Readings - Chinese Cinemas (Thur, 1-4pm)

[Anonymous]

I happened to read the review of the movie and history of the actors on http://www.brns.com/pages4/comed169.html. True to his word, it was an interesting read. As I read it, I kept wondering who wrote the review? The comedy of it was charming and I giggled a little, especially when the writer says "So often when married couples are put together on screen they generate the excitement of a night at home watching television..."

I found myself wanting to watch the entire movie. I don't mind musicals so much. ..and again, I was surprised by what I have learned about Asian cinema. I don't know what I expected, but they're similar to American films in a lot of ways. I must say, this is one great way to break down stereotypes and generalizations that people may have about other cultures, races, or ethnic groups.

[Anonymous]

I am kind of familiar with the cinema making history in mainland, China, but know little about what happened in Taiwan because of the separation. I am very grateful to gain all these knowledge about cinema production of Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Actually those romantic films produced in Taiwan in 1970s became great hit in mainland in 1980s when cultural revolution completely ended and China reopened its gate to the world. For younger generation, they felt that it was the first time the whole society put some attention on individuals' feeling and needs. Everything exhibited in the films was strangely fresh, the clothes, make up, language, setting... Thirty years later, Qin Han and Lin Qingxia, two famous Taiwan movie stars of 1970s are still able to attract the attention of people in mainland. Their off-screen love story continuous to be something people would like to gossip about.

[Anonymous]

I also like another film directed by Feng Xiaogang named "Back to1942".
It is based on Liu Zhenyun's novel Remembering 1942, which is about a major famine in Henan, China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Similar to "After Shocks", Feng Xiaogang continues to tell another story about how people try to survive under extremely harsh condition. His wife, Xu Fan, a well known Chinese actress, is one of the leading characters of both films.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I think the conflict between making "big movie" and "'movie for everyone" in China is resolving. Making "movie for everyone" has gradually become the trend of today's Chinese cinema market. There are quite a few low budget "pure" entertaining comedies are very popular in recent years. No matter how irrational these films are, young people who were born in 1980s and 1990s woluld like to go to the cinema to watch. In real life, these young people are already under great pressure of finding a job and make a decent living. The major reason why they are willing to spend over ¥100 to sit in the cinema is relaxing and laughing. Is ¥100 a big deal? Yes, a lot of young folks' monthly salary is between ¥1000 - ¥2000 in small cities.

[Anonymous]

Brian Hu's presentation this afternoon broke sall the stereotypes that I had of Chinese films. My experience with "Chinese" films growing up was that of Bruce Lee and all the Kung Fu, martial arts movies where most of the time the enemy was the Japanese. Another stereotype was that all the movies were about ancient history and extremely serious. I was very surprised to see Chinese movies that reminded me of "The Sound of Music" and "West Side Story". I was also very surprised to see Chinese ballet depicted in "The Red Detachment of Women". Today's presentation gave me a very expanded view of Chinese cinema and opened my eyes to the world of Chinese cinema. Thank you, Brian Hu.

[Anonymous]

By far my favorite session! Brian was excellent. His presentation provided such great information and he was very thorough. I truly appreciated the discussion of Cinema/"S" and the three Chinas. It gave me an understanding that I did not have previously on both the film aspect and the geographical aspect. I enjoyed the clips he shared with us as well. I got a sense of what each of the "Chinas" type of film was, what message they were trying to relay, and how they differed from each other.

I really liked the "Grave Goods" short film he showed us. He said it was typical of Taiwanese culture and I thought it was funny because it sort of reminded me of my Mexican grandma and how she saved EVERYTHING, had tons of jewelry, and luggages filled with who knows what in the garage! I guess in a sense we could be "transcultural?" LOL.

[Anonymous]

Loved the presentation and everybody's comments. The part that I really am trying to wrap my head around is the concept of the Chinese Diaspora. Because that is what I have in my class in increasing numbers, starting next Wednesday. Brian is a product of that. Grave Goods is a product of that. And I know so little about it. And even what little I know tends to be from an American perspective. Are there not Chinatowns in many cities in Britain, South Africa, India, Australia (missed the down under voice today)? How much of a market is that diaspora for the movies? But beyond that... in what other ways does that affect decision making in Taipei or Beijing or Hong Kong? How big is it and where are the main centers? How do they stay linked? Is that what the movies do? Is that why Brian became a film critic... does it allow him to stay a part of the culture? How linked is that kid in the front row of my AP US History class? Does it depend on which generation of immigrant he is? What movies does he watch? How do I connect with him?

