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Chinese Film Classics, 1922–1949
"Chinese Film Classics, 1922-1949 is an essential guide to the first golden age of Chinese cinema. Offering detailed introductions to fourteen films, this study highlights the creative achievements of Chinese filmmakers in the decades leading up to 1949, when the Communists won the civil war and began nationalizing cultural industries. Christopher Rea reveals the uniqueness and complexity of Republican China's cinematic masterworks, from the comedies and melodramas of the silent era to talkies and musicals of the 1930s and 1940s. Each chapter appraises the artistry of a single film, highlighting its outstanding formal elements, from cinematography to editing to sound design. Examples include the slapstick gags of Laborer's Love (1922), Ruan Lingyu's star turn in Goddess (1934), Zhou Xuan's mesmerizing performance in Street Angels (1937), Eileen Chang's urbane comedy of manners Long Live the Missus! (1947), the wartime epic Spring River Flows East (1947), and Fei Mu's acclaimed work of cinematic lyricism, Spring in a Small Town (1948). Rea shares new insights and archival discoveries about famous films, while explaining their significance in relation to politics, society, and global cinema. Lavishly illustrated and featuring extensive guides to further viewings and readings, Chinese Film Classics, 1922-1949 offers an accessible tour of China's early contributions to the cinematic arts"-- Provided by publisher.
The Making of the Wandering Earth by
This handbook takes us through the making of The Wandering Earth, one of the highest-grossing non-English films of all time. It is a rare, in-depth, behind-the-scenes study of the making of a masterpiece, taking the reader through the entire production process of a landmark Chinese science fiction film. The book brings to life how The Wandering Earth was created, from words to images, by a young and innovative professional team assembled by director Frant Gwo. It discusses specialized details of the filmmaking process and the collaborative work of the crew and the cast involved to present an intuitive feeling of the film's production. A step-by-step guide on the making of a radical large-scale film, this handbook critically examines its various stages such as its development and production stages - the planning, preparing, recruiting, setting up departments and processes; writing the screenplay; creating a visual style and the production design; and the principal photography; its challenging post-production stages - the editing, visual effects production, color mixing; dubbing, sound editing; publicity, etc. Further, the chapters in volume also explore how Chinese science fiction films disrupt the Western narrative context and provide the larger discourse on Chinese science fiction. Richly illustrated with exclusive first-hand visuals from the making of the film, this handbook, part of the Studies in Global Genre Fiction series, will be an essential read for professionals, scholars, researchers, and students of film and media production, film studies, popular culture, cultural studies, Chinese studies, world literature, and science fiction. It will also be of interest to the general reader interested in filmmaking.
Chinese Film Festivals by
This book is the first anthology of research devoted to the booming world of Chinese film festivals, covering both mainstream and independent films. It also explores festivals in the Chinese-speaking world and festivals of Chinese films in the rest of the world. The book asks how Chinese film festivals function as sites of translation, translating Chinese culture to the world and world culture to Chinese-speaking audiences, and also how the international film festival model is being transformed as it is translated into the Chinese-speaking world.
American and Chinese-Language Cinemas by
Critics frequently describe the influence of "America," through Hollywood and other cultural industries, as a form of cultural imperialism. This unidirectional model of interaction does not address, however, the counter-flows of Chinese-language films into the American film market or the influence of Chinese filmmakers, film stars, and aesthetics in Hollywood. The aim of this collection is to (re)consider the complex dynamics of transnational cultural flows between American and Chinese-language film industries. The goal is to bring a more historical perspective to the subject, focusing as much on the Hollywood influence on early Shanghai or postwar Hong Kong films as on the intensifying flows between American and Chinese-language cinemas in recent decades. Contributors emphasize the processes of appropriation and reception involved in transnational cultural practices, examining film production, distribution, and reception.
A Companion to Chinese Cinema by
A Companion to Chinese Cinema is a collection of originalessays written by experts in a range of disciplines that provide acomprehensive overview of the evolution and current state ofChinese cinema. Represents the most comprehensive coverage of Chinese cinema todate Applies a multidisciplinary approach that maps the expandingfield of Chinese cinema in bold and definitive ways Draws attention to previously neglected areas such as diasporicfilmmaking, independent documentary, film styles and techniques,queer aesthetics, star studies, film and other arts or media Features several chapters that explore China?s new marketeconomy, government policy, and industry practice, placing theintricate relationship between film and politics in a historicaland international context Includes overviews of Chinese film studies in Chinese andEnglish publications
Economy, Emotion, and Ethics in Chinese Cinema by
The First and Second Comings of capitalism are conceptual shorthands used to capture the radical changes in global geopolitics from the Opium War to the end of the Cold War and beyond. Centring the role of capitalism in the Chinese everyday, the framework can be employed to comprehend contemporary Chinese culture in general and, as in this study, Chinese cinema in particular. This book investigates major Chinese-language films from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in order to unpack a hyper-compressed capitalist modernity with distinctive Chinese characteristics. As a dialogue between the film genre as a mediation of microscopic social life, and the narrative of economic development as a macroscopic political abstraction, it engages the two otherwise remotely related worlds, illustrating how the State and the Subject are reconstituted cinematically in late capitalism. A deeply cultural, determinedly historical, and deliberately interdisciplinary study, it approaches "culture" anthropologically, as a way of life emanating from the everyday, and aesthetically, as imaginative forms and creative expressions. Economy, Emotion, and Ethics in Chinese Cinema will appeal to students and scholars of Chinese cinema, cultural studies, Asian studies, and interdisciplinary studies of politics and culture.
Historical Dictionary of Chinese Cinema by
Motion pictures were first introduced to China in 1896 and today China has become a major player in the film industry. However, the story of how Chinese cinema became what it is today is an exceptionally turbulent one. It encompasses incursions by foreign powers, warfare among contending rulers, the collapse of the Chinese empire, and the massive setback of the Cultural Revolution. The Historical Dictionary of Chinese Cinema covers the history of Chinese cinema from its very beginning in 1896 to the present. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section contains several hundred cross-referenced dictionary entries on films, directors, and historical figures. This book is an excellent access point for anyone interested in Chinese cinema and for scholars interested in investigating ideas for future research.
Hong Kong New Wave Cinema (1978-2000) by
The increasingly popular films of the Hong Kong New Wave grapple with such issues as East-West cultural conflicts, colonial politics, the divide between rich and poor, the plight of women in a modernizing Asian city, and the identity crises provoked by Hong Kongs estranged motherland. Comprehensive and penetrating, Hong Kong New Wave Cinemaanalyzes the specific films that grew out of this dynamic era and investigates the historical and social conditions that allowed the New Wave to flourish. Drawing on the auteur and genre theories, Pak Tong Cheuk here examines the cinematic style and aesthetics of New Wave directors, most of whom were educated at British and U.S. film schools. In addition to investigating the narrative content, structure, and mise-en-scène of individual films, this volume traces the overall development of the film and television industries in Hong Kong in the 1960s and 1970s. Cheuks intriguing study of the rise and fall of Hong Kongs golden age of film establishes the New Wave as an era of great historical significance for scholars of cinema, popular culture, and the arts. An interesting and detailed look at one of the most vital movements in the film industry during the latter part of the twentieth century. Paks work not only gives an informative overview of the origins of the movement, but goes into detail about the works of some of the most notable New Wave directors, including Tsui Hark, Ann Hui, and Patrick Tam, and the effects their pictures had on film-makers from all over the world. Neil Koch, HKfilm.net.