Readings in Contemporary Chinese Cinema

Readings in Contemporary Chinese Cinema
Author: Chih-p'ing Chou
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2013-07-10
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 1400849020

Most Chinese-language textbooks today cater to beginners and intermediate-level students, but virtually none address the unique needs of advanced students seeking to expand or reinforce their language skills in one semester. Readings in Contemporary Chinese Cinema fills this gap through the use of critically acclaimed Chinese films to teach students Chinese while also broadening their knowledge about China. The authors have carefully chosen ten movies produced in recent decades by filmmakers from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Set broadly within the twentieth century, these classic films are representative of both urban and rural life, and vividly depict the diversity of perspectives that comprise contemporary Chinese society. The authors provide an informative synopsis and critique of each movie, and include selections of movie dialogue that allow students to practice and build proficiency. The comprehensive lessons are supplemented with exercises, sentence-pattern examples, English-language glossaries, and extensive vocabulary lists. There are also discussion questions that can be used in conjunction with screenings of the films. Readings in Contemporary Chinese Cinema is designed for students with three or more years of college-level instruction in modern Chinese, and can be used alone or as a sequel to Anything Goes: An Advanced Reader of Modern Chinese. It has been proven effective at Princeton University and in the Princeton in Beijing program, and is ideal for those returning from study abroad in China.

Contemporary Chinese Cinema and Visual Culture

Contemporary Chinese Cinema and Visual Culture
Author: Sheldon Lu
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2021-07-15
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1350234206

Sheldon Lu's wide-ranging new book investigates how filmmakers and visual artists from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan have envisioned China as it transitions from a socialist to a globalized capitalist state. It examines how the modern nation has been refashioned and re-imagined in order to keep pace with globalization and transnationalism. At the heart of Lu's analysis is a double movement in the relationship between nation and transnationalism in the Chinese post-socialist state. He considers the complexity of how the Chinese economy is integrated in the global capitalist system while also remaining a repressive body politic with mechanisms of control and surveillance. He explores the interrelations of the local, the national, the subnational, and the global as China repositions itself in the world. Lu considers examples from feature and documentary film, mainstream and marginal cinema, and a variety of visual arts: photography, painting, digital video, architecture, and installation. His close case studies include representations of class, masculinity and sexuality in contemporary Taiwanese and Chinese cinema; the figure of the sex worker as a symbol of modernity and mobility; and artists' representations of Beijing at the time of the 2008 Olympics.

A Companion to Chinese Cinema

A Companion to Chinese Cinema
Author: Yingjin Zhang
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 708
Release: 2012-04-23
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1444330292

A Companion to Chinese Cinema is a collection of original essays written by experts in a range of disciplines that provide a comprehensive overview of the evolution and current state of Chinese cinema. Represents the most comprehensive coverage of Chinese cinema to date Applies a multidisciplinary approach that maps the expanding field of Chinese cinema in bold and definitive ways Draws attention to previously neglected areas such as diasporic filmmaking, independent documentary, film styles and techniques, queer aesthetics, star studies, film and other arts or media Features several chapters that explore China’s new market economy, government policy, and industry practice, placing the intricate relationship between film and politics in a historical and international context Includes overviews of Chinese film studies in Chinese and English publications

A Reflection of Reality

A Reflection of Reality
Author: Chih-p'ing Chou
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 431
Release: 2014-08-24
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 069116293X

A Reflection of Reality is an anthology of modern Chinese short stories designed as an advanced-level textbook for students who have completed at least three years of college-level Chinese. While many advanced-level Chinese language textbooks stress only practical communication, this textbook uses stories from well-known Chinese authors not only to enhance students' language proficiency, but also to expose students to the literature, history, and evolution of modern Chinese society. The twelve stories selected for this textbook are written by such contemporary authors as Yu Hua, Wang Anyi, and Gao Xingjian, and have appeared in various newspapers and magazines in China. Each story is filled with useful sentence structures, vocabulary, and cultural information, and is followed by an extensive vocabulary list, numerous sentence structure examples, grammar exercises, and discussion questions. The textbook also includes a comprehensive pinyin index. A Reflection of Reality will effectively improve students' Chinese language skills and their understanding of today's China. Advanced-level Chinese language textbook Selected short stories reflect contemporary Chinese society and culture Extensive vocabulary lists, sentence structure examples, grammar exercises, and discussion questions Comprehensive pinyin index

