COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides answers to three broad questions:
(1) What and (2) How does Chinese cinematic history tell us about the quest for national (and transnational) identities?;
(3) What are the changing strategies, modes and contents of particular visual narrations of said identities?
In this course, we examine the major cinematic modes, genres and themes of Chinese film invested in the construction of national identities from the cinema’s infancy in the late Qing (1905) to the present. Through the investigation of various historical, operatic, realistic and combative modes of cinematic narration, we come to a detailed understanding of Chinese cinematic history and how it participates directly in efforts to imagine various Chinese communities whose roots are in the national. Because such imaginations on screen are visually and rhetorically unique, we approach our analysis of these films with the realization that a coherent national identity can not be taken for granted. In fact, that these films artfully narrate their tales in unique ways is a testament to the continuing evolutionary and pluralistic nature of Chinese national and transnational identities. It is our privilege to experience and to analyze these numerous visual displays of what it can mean to be Chinese in a modern world.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
(1) To enjoy the spectacle of 100 years of Chinese cinema;
(2) To become an educated reader of Chinese cinematic history;
(3) To learn the major cinematic modes, genres, themes and gendered imaginations of Chinese productions in their endeavors to define the national;
(4) To become a proficient writer of the collegiate essay and professional film review;
(5) To inspire you to enjoy the next 100 years of Chinese cinema.
TEXTS
Assignments for the course will consist of a combination of film viewing and the reading of critical, secondary literature. Required films for the course are available on reserve in the library’s media center. All secondary literature is retrievable online (as PDF files or HTML files) through the course websites and library e-Reserves. You need to access the texts online well in advance in case there are problems with the websites.
SCHEDULE
*The instructor may adjust the syllabus at any time. Be sure to refer often to the course website.
Opium War Films 鸦片影片: Historicizing a National Wound
Unit 1
*Rosenstone, Robert A. “The Historical Film: Looking at the Past in a Postliterate Age.” The Historical Film: History and Memory in the Media. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 2001. 50-67.
*Chow, Rey. “Introduction: On Chineseness as a Theoretical Problem.” Boundary 2 25.3 (1998): 1-24.
Unit 2 *Bu Wancang’s 卜万苍 Eternal Fame 万世流芳 (1943)
Unit 3 *Zheng Junli’s 郑君里 Lin Zexu and the Opium War林则徐 (1959)
Unit 4 *Li Quanxi’s 李泉溪 The Opium War 鸦片战争 (1963)
Unit 5 *Xie Jin’s 谢晋The Opium War 鸦片战争 (1997)
*First film review due
Shadow Opera 影戏: Staging the Nation as Spectacle
Unit 6
*Gunning, Tom. “The Cinema of Attractions: Early Film, Its Spectator and the Avant-Garde.” Early Cinema: Space—Frame—Narrative. Eds. Thomas Elsaesser and Adam Barker. London: British Film Institute, 1990. 56-62.
*Chen Xihe. “Shadowplay: Chinese Film Aesthetics and Their Philosophical and Cultural Fundamentals.” Chinese Film Theory: A Guide to a New Era. Eds. George S. Semsel, Xia Hong, and Hou Jianping. Trans. Hou Jianping, Li Xiaohong, and Fan uan. London: Praeger, 1990. 192-204.
Unit 7 *Zhang Shichuan’s 张石川The Classic Daughter 女儿经 (1934), *Fei Mu’s 费穆 Remorse at Death 生死恨 (1948)
Unit 8 *Wang Bin’s王滨The White-haired Girl 白毛女 (1950)
Unit 9 *Xie Tieli’s 谢铁骊Azalea Mountain 杜鹃山 (1973)
Unit 10 *Chen Kaige’s 陈凯歌Farewell, My Concubine 霸王别姬 (1993)
Unit 11 *Ang Lee’s 李安Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 卧虎藏龙 (2000)
*First essay due
Socialist Realism现实主义: A Focus on the Family
Unit 12
*Elaesser, Thomas. “Tales of Sound and Fury: Observations on the Family Melodrama.” Home is Where the Heart Is: Studies in Melodrama and the Woman’s Film. Ed. Christine Gledhill. London: BFI, 1987.
*Chow, Rey. “Introduction.” Sentimental Fabulations, Contemporary Chinese Films. New York: Columbia Up, 2007. 1-25.
Unit 13 *Yuan Muzhi 袁牧之 Street Angel 马路天使 (1937)
Unit 14 *Sang Hu 桑弧New Year’s Sacrifice 祝福 (1956)
Unit 15 *Allen Fong’s 方育平 Father and Son 父子情 (1981)
Unit 16 *Chen Kaige 陈凯歌Yellow Earth 黄土地 (1984)
Unit 17 *Zhang Yimou 张艺谋 Raise the Red Lantern 大红灯笼高高挂 (1990)
*Second film review due
Kung-fu Flicks and New Violence武侠片: Experimentations in Loyalty
Unit 18
*Louie, Kam. Theorizing Chinese Masculinity: Society and Gender in China. New York: Cambridge UP, 2002. 1-22.
*Tasker, Yvonne. Spectacular Bodies: Gender, Genre, and the Action Cinema. London: Routledge, 1993.
Unit 19 *Lo Wei’s 罗维Fists of Fury 精武门 (1972)
Unit 20 *Gordon Chan’s 陈嘉上 Fist of Legend 精武英雄 (1994)
Unit 21 *Ronny Yu’s于仁泰Fearless霍元甲 (2006)
Unit 22 *Chang Cheh’s 張徹 Five Shaolin Masters 少林五祖 (1974)
Unit 23 *Lau Kar-leung’s刘家良Drunken Master II醉拳二 (1993)
Unit 24 *Zhang Yimou’s 张艺谋Hero 英雄 (2002)
*Second essay due
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
(1) 2 FILM REVIEWS (10% EACH; 20% TOTAL): Two one-page popular film reviews that address the history, plot and opinions of a production will be required during the course of this session. Any film within a proper category may be selected for this assignment. These reviews will roughly be based upon the conventions of New York Times film reviews, which will be explained in a detailed handout in the first week of the course. All assignments will be typed, single-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font, and handed in at the beginning of class on the final day of each categorical unit.
(2) 2 COLLEGIATE ESSAYS (10% EACH, 20% TOTAL): Two one-page essays that address, question, or complicate issues raised by the films and assigned readings will be required during the course of this session. The instructor will state the topic and set the critical parameters of the essay a week before the assignment is due. All assignments will be typed, single-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font, and handed in at the beginning of class on the final day of each categorical unit.
(3) 4 QUIZZES (5% EACH; 20% TOTAL): Four pop-quizzes will be administered that will test the student’s knowledge of the films assigned in each category. Quizzes will vary in length from 5-10 questions. All questions will require short answers.
(4) FILM PROJECT (40%): As an alternative to the standard final, this course allows for the creative synthesis and expression of the larger themes of this course. Any group of 3-4 students may combine their efforts to produce a short film (5-10m) and present it (script and all) at an end-of-the-semester film festival. Three components of the project will be graded: (1) the script (10%); (2) the cuts (initial and edited)(10%); (3) engagement of themes of the course (10%).
or, FINAL EXAM (40%): The final will be a comprehensive examination consisting of three sections (short answers, short essays and long essays) that review the specific details of Chinese cinematic history and the broad questions proposed in the course description. The details of the final exam will be confirmed by the instructor.
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