Film Festival

[Anonymous]

The film that I reviewed is titled Ancestors in America: Chinese in the Frontier West. This film would be a great resource for 8th grade history classes as it addresses the migration of Chinese to America during the Gold Rush. The film records the Chinese plight in working in the gold mines. The film does a great job opening up in a manner that grabs the viewer’s attention and sympathy/anger by introducing the idea that America also belongs to the Chinese because many of their hands helped make America, especially California, what it is today. The film highlights the discrimination they faced and the strong community which they created in order to overcome the hatred displayed upon them. I loved the images and actual newspaper headings that reported on the Chinese Exclusion Act and the many lawsuits made by the Chinese miners. What interested me the most was the focus on the role that women played. Women were disregarded during this time and not even allowed to come to the U.S. and once they did, they were referred to, and called, “China Susie, China Polly” and the most popular, “China Mary.” This film set off many emotions within me and I look forward to seeing how my students react to it.

[Anonymous]

IpMan is a movie (Cantonese with English subtitles) based loosely on the character of the kung-fu master who taught martial arts to the legendary Bruce Lee. Almost all know about Bruce Lee but who was the person who taught him??? The movie relates in the end that that person was Ip Man, who lived in the southern Chinese city of Foshan. He would not habitually take any disciples but all this changed when the Japanese invaded China in the 1930s (Second Sino-Japanese War) and then everything changes. Master IpMan was forced to work in a colliery all the while being a target of the ridicule by the occupying Japanese forces. The Japanese commanding officer, himself a martial art expert, tries to engage in a fight with Ip Man and defeat him so proving that he Japanese were superior to the Chinese. In the fight, Ip Man is able to defeat the Japanese Gen. Miura. Ip Man later moved to Hoing Kong and set up the Wing Chun martial art school where Bruce Lee received his training.
I would show this movie to my class as it reflects the importance of a teacher (a guru) in learning a skill in any field. The story itself shows perseverance and courage in the face of adverse situations. It displays a strength of character and how a person can become a model to the others. It has quite a few martial art sequences to keep the students engaged through the movie. I think the movie could be shown both to middle school and high school students.

[Anonymous]

I have also used Graveyard of the Fireflies as part of a unit on WWII , and I agree with the reviewer that the film's anime format he with student accessibility. It is valuable to have resources that provide students with a variety of perspectives to balance a simplified us versus them attitude.

[Anonymous]

I show Zhang Yang’s Shower to my students, elementary and high school, whenever we study contemporary China. This sweet, funny film also explores some of the challenges of life in an old Beijing neighborhood, especially the coming demolition of it and the bathhouse to make way for development. Other issues include family, friendship, being yourself, and the important place of water in all of our lives. While some of the issues may be somewhat more pertinent in China, much of this story could take place anywhere in the world, and this is a point that comes through to students with this window into daily life.

Zhu Xu is subtle and brilliant as the father, and I also strongly recommend his other big hit film, The King of Masks. Pu Cunxin and Jiang Wu play the parts of his sons, and they too star in many other wonderful films. Jiang portrays the part of the mentally-challenged son and does a remarkable and dignified job of presenting this young man.

I have my students write about this movie after viewing and discussing it in class. Depending on the age of my students, I have them compare an issue or scene in the movie to their own lives, or I have them choose one character with which they feel an affinity and explain their reasoning. As well as the above, this film can also lead into many wonderful explorations of local neighborhoods and communities.

[Anonymous]

The 1954 Ishiro Honda film Gojira, provides a great tool when teaching students about the aftermath of World War II. The monster, known to Western audiences as Godzilla, is a physical manifestation of the United States’ nuclear power. In the film, scientists theorize that Godzilla is a monster created by mankind’s use of nuclear weapons. It can be argued that Gojira is a protest film in that, it protests the use of nuclear weapons by showing their destructive power in the form of a monster. Unlike subsequent films in the Godzilla franchise, this film shows the human impact of Godzilla’s destruction. The aftermath of Godzilla’s attack looks very similar to photographs of the aftermath of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. This film can be used in class as an analysis assignment. I would have the students write a paragraph about how Gojira reflects on Japanese attitudes in post-war Japan. I would not have time to show the entire film, but I think a few clips with a Powerpoint presentation would be enough for the students to understand the connection.
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[Anonymous]

Just for fun…Godzilla Filmography

1. Godzilla, King of the Monsters
thanks , i like it

[Anonymous]

MATT ZOLLER SEITZ – an Interview

The 75-year-old Nakajima became a national icon (albeit of a minor and curious sort) by playing Godzilla, Japan's nuclear-breathed answer to King Kong and one of the longest-lived recurring characters in world cinema.
http://www.releasedl.com/2014/02/fb-resurrection/

