Description:
In Once A Hero, his latest collection of essays, Lam describes the decline of Hong Kong cinema since 1997 and gives an eyewitness account of its attempt to reinvent itself. He examines successes and failures of its famous auteurs; spotlights talented newcomers; and, with the future of Hong Kong cinema now bound up with the mainland, discusses the works of major Chinese filmmakers.

Author:
Perry Lam was among the first to critically examine Hong Kong movies in English on a regular basis, with reviews in the early 1980s for South China Morning Post. Widely quoted by the international press including Reuters, The Associated Press, Asiaweek and Cahiers du Cinéma, he has long been recognized as an authority on Hong Kong cinema. He was editorial director of Muse magazine and taught Asian cinema as adjunct professor of Syracuse University Hong Kong Center. He is now assistant editorial director of Oxford University Press and writes columns in Chinese for Hong Kong Economic Journal and Yazhou Zhoukan. Once A Hero: The Vanishing Hong Kong Cinema is his first English book. 林沛理 (Perry Lam) ，《亞洲週刊》、《信報》及《明報》專欄作家。其電影評論經常被國際媒體如路透社、美聯社和法國的《電影筆記》引用。2006-10年間任《瞄》雜誌主編，並於美國雪城大學(Syracuse University) 香港中心出任客席教授，教授亞洲電影。現為牛津大學出版社副總編輯。著有評論集《影像的邏輯與思維》、《香港，你還剩下多少》、《能說「不」的秘密》、《破謬．思維》、《精彩的偏見》及《英文玩家》；《Once A Hero: The Vanishing Hong Kong Cinema》是他首部英文著作。書中敘述自1997年起香港電影的沒落，以及過去五年電影人嘗試重振影壇的經過。另又剖析當地著名導演的成功與失敗，為影壇帶來新氣象的新人，並探討在香港與中國電影關係化日趨密切的情況下，多部重要的大陸電影。