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- Volume 11, Issue 1, 2000
Asian Cinema - Volume 11, Issue 1, 2000
Volume 11, Issue 1, 2000
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The Writing of Indian Film
By Erik BarnouwIn the fall of 1959 an Indian student, S. Krishnaswamy of Madras, enrolled in a course I was teaching at Columbia University, focusing on the interplay of film and society. One of his term papers, on the turbulent Indian film industry, fascinated me, and I peppered him with questions. I gathered that its works ranged from a "new wave" inspired by the amazing Satyajit Ray to colossal musicals, made in a dozen Indian languages, dominated by stars who had developed an extraordinary grip over the public. In 1963 the industry planned to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary of feature film production. My next sabbatical leave was due in 1961-62, and I began to think about a year of research in India, with family. The Japanese Film, a fine, illuminating work by Joseph L. Anderson and Donald Richie, had appeared in 1959 to wide applause. Shouldn't Indian film be next?
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The Krishnaswamy Approach: Documentary and Commitment
More LessIn a country where film stars have a disproportionate influence on the political climate, and where a rural audience makes up a large percentage of the spectators, there is a need for alternative forms of cinema. One such alternative is provided by Krishnaswamy Associates which, over the past 30 years, has produced documentaries aimed at reaching a wide range of Indian (and international) viewers.
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A Typography of Chinese Film Historiography
More LessChinese film historiography has long been a marginal or marginalized intellectual endeavor both in China and in the West, and one can hardly speak of it as a discipline even now. What is worse, an overemphasis on contemporary Chinese cinema over the past decade has resulted in a sheer neglect of film history and historiography in this new field. In order to assess the current state of Chinese film studies and to get a more comprehensive view of the history of Chinese cinema, it is necessary for us to shift attention away from an exclusive focus on the 1980s and 1990s and to examine, by way of archival research, historical investigation, and critical analysis, what has been accomplished in Chinese film historiography over the century.
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Asian Filmmakers Moving into Hollywood: Genre Regulation and Auteur Aesthetics
More LessIn the past few years, there has been a notable change of Asian representation in Hollywood. For one thing, Asian actors have gradually moved into Hollywood as a result of their recognition in films such as The Corrupter (1999), Rush Hour (1998), Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). Asian actors such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, and Yun-Fat Chow have all been able to walk through the door of Hollywood. And as a result of the box office success of their debut films, these actors have established themselves as stars in the world's biggest film industry.
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Structural Transformation of the Korean Film Industry, 1988-1993
More LessThe purpose of this study is to explore the transformation of the Korean film industry after Hollywood distribution companies were given the goahead to release their films in Korea. The focus is on the specific period between 1988 and 1993, when the Korean film industry was in the first stage of "free competition." The article is structured around the three components of production, distribution, and exhibition.
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The Opium War in the Movies: History, Politics and Propaganda
By Zhiwei XiaoHistorians of modern China may debate many things, but few will question the significance of the Opium War (1839-1842) in shaping thecourse of modern Chinese history. As an indication of the importance of this watershed event, three feature films have been made about the Opium War during the past half century. They are Wanshiliufang (Eternity, 1943,dir. Bu Wancang), Lin Zexu (1959, dir. Zheng Junli) and Yapian zhanzheng (The opium war, 1997, dir. Xie Jin). Each reflects a particular set of ideological concerns and socio-political conditions of the times of production. Like its two predecessors, the most recent production, The Opium War, provides a window to the dynamics and confusions of politics and culture in today's China. This paper is an attempt to situate this film in the context of contemporary discourse on nationalism, history, and modernity in China and examine the complex relationship between politics and arts.
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Assassins and Children: The Mythology of the Lone Wolf and Cub Films
More LessThroughout the twentieth century, the popular cultures of Japan and the United States have developed intriguing connections. No where is this more clearly seen than in the oddly linked cultural mythologies which are reflected in the Japanese Samurai Film and the American cinematic Western. While the concept of a Mythic West has long been accepted and discussed by western scholars, the purely mythic space in which the Samurai Film resides has been largely ignored. The genre reflects a potent and highly developed mythology, complete with its own mythological system. The Samurai Film, too often dismissed by westerners as being simply "low brow," offers a glimpse of both Japanese culture and the workings of myth and culture in general.
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Eileen Chang, Woman's Film, and Domestic Shanghai in the 1940s
By Poshek FuEileen Chang (Zhang Ailing) is a twentieth-century Chinese legend. Born in Shanghai in 1920, she devoted all of her literary life to capturing the glamour, decadence, and moral ambiguity of the city. At the age of 23, Chang leapt to fame in Shanghai under the Japanese Occupation. During those three years, she published over a dozen short stories and many essays in the city's leading cultural journals and literary magazines. Her short story collection, Chuanqi (Romance) sold out in four days. The early 1940s marked not only the heyday of her literary creativity but also of her personal life. Financially independent, she married Hu Lancheng, a dilettante and top propaganda official of the collaborationist regime of Wang Jingwei.