Nakajima played him for 18 years, from the original in 1954 through Godzilla vs. Gigan in 1972.
It is now possible to appreciate Nakajima's efforts in a new, serious way. The restored film—originally titled Gojira, and mispronounced for decades by American marketers—is a much darker affair, an attempt by creator Tomoyuki Tanaka to depict Japan's postwar anguish in fairytale form. http://www.releasedl.com/2014/02/youtube-profit-landing-pages/
An actor, martial artist and stuntman, Nakajima divvied up city-stomping duties with actor Katsumi Tezuka. After the first film's release in 1954, Nakajima became the role's principal actor. He was chosen mainly for his endurance—the suit weighed about 220 pounds and was poorly ventilated—yet he brought more to the role than mere strength. Like all intelligent actors, Nakajima approached the part as a part.
As any sci-fi geek knows, Godzilla is a mythological creature kept at bay by human sacrifice, then unleashed on Japan by nuclear testing. The character started out as a cautionary symbol of imperial arrogance begetting nuclear destruction, but he eventually mutated into a hero and a proud symbol of Japan's inextinguishable warrior spirit. http://www.releasedl.com/2014/02/video-traffic-takeover/
Nakajima reveals himself as a craftsman who thought hard about what sort of creature Godzilla was, how he might move and why.
"I knew it didn't make sense for Godzilla to move like a human being," Nakajima said. "I observed animals in the zoo for a week. What I did bring home was the bear and the elephant. Actually, I tried to mimic the way an elephant walks."
http://www.releasedl.com/2014/02/mma-training-masterclass-plr-mega-pack/
He says the monster did not deliberately wreck buildings, but damaged them accidentally because he was a giant beast trying to navigate a man-made environment.
"I tried to walk naturally and not seem conscious about my movements," he said. "As an actor, you have to be realistic. That's what I was trying to do."
That's no mean feat when you're wearing a 220-pound rubber suit with a tail suspended on wires. "It was really tiring," he said. "I needed three or four men to help me put on the suit." http://www.releasedl.com/2014/02/facebook-fever/
There were other hazards as well, including small explosive charges that detonated around Godzilla as he trampled buildings, cars and telephone poles.
Nakajima was rewarded with steady employment and the affection of his countrymen. Nakajima is especially proud of Godzilla's popularity among Japanese children—a natural constituency courted early and often by Toho.
"I never thought it would achieve this level of popularity," he said. "Fifty years—that's a long time."

Just for fun…Godzilla Filmography

1. Godzilla, King of the Monsters
2. Gigantis the Fire Monster
3. King Kong vs Godzilla
4. Godzilla vs The Thing
5. Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster
6. Monster Zero
7. Godzilla vs The Sea Monster
8. Son of Godzilla
9. Destroy All Monsters
10. Godzilla's Revenge
11. Godzilla vs The Smog Monster
12. Godzilla on Monster Island
13. Godzilla vs Megalon
14. Godzilla vs The Cosmic Monster
15. Terror of Mechagodzilla
16. The Return of Godzilla
17. Godzilla vs Biollante
18. Godzilla vs King Ghidorah
19. Godzilla vs Mothra
20. Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla
21. Godzilla vs Destroyer
22. Godzilla
23. Godzilla 2000
24. Godzilla X Megaguiras
25. Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: All-Out Monster Attack!
26. Godzilla X MechaGodzilla
27. Godzilla X Mothra X MechaGodzilla

[clay dube]

As participants in our seminars know, I'm a big fan of using clips from feature films to illustrate topics we're examining. I also think that older students could usefully study individual films to assess the images being conveyed and to compare those representations of Asian life to what they get from their classes and from other sources.

Please use this area of the discussion board to offer your own reviews of Asian films. Beyond discussing the film's intrinsic qualities, please devote some energy to examining how it might be used with middle or high school students. You might mention the lessons it touches upon or the skills it could help students develop. Of course, please do note if the film is an adaptation of a novel or short story.

Feel free to use the board to raise questions as well. What film could I use to ...? What do you think about using .... to teach ....?

Useful sites include:

An old but still comprehensive site we assembled at UCLA
http://www.international.ucla.edu/eas/web/asiafilm-web.htm

Asia Educational Media Service (Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
http://www.aems.uiuc.edu/

Asian Film Connections http://www.asianfilms.org/ (East Asian Films)

Imagine Asia http://imagineasia.bfi.org.uk/poll/ (South Asian Films)

University of Michigan http://www.lib.umich.edu/area/sasia/films.htm (South Asian Films)

Please use this area of the discussion board to post your film reviews and to direct us to useful film websites and print resources.

smiling,
clay [Edit by="Clay Dube on Feb 24, 11:43:23 AM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

Get your hanky ready. This 1988 Japanese animated film really packs an emotional punch Grave of the Fireflies was written and directed by Isao Takahata and based on a 1967 semi-autobiographical novel by Akiyuki Nosaka. This heartbreaking story is about two children (a young boy and his little sister) who struggle to survive after the city of Kobe, Japan is bombed during an incendiary attack and their mother is killed. Their city literally goes up in flames as the buildings of paper and wood are engulfed mercilessly. I watched this film decades ago, but it seems like it was yesterday because we can still see the devastating effects of war every day on our television sets. But, too often, the stories of human suffering -- especially of the children that are left orphaned -- are passed over. This film is sure to engage students in a meaningful discussion about what is inhumanely called "collateral damage". There is no such thing.
If you have time to talk about current events in your classroom, then you can probably fit this movie into your day. I recommend showing the film over a week so that there is time for discussion, comparison, and writing. Collect images or first hand accounts of bombings from survivors of this or other wars or from today'snews to juxtapose with different parts of the movie. Here are some important sections of the movie to show and discuss.
The movie opens with pro-war, patriotic "We're gonna win!" attitudes. Then, the air raid occurs. Mass casualties and wanton destruction follow! The main characters are in shock -- in one moment their whole world has changed. Their struggle to stay alive is frantic and eventually hopeless.
This film is powerful in its storytelling and in giving a voice to the "losing" side of WWII. In doing so, we learn one thing: there were no winners.
edited by sshiva on 7/30/2014

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