Chinese Society & Culture – Film Review
Write a paper on the following topic:
Minimum length: 5 full pages. Double space. Font size: 12. Proper standard margins.
- Goddess (Dir. Wu Yonggang, 1934)
- Street Angels (Dir. Yuan Muzhi, 1937)
- Stage Sisters (aka Two Actresses) (Dir. Xie Jin, 1964)
- Farwell My Concubine (Dir. Chen Kaige, 1993)
- Youth (Dir. Feng Xiaogang, 2017)
Portions of other films have also been shown and discussed during lectures in the first half of the course, such as The Big Road (Sun Yu, 1934), Sports Queen (Sun Yu, 1934), The White-Haired Girl (Wang Bin & Shui Hua, 1950), The Red Detachment of Women (Xie Jin, 1961), Yellow Earth (Chen Kaige, 1984), Blue Kite (Tian Zhuangzhuang, 1993), Raise the Red Lantern (Zhang Yimou, 1992), and To Live (Zhang Yimou, 1994).
Three Times: Republican China, Socialist China, and Post-Mao China
The films that we have watched and studied in the class cover three distinct historical periods and three important moments of filmmaking in modern Chinese history. They are the golden age of early cinema based in Shanghai under the rule of the Republic of China (1912-1949); socialist revolutionary cinema from the People’s Republic of China in the mainland (1949-76); and cinema in post-Mao China, namely, in the era of social and economic reforms since 1976. Choose at least a total of three films from these periods in the above list, discuss and compare the representation of Chinese society, culture, or history in these films. Please also briefly comment on prominent stylistic features that you notice in the films. The paper should analyze at least one film from each of the three different periods.
Avoid simple generalizations. Refer to specific elements and details such as characters, scenes, plot, cinematography (shot, editing), lighting, sound, music, and so on. You may consult the required readings, or do some research and look into additional material outside the class. Whatever you do, please always acknowledge your source. Do not use the words and ideas of a publication or an online source without appropriate citations.
The paper fulfills in part your writing requirement. Your writing is expected to reflect college-level competence in form and content. Both what you write and how you write will be evaluated. Relevant aspects of writing will be looked at as usual: coherence, organization, argument, elegance, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and so on. You will receive the “Grading Rubric” in a separate file attachment.