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From Xin nüxing to Liren xing: Changing Conceptions of the “New Woman” in Republican Era Chinese Films
By Vivian ShenGender politics in the male-dominated world of republican era leftist filmmaking is exemplified quite well in cinematic portrayals of the New Woman. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, the concept of the New Woman conveyed in Chinese films shifted so dramatically that a study of the changes sheds considerable light not only on male-female relationships, but also on the general social and political context of that era.
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Hong Kong Cinema, the Boat People, and To Liv(e)
More LessOver the past few decades, most representations of the Vietnam War in literature and film tended to concentrate on American and European depictions. This has been mostly a result of the difficulty of obtaining directly visual representations of the Vietnamese side of the conflict because of the cultural and economic embargo the United States imposed. As far as literary depictions go, the current appearance of translated works by publishers such as Curbstone Press and the long involvement of figures such as Lady Borton and Le Ly Hyslip opposing cultural and institutional amnesia has somewhat remedied matters.
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Introduction: Teaching Asia Through Film
More LessThis group of essays originated from the workshop "Teaching Asia Through Film," held at the University of Pittsburgh, May 3-4, 1996. The event was organized by Keiko McDonald and Sheldon Lu, and was sponsored by the Asian Studies Program, the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, and the Film Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh. For the past decade, the Asian Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh has been one of the major undergraduate National Resources Centers (NRC) in East Asian Studies designated by the U.S. Department of Education. The workshop was largely supported with NRC funds. Speakers include John A. Lent, Keiko McDonald, Lucy Fischer, Marcia Landy, Anne T. Ciecko, Gina Marchetti, and Sheldon Lu. Some of the papers have been revised afterwards for publication in this issue of Asian Cinema, whereas others retain their original context of presentation at the workshop.
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Tapping the Abundant Resources Available To Teach Asia Through Film
By John A. LentCertainly, the task of teaching Asia through film has become considerably easier in recent years. First of all, a tradition has been established that allows for increased use of audio-visual materials in classrooms, made more convenient by easier-to-use technology. Second, more films for classroom use are available, obtainable through a larger number of distributors of Asian films in the United States. Of course, more possibilities exist because of videocassettes.
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Teaching Japan Through Cinema
More LessInitiation of Japanese film courses marks one of the most salient features in the recent development of Japanese Studies at major American academic institutions. Needless to say, in this age of high-tech communication, easy access to Japanese films on video (with English subtitles) has much to do with this favorable trend.
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Problems of Teaching Asian Cinema in a World Film History Course
By Marcia LandyI will confine my presentation to outlining problems in teaching Asian film in our film studies courses, specifically focusing on a course such as World Film History. As a devotee of melodrama, I intend in the comments that follow to inject an affective, particularly querulous, even inflated focus, into my comments on teaching Asian film so that I can foreground the difficulties that I have encountered in teaching films from China, Japan, India, and other Asian countries in my courses on World Film History. I hope that by concentrating on my experiences, certain issues will arise that can generate a productive engagement with the intellectual and pedagogical issues involved. While my observations may appear to be dour and skeptical, weighted heavily toward identifying problems, other colleagues in this symposium will perhaps present a more positive and constructive view of the pedagogical and critical situation.
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Floating Weeds: Tea...Afloatching Asian Cinema
By Lucy FischerSince Marcia Landy has so aptly sketched some of the broad theoretical issues concerning the teaching of Asian cinema as part of a class on World Film History, I will turn to a highly specific, concrete, and, perhaps, unique instantiation of such a pedagogical situation.
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Cultural Studies and Canons: Asian Cinemas across Disciplines and Institutions
More LessCultural Studies has been formative to my pedagogical practices and scholarly development-encouraging me to think across disciplinary borders, question canons, address questions of cultural hybridity and identities, and actively move outside conventional academic boundaries by validating different types of knowledge and experience.
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Thoughts on Teaching Chinese Cinemas in the United States
More LessIn this short note, I want to comment on four aspects of teaching Chinese cinemas in the United States: 1) what to teach: Chinese cinema or cinemas; 2) who are the teachers: area studies, film studies, media studies; 3) need for good textbooks for undergraduate students; 4) availability of Chinese films on videotape.
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Recent Publications on Asian Cinema
By John A. LentThis series has appeared sporadically from the beginning of Asian Cinema. The last installment was in 9:2, Spring 1998; these entries are mainly 1998 and 1999.
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Volumes & issues
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Volume 34 (2023)
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Volume 33 (2022)
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Volume 32 (2021)
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Volume 31 (2020)
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Volume 30 (2019)
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Volume 29 (2018)
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Volume 28 (2017)
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Volume 27 (2016)
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Volume 26 (2015)
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Volume 25 (2014)
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Volume 24 (2013)
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Volume 23 (2012)
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Volume 22 (2011)
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Volume 21 (2010)
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Volume 20 (2009)
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Volume 19 (2008)
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Volume 18 (2007)
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Volume 17 (2006)
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Volume 16 (2005)
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Volume 15 (2004)
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Volume 14 (2003)
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Volume 13 (2002)
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Volume 12 (2001)
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Volume 11 (2000)
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Volume 10 (1998 - 1999)
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Volume 9 (1997 - 1998)
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Volume 8 (1996)
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Volume 7 (1995)
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Volume 6 (1993)