FILM Studies (FILM) 30116 - Lecture 02
Topic in National Cinema

Chinese Cinema
Winter 2008
Friday lectures 09:00-10:50 SH 284

M lab B03 09:00-11:50  MLB 45

W lab B04 09:00-11:50 MLB 45

 

Instructor:	Claire Huot
Office Location:
Office Phone:
E-Mail:	clairehuot@shaw.ca
Web Page:
Office Hours:	Fridays, after class

Course Description

 

A study of Chinese feature films produced in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan over the past 20 years that can be called the New Wave.

 

A focus on filmmakers of the Fifth Generation (Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou, Tian Zhuangzhuang).

 

A look at some acclaimed filmmakers and prevalent trends from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

 

Objectives of the Course

To grasp basic cultural concepts that are acknowledged as Chinese and to become aware of questions of (self-)orientalism in film and film criticism.

 

To understand the film industry in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan before it became internationally recognized.

 

To recognize Chinese film today as a transnational cultural product.

 

Textbooks and Readings

 

Chris Berry, ed. Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes,  British Film Institute, 2004.

A course pack of supplementary articles is also required reading.

Both are on sale at the university bookstore.

 

Assignments and Evaluation

1 mid-term exam (March 7): 25%

3 quizzes (Feb. 15, April 4,  April 18): 30% (3 x10%)

1 take-home test (given March 14, due March 28): 20%

1 outline of research essay (April 4):  5%

1 research essay  (due April 18): 20%

 

Mid-term exam: 5 questions; approx. 1.5 hr based on lectures and readings up to Feb. 29

Quizzes: 10 questions requiring short answers, material studied up to week prior to quiz.

Take-home test: 1 question to be answered in approx. 750 words

Outline: topic description, tentative title, 3-4 references.

Research essay:  topic chosen by student, approx. 1000 words

It is the student's responsibility to keep a copy of each submitted assignment.
Note: Please hand in your essays directly to your tutor or instructor if possible. If it is not possible to do so, a daytime drop box is available in SS110; a date stamp is provided for your use. A night drop box is also available for after-hours submission. Assignments will be removed the following morning, stamped with the previous day's date, and placed in the instructor's mailbox.

Registrar-scheduled Final Examination:  No

Please note: If your class is held in the evening, the Registrar's Office will make every attempt to schedule the final exam during the evening; however, there is NO guarantee that the exam will NOT be scheduled during the day.

Policy for Late Assignments

Assignments submitted after the deadline may be penalized with the loss of a grade (e.g.: A- to B+) for each day late.

Writing Skills Statement

Faculty policy directs that all written assignments (including, although to a lesser extent, written exam responses) will be assessed at least partly on writing skills. For details see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/info. Writing skills include not only surface correctness (grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc) but also general clarity and organization. Research papers must be properly documented.

If you need help with your writing, you may use the Writing Centre.  Visit the website for more details: www.efwr.ucalgary.ca

Grading System

The following grading system is used in the Faculty of Communication and Culture:

A+ (96-100); A (92-95); A- (86-91); B+ (81-85); B (77-80); B- (71-76);
C+ (65-70); C (62-64); C- (59-61); D+ (55-58); D (50-54); F (0-49)

 

Plagiarism

Using any source whatsoever without clearly documenting it is a serious academic offense. Consequences include failure on the assignment, failure in the course and possibly suspension or expulsion from the university.

You must document not only direct quotations but also paraphrases and ideas where they appear in your text. A reference list at the end is insufficient by itself. Readers must be able to tell exactly where your words and ideas end and other people's words and ideas begin. This includes assignments submitted in non-traditional formats such as Web pages or visual media, and material taken from such sources.

Please consult your instructor or the Writing Centre (SS 106, efwr.ucalgary.ca) if you have any questions regarding how to document sources.

Students with Disabilities

If you are a student with a disability who may require academic accommodation, it is your responsibility to register with the Disability Resource Centre (220-8237) and discuss your needs with your instructor no later than fourteen (14) days after the start of the course.

Students' Union

For details about the current Students' Union contacts for the Faculty of Communication and Culture see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/su

"SAFEWALK" Program -- 220-5333

Campus Security will escort individuals day or night -- call 220-5333 for assistance. Use any campus phone, emergency phone or the yellow phone located at most parking lot booths.

Ethics

Whenever you perform research with human participants (i.e. surveys, interviews, observation) as part of your university studies, you are responsible for following university research ethics guidelines.  Your instructor must review and approve of your research plans and supervise your research.  For more information about your research ethics responsibilities, see the U of C Research Ethics "Information for Applicants," sections 3.0 to 9.0, inclusive: http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/research/html/ethics/info_undergrad.html

Schedule of Lectures, Readings & Screenings

 

Week 1 (Jan. 18)

 

Course presentation;

The Fifth Generation filmmakers revolutionize Chinese film in the post-Mao era

 

Reading:

Teshome, Gabriel. "Towards a Critical Theory of Third World Films," Questions of Third Cinema, J, Pines & P. Willemen, ed., British Film Institute,1989, 30-52. [course pack]



 

Week 2 (Jan. 25)

 

The social and cultural import of YELLOW EARTH by Chen Kaige

 

Reading:

Leung, Helen Hok-Sze. "Yellow Earth: Hesitant Apprenticeship and Bitter Agency," Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes, ed. Chris Berry, British Film Institute, 2004, Chapter 24 [textbook].



