation mode characterized by all-round development, global openness and high heterogeneity have become the major characteristics of the present metropolitan society. Accordingly, the metropolitan cultural ecology is represented by polyphonic discourses and hybridity of the cultural landscape. It is exactly under the influence of the ever-changing social ethos that the metropolitans resort to film, as a particular artistic form in the modern civilization, to vent the pressure from their intense and oppressive metropolitan life, and subsequently, arousing their cultural reflections. Among numerous genres, metropolis film is the form that is closely linked to the metropolitan life, and that can spark strong identification among the audiences. Chinese metropolis film represents the Chinese experience in the world-wide metropolisation process, and carries with it the film-makers’ cultural imagination of contemporary Chinese metropolitan society as well as the audiences’ cultural expectation and inspiration. Based on the aforementioned reasons, research on metropolis film has become an indispensable part of the contemporary film studies.

Metropolis film should not be a simple and snapshot reflection of the metropolitan society, because embedded in it is the film-maker’s unique cultural and artistic understanding. Meanwhile, interpretations of texts by receptive subjects and critique subjects open up infinite possibilities to understand metropolis film. This research seeks to integrate the perspectives of Roland Barthes’ deconstructionism and Fredric Jameson’s historical grounded view, in an attempt to reach a consensus of understanding.

In addition, following the academic traditions in literary criticism and cultural studies, this research digs deeply into the texts of Chinese metropolis films since the new era, taking into consideration the unique characteristics of film in image writing. Setting out from art texts, the research explores the hidden, second level meaning-making texts behind the first level expressive texts, and analyze them in the historical and cultural contexts of present Chinese metropolitan society. The analysis comes back to the first level expressive text from the insight gain in the second level texts in order to avoid exaggeration and blindness of interpretation.

The discussions on the Chinese metropolis films since the new era focus on the following aspects. First, metropolis film is different from urban film. Similar to the notion that metropolis is the upgraded version of city, metropolis film is the upgraded and contemporary version of urban film. Based on this clarification of the intensions and extensions of these concepts, the author analyses Chinese metropolis films in three time periods, namely the 1980s, 1990s, and the new millennium, exploring the relationship between the forms, the courses and the ideas specific to different times.

Second, taking the research perspective of the newly emerged metropolis cultural studies, this research sees metropolis film as part of metropolis culture. It delves into various aspects of metropolis film, encompassing the aesthetic characteristics, the portrayal of characters and its reference, the influences on the image writing of youth culture and so forth. In doing so, the research aims to seek the meaning space specific to metropolis film in the interactions between the film-maker, the film, the social context, and the audience.

Third, taking into consideration of the commercial nature of metropolis film, this research analyses the culture of the film industry, pointing out, in the seemingly spectacular prosperity, the risks and possible opportunities faced by the industry. More importantly, based on a systematic analysis of the industry’s development patterns, the author proposes necessary strategies for future creative development.

At present, metropolis film-making presents a prosperous and promising landscape, in which more low-cost films become box-office legend, harvesting enormous income. On the one hand, the phenomenon reflects the need of audiences and further consolidates the confidence of film-makers; on the other hand, it accentuates the value of metropolis film study, urging scholars to push the academic boundaries of this research field.