We have viewed films by two celebrated Chinese “transnational” directors, Tsui Hark and Ang Li. Are there different influences that show up in their films to distinguish them from mainland-based directors?
Paper details:
PAAS 358: SCREENING THE NATION – HISTORY AND FILM
Essay Question: We have viewed films by two celebrated Chinese “transnational”directors, Tsui Hark and Ang Li. Are there different influences that show up in their films to distinguish them from mainland-based directors?
Chinese “transnational”directors: which means they have worked/studied outside of China in their life, their point of view might be influenced by other cultures.
Mainland-based directors: those who spend their whole life and career in China.
This class we watched two movies:
The Taking of Tiger Mountain ?????, dir. Tsui Hark ?? 2014, from the novel Tracks in the Snowy Forest ???? by Qu Bo ??.
Lust, Caution ??dir. Ang Lee ??, from the story by Zhang Ailing ???, 2007 (2.39).
This paper references should related to both of movie context and the original story of each, and the particular period of the Chinese history.
Recommended reading:
Ch’u Po [Qu Bo] ??, Tracks in the Snowy Forest ????. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1962 (and later editions). (PL2852P6L513 1965.)
Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy ?????. Beijing: Foreign languages Press, 1971. (ML50S512C52 1971.)Zhang Ailing (Eileen Chang), Lust, Caution. New York: Anchor Books, 2007.
For this course/paper, Recommended related reading available in the UVic library:
1. Chinese history
Jonathan D. Spence and Annping Chin, The Chinese Century. New York: Random House, 1996 (DS755.2 S64), pp.10-159.
2. Writing about Film
Timothy Corrigan, A Short Guide to Writing about Film. New York: Longman, 1989 and subsequent editions. (PN1995 C67).
3. Chinese film
Berry, Chris, ed., Chinese Films in Focus II. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2008 (PN1993.5 C4C466 2008).
Berry, Chris, and Mary Farquhar, China on Screen: Cinema and Nation. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. (PN1993.5 C4 B46).
Berry, Michael, Speaking in Images: Interviews with Contemporary Chinese Filmmakers. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004 (PN1993.5 C4 B49 2005).
Clark, Paul, Chinese Cinema: Culture and Politics Since 1949. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. (PN1993.5 C4 C58).
???,??, ?????? (?,?). ??:?????????, 2006. (PN1993.5 C4 Z466, v.1, v.2).
Silbergeld, Jerome, China Into Film: Frames of Reference in Contemporary Chinese Cinema. London: Reaktion Books, 1999. (PN1993.5 C4S55).
Zhang, Yingjin, Chinese National Cinema. New York: Routledge, 2004. (PN1993.5 C4Z5285).
The best bibliography by far for Western writing on Chinese film is the “media” section of the Modern Chinese Literature and Culture Resource Center. http://u.osu.edu/mclc/bibliographies/media/. This is the place to go to find material on directors and their work.