[Anonymous]

Thanks to Clay for posting this - I could have used many of the same phrases to describe the way Ebert affected my life, even if I didn't follow his example to a vocation the way Brian did. I actually think reading this piece gives us a clue to why Brian's presentation was so absorbing, and offers all of us educators an invaluable takeaway: anyone teaching about a subject they passionately love can hold a class's attention. I came into this afternoon knowing next to nothing about Chinese cinema(s), and after an hour of the lecture I wanted to spend the next week devouring every one of the movies he mentioned. We could all do worse than to bring that same enthusiasm into our classrooms.

[Anonymous]

I just finished watching "Aftershock" and can say that it is a must see movie, and would definitely be something you can work into the classroom. It isn't overly violent or gory, but it is heartbreaking in quite a few parts. The story of the split up family is told very well and you feel a sense of connection to each of the characters for different reasons. I'm not sure how my middle schoolers would react to the sappy parts, but I think it would be worth it to see. I was heartbroken when the mother had to choose a child to save, and think that would make a lively discussion in class about who you save and why. And the concept of foster parents being "real" or adopted children being "yours" is another topic we could discuss, especially with how many kids have split homes nowadays, and some of our kids do not live with their parents for one reason or another. I'm just blown away by this film. I'm so glad I stayed up to watch it.
edited by kstiles on 7/31/2014

[Anonymous]

I feel like in this seminar I have made a lot of connections to the material and my Economics classes, but here is another one! The 20 imported film quota China has and the bargaining chip it has become in trade agreement talks. Popular films are always a good way to get the attention of our students and talking about those movies and what it takes to get them shown in China could be an interesting way of discussing free trade, WTO and Globalization.

[Anonymous]

Brian Hu's presentation of Chinese Cinema vs. Chinese CinamaS was very interesting and informative. Having just read about Taiwanese Action cinema, and the two subcategories of wuxia and kungfu becomes clear, it certainly gives me a framework/vocabulary regarding Chinese cinema/s and an understanding of the ascendancy of kungfu movies. Whereas in my ignorance I would have simply said it was a Chinese movie, without regards to the language spoken, location of filming, much less to the different elements of wuxia and fungfu type movies--these readings and the presentation have given me more to think about.

[Anonymous]

Like many have said, Hu was awesome and gave me ideas I'm tossing around to create a lesson. His question about how we categorize American Asian film is an interesting point. Is it a fourth China or is it all China makes me wonder about the identity of our students. How do they classify themselves? It would be an interesting becoming and end of the year writing assignment.

[Anonymous]

I thought this presentation was a great mix of history, art, economics and a great deal more. I think it will be very interesting in talking to both my economics classes and my government classes about the very interesting convergence of free-market competition, government censorship, international trade, and economics calculations that has been the Chinese cinema(s). Just the one specific decision to develop the martial arts film genre as something that they could effectively corner the market on and monopolize the talent so that they would never be outdone in at least one specific genre is a very instructive lesson in clever economical thinking.

[Anonymous]

To KSHAW: What an interesting notion to ask who has the power in the relationship between the PRC censors and Hollywood. If the two enhance each others power or if it is a zero sum game where one side wins and the other looses might be a great higher level discussion to open (especially since I am sure I do not know the answer). Does the size of the Chinese market confer upon the Chinese an almost incalculable soft power when dealing in international economic negotiations? Thanks for the thought provoking questions?

[Anonymous]

Brian Hu's presentation was excellent and it gave me so much to think about. The idea that the first Chinese films were based on Chinese Opera stories caught my attention. I was especially curious about the stories that the Chinese Operas are based on themselves. As I researched, I came upon the story of Mulan. I thought it was just a Disney movie, but it turns out to be much more. I found a very good retelling of the Opera by Prof. David K. Jordan, UCSD here: http://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/cgi-bin/chopera.pl?taleid=Opera021. I also have found that there are several children's picture books (not Disney) about the story of Mulan. This website actually compares the Disney story to the Xu Wei poem of the life of Mulan, called "The Female Mulan Joins the Army in Place of Her Father" (Hmmm... I wonder what it's about?)
http://dettoldisney.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/mulan-vs-the-legend-of-hua-mulan/. (By the way this website compares other Disney revisions to their originals, as well.)
edited by sshiva on 8/1/2014

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