Chinese Cinema

Catalog description

This course explores the history of and critical issues in Chinese cinema: we will discuss early film making in Shanghai, leftist melodrama, Socialist films, the Chinese New Wave, underground films, the film making in the era of globalization, and etc. Themes and genres that will be investigated include melodrama, the "Fifth Generation", underground film making, filmic representations of women, minority films, and historical epics. Films from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and diasporic communities will be discussed to illuminate what it means to be "Chinese." All of the films in this course come with English subtitles; the film viewing will take place outside the class. This course has the following objectives: 1) View and comprehend 13 Chinese movies; 2) discuss Chinese language, literature, history, and culture as well as filmmaking as they are reflected in the Chinese movies featured in this course; and 3) learn how to write film reviews on Chinese movies in English. The course will be taught in English and uses the seminar-style instructional methods focusing on developing the students' disciplinary communication skills in Chinese Studies. All course and reading materials will be in English, and all movies will have English or English-Chinese bilingual subtitles. Students may only earn credit for one of the following: CHIN 330 , CHIN 330D , or ASIA/ WLIT 330 . Offered as ASIA 330 and WLIT 330 .