New Chinese Cinema

New Chinese Cinema: Challenging Representations examines the ‘search for roots’ films that emerged from China in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution. The authors contextualize the films of the so-called Fifth Generation directors who came to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, such as Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou, and Tian Zhuangzhuang. Including close analysis of such pivotal films as Farewell My Concubine, Raise the Red Lantern, and The Blue Kite, this book also examines the rise of contemporary Sixth Generation underground directors whose themes embrace the disaffection of urban youth.

Analyses the changing forms and significance of filmmaking in the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong since the end of the Cultural Revolution.

Building a New China in Cinema introduces English readers for the first time to one of the most exciting left-wing cinema traditions in the world. This unique book explores the history, ideology, and aesthetics of China's left-wing cinema movement, a quixotic film culture that was as political as commercial, as militant as sensationalist. Originating in the 1930s, it marked the first systematic intellectual involvement in Chinese cinema. In this era of turmoil and idealism, the movement's films were characterized by fantasies of heroism intertwined with the inescapable spell of impotency, thus exposing the contradictions of the filmmakers' underlying ideology as their political and artistic agendas alternately fought against or catered to the taste and viewing habits of a popular audience. Political cinema became a commercially successful industry, resulting in a film culture that has never been replicated. Drawing on detailed archival research, Pang demonstrates that this cinema movement was a product of the era's social, economic, and political discourses. The author offers a close analysis of many rarely seen films, richly illustrated with over eighty stills collected from the Beijing Film Archive. With its original conceptual approach and rich use of primary sources, this book will be of interest not only to scholars and fans of Chinese cinema but to those who study the relationship between cinema and modernity.

This revised and updated new edition provides a comprehensive introduction to the history of cinema in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as to disaporic and transnational Chinese film-making, from the beginnings of cinema to the present day. Chapters by leading international scholars are grouped in thematic sections addressing key historical periods, film movements, genres, stars and auteurs, and the industrial and technological contexts of cinema in Greater China.

Focusing on the work of six directors --Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou and Tian Zhuangzhuang; Taiwan's Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang; and Hong Kong's Stanley Kwan--New Chinese Cinema discusses the themes and stylistic characteristics of the new cinema. Illustrated with movie stills and location shots, and drawing on interviews with many of the featured film-makers, this book brings new insight to the discussion of one of the most vibrant and influential of the world's cinematic traditions.

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.

DIVAn anthology that explores film works by the "urban generation,"--filmmakers who operate outside of "mainstream" (officially sanctioned) Chinese cinema -- whose impact has been enormous./div

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of figures and tables -- List of abbreviations -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Chinese audiences and the cinema of class -- 2 Class on screen and in reality: pre-conditioning audiences -- 3 Let the Bullets Fly: the socialisation of assumptions -- 4 Lost on Journey: prejudice in class relations -- 5 Go Lala Go!: secretaries, shopping and spinsterhood -- 6 House Mania: homeownership, marriageability and masculinity -- 7 The Piano in a Factory: suzhi, industrial heroes and the spectacle of poverty -- 8 Conclusion: class, the film and the filmmaker -- Films list -- Appendix: group discussants -- Let the Bullets Fly -- Lost on Journey -- Go Lala Go! -- House Mania -- The Piano in a Factory -- Index