Chinese Film and Society

Catalog description

This course examines Chinese films in broad social, political, and cultural contexts. The specific topic varies from filmic representation of revolution and socialism to the avant-garde experimentation in post-Mao China. The approach is comparative and analytical, with a focus on the particular experiences of Chinese modernity as refracted by the visual images and cultural politics. The course is not limited to film productions of the People?s Republic of China but covers Chinese films made during the Republican period (1911-1949) and films from Taiwan and Hong Kong as well. It is also designed to inform students of the intellectual and social environment that conditions the film production and of the critical, theoretical development in Chinese film studies.