 

January 21 & 23 Screening of Yellow Earth (Huang tudi) (1984) by Chen Kaige

Week 3 (Feb. 1)

Zhang Yimou's wildly popular directorial debut: RED SORGHUM 



 

Reading: Zhang, Yingjin. "Ideology of the Body in Red Sorghum: National Allegory, National Roots, and Third Cinema," Colonialism and Nationalism in Asian Cinema, W. Dissanayake, ed., Indiana University Press, 1994, 30-41. [course pack]



 

January 28 & 30: Screening of Red Sorghum (Hong gaoliang) (1987) by Zhang Yimou

 

Week 4 (Feb. 8)

Tian Zhuangzhuang"s rendering of very recent Chinese history: THE BLUE KITE

 

Reading: Lu, Tonglin. "Allegorical and Realistic Portrayals of the Cultural Revolution: Tian Zhuanzhuang, On the Blue Kite," Confronting Modernity in the Cinemas of Taiwan and Mainland China, Cambridge UP, 2002, 76-92. [course pack]



 

Feb. 4 & 6:  Screening of The Blue Kite (Lan fengzheng) (1994) by Tian Zhuangzhuang

 

Week 5 (Feb. 15)

Chen Kaige on the international scene: a culturally-specific China on show

 

Reading: Braester, Yomi. "Farewell My Concubine: National Myth and City Memories,"  Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes, ed. Chris Berry, British Film Institute, 2004, Chapter 11. [textbook]



 

Feb.11 & 13: Screening of Farewell My Concubine (Bawang bieji) (1993) by Chen Kaige


Week 6 (READING WEEK -no class, no screenings)

Week 7 (Feb. 29)

Zhang Yimou on the interrnational scene: the plight of women, the burden of tradition
and patriarchal China

 

Reading: Sutton, Donald S. "Ritual, History, and the Films of Zhang Yimou," East-West Film Journal, vol. 8, no 2, July 1994, 31-44. [course pack]



 

February 25 & 27: Screening of Raise the Red Lantern (Dahong denglong gaogao gua) (1991) by Zhang Yimou

 

Week 8 (March 7)

Readings:

Clark, Paul. "China: Reframing History," Being & Becoming: The Cinemas of Asia, Vasudev, Padgaonkar & Doraiswamy ed., Macmillan India Ltd, 2002, 64-91. [course pack]



 

Huot, Claire. "Colorful Folk in the Landscape," China's New Cultural Scene: A Handbook of Changes. Duke University Press, 2000, Chapter 4, 91-125. [course pack]



NO SCREENINGS -MIDTERM EXAM

 

Week 9 (March 14)

 

Hong Kong cinema and traditional China lore



 

Reading: Zou, John. "A Chinese Ghost Story: Ghostly Counsel and Innocent Man," Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes, ed. Chris Berry, British Film Institute, 2004, Chapter 5. [textbook]



 

March 10 & 12: A Chinese Ghost Story (I) (Sinnui yao wan) (1987) by Siu-Tung Ching


 

Week 10 (March 21 -HOLIDAY, NO CLASS)

Reading: Reynaud, Bérénice. "Centre Stage: A Shadow in Reverse," Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes, ed. Chris Berry, British Film Institute, 2004, Chapter 4.

 

March 17 &19: Screening of Center Stage (Ruan Lingyu) (1992) by Stanley Kwan


 

Week 11 (March 28)

Hong Kong's cinematographic treatment of its past: CENTER STAGE & CHUNGKING EXPRESS

 

Reading: Tong, Janice. "Chungking Express: Time and its Displacements," Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes, ed. Chris Berry, British Film Institute, 2004, Chapter 6. [textbook]



 

March 24 & 26: Screening of Chungking Express (Chung hing sam lam) (1994) by Wong Kar- wai

 

Week 12 (April 4)

Taiwan's queer auteur, Tsai Ming-liang



 

Reading: Marchetti, Gina. "On Tsai Mingliang's The River," Island on the Edge: Taiwan New Cinema and After, Chris Berry and Feii Lu, eds., HK: Hong Kong University Press, 2005, 113-26. [course pack]



 

March 31 & April 2: Screening of The River (He liu) (1997) by Tsai Ming-liang

 

Week 13 (April 11)

 

A recipe for marketing Chinese film:  the case of Ang Lee's CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON

 

Reading: Chan, Felicia. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Reading Ambiguity and Ambivalence," Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes, ed. Chris Berry, British Film Institute, 2004, Chapter 7. [textbook]



 

April 7 & 9: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long) (2000) by Ang Lee

 

Week 14 (April 18)

Jia Zhangke, a new generation of filmmakers that are Chinese  and in-the-world.

 

Reading: Jaffee, Valerie."Bringing the World to the Nation: Jia Zhangke and the Legitimization of Chinese Underground Film." Senses of Cinema 32 (July-Sept. 2004). [online resource]



 

April 14 & 16: Screening of The World (Shijie) (2005) by Jia Zhangke