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When one engages in a discussion of film, a great many avenues for analysis are available. Character development, set design, wardrobe, and musical score are but a few surface possibilities. One may also choose to focus on the director´s message, political implications, historical accuracy, or a specific film theory. With this in mind, it is at least somewhat surprising that little analysis of contemporary Chinese film is available. This work provides an analysis of the notion of the virtual as laid out in works by Massumi, Deleuze, and Guattari. Through an exploration of the virtual across Chinese films of the last two decades, it investigates the dangers of the virtual in performance and the difficulty in recognizing the line between role and real. It then compares this to the notion of disguise in order to demonstrate the differences in effect when one´s performance is undisclosed to his audience. Finally, it examines identity and the virtual through cinematic doublings. These theories are a means by which to supplement more typical examinations of film and contribute depth to an academic understanding of contemporary Chinese film for China scholars and film enthusiasts alike.

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Danielle N. Steely, MA: Studied East Asian Studies at McGill University in Montréal, Québec, Canada and at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Danielle currently lives in Pennsylvania.

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