China into Film: Frames of Reference in Contemporary Chinese Cinema

by Jerome Silbergeld

Overview

Since 1984, Chinese cinema has been the most dramatic entry onto the international film scene. China into Film is the first book to look at contemporary Chinese cinema as a visual art and to illustrate the ways in which it has been shaped by centuries of Chinese tradition. Jerome Silbergeld looks at the significance of gender roles, the strategies of film-makers in coping with state censorship, the translation of novels into films, the continuing attachment of film-makers to melodrama, and cinematic critiques of Maoism and post-Maoist culture.

Abundantly illustrated with Chinese paintings as well as scenes from such internationally acclaimed films as Yellow Earth, Red Sorghum, Raise the Red Lantern and Farewell My Concubine, China into Film reveals a cinematic form at once excitingly new and deeply imbedded in traditional Chinese visual culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781861898401
Publisher:	Reaktion Books, Limited
Publication date:	03/01/2000
Series:	Envisioning Asia
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	22 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Jerome Silbergeld is Professor of Art History at the University of Washington, Seattle, and the author of several books on twentieth-century Chinese painting.

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Drowning on Dry Land: Yellow Earth and the Traditionalism of the 'Avant-garde'
Yellow Earth
2. Ruins of a Sorghum Field, Eclipse of a Nation: Red Sorghum on Page and Screen
Red Sorghum
My Memories of Old Beijing
Sacrificed Youth, Horse Thief, Transmigration/Samsara, Old Well, The Trouble-Shooters
3. A Farewell to Arts: Allegory Goes to the Movies
Farewell My Concubine
The Story of Qiu Ju
4. The Veil of Tradition: Victims, Warriors and the Female Analogy
Army Nurse
Woman from the Lake of Scented Souls
5. The Force of Labels: Melodrama in the Postmodern Era
Hibiscus Town
6. The Children of Melodrama: No-drama, Pseudo-drama, Melodramatic Masquerade and Deconstruction Drama
Black Cannon Incident
The Big Parade, King of the Children
Judou, Raise the Red Lantern
Temptress Moon
Film Credits
Bibliography
Photographic Acknowledgements
Index

Editorial Reviews

"As a study of the relationship between contemporary Chinese film and the visual legacy of Chinese arts and culture, this book is superb."

Journal of Asian Studies