Sinascape

Sinascape
Author: Gary G. Xu
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2007
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 9780742554504

Sinascape: Contemporary Chinese Cinema is a comprehensive study of Chinese-language films at the turn of the millennium. Emphasizing the transnational nature of contemporary Chinese cinema, it provides close readings of most of the important films of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and explores the interactions and transactions among these films and between Chinese cinema and Hollywood. General readers, film enthusiasts, and critics will all benefit from Gary Xu's discussion of popular films like Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Kung Fu Hustle, Devils on the Doorstep, Suzhou River, Beijing Bicycle, Millennium Mambo, Goodbye Dragon Inn, and Hollywood Hong Kong.

China Into Film

China Into Film
Author: Jerome Silbergeld
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Total Pages: 356
Release: 1999
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 9781861890504

Since 1984, Chinese cinema has been the most dramatic entry onto the international film scene. China into Film is the first book to look at contemporary Chinese cinema as a visual art and to illustrate the ways in which it has been shaped by centuries of Chinese tradition. Jerome Silbergeld looks at the significance of gender roles, the strategies of film-makers in coping with state censorship, the translation of novels into films, the continuing attachment of film-makers to melodrama, and cinematic critiques of Maoism and post-Maoist culture. Abundantly illustrated with Chinese paintings as well as scenes from such internationally acclaimed films as Yellow Earth, Red Sorghum, Raise the Red Lantern and Farewell My Concubine, China into Film reveals a cinematic form at once excitingly new and deeply imbedded in traditional Chinese visual culture.

Adapted for the Screen

Adapted for the Screen
Author: Hsiu-Chuang Deppman
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2010-04-30
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0824833732

Hsiu-Chang Deppman puts landmark contemporary Chinese films in the context of their literary origins & explores how the best Chinese directors adapt fictional narratives & styles for film.

Cinema, Space, and Polylocality in a Globalizing China

Cinema, Space, and Polylocality in a Globalizing China
Author: Yingjin Zhang
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2009-10-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0824833376

In this milestone work, prominent China film scholar Yingjin Zhang proposes "polylocality" as a new conceptual framework for investigating the shifting spaces of contemporary Chinese cinema in the age of globalization. Questioning the national cinema paradigm, Zhang calls for comparative studies of underdeveloped areas beyond the imperative of transnationalism. The book begins by addressing theories and practices related to space, place, and polylocality in contemporary China before focusing on the space of scholarship and urging scholars to move beyond the current paradigm and explore transnational and comparative film studies. This is followed by a chapter that concentrates on the space of production and surveys the changing landscape of postsocialist filmmaking and the transformation of China’s urban generation of directors. Next is an examination of the space of polylocality and the cinematic mappings of Beijing and a persistent "reel" contact with polylocality in hinterland China. In the fifth chapter Zhang explores the space of subjectivity in independent film and video and contextualizes experiments by young directors with various documentary styles. Chapter 6 calls attention to the space of performance and addresses issues of media and mediation by way of two kinds of playing: the first with documentary as troubling information, the second with piracy as creative intervention. The concluding chapter offers an overview of Chinese cinema in the new century and provides production and reception statistics. Combining inspired critical insights, original observations, and new information, Cinema, Space, and Polylocality in a Globalizing China is a significant work on current Chinese film and a must-read for film scholars and anyone seriously interested in cinema more generally or contemporary Chinese culture.

Chinese Film Classics, 1922–1949

Chinese Film Classics, 1922–1949
Author: Christopher G. Rea
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 454
Release: 2021-06-01
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0231547676

Winner, 2023 Choice Outstanding Academic Title 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 the 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.