Cinema Taiwan: Politics, Popularity and State of the Arts / Edition 1

by Darrell William Davis, Ru-shou Robert Chen

Overview

Following the recent success of Taiwanese film directors, such as Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang, Ang Lee and Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwanese film is raising its profile in contemporary cinema. This collection presents an exciting and ambitious foray into the cultural politics of contemporary Taiwan film that goes beyond the auterist mode, the nation-state argument and vestiges of the New Cinema.

Cinema Taiwan considers the complex problems of popularity, conflicts between transnational capital and local practice, non-fiction and independent filmmaking as emerging modes of address, and new possibilities of forging vibrant film cultures embedded in national (identity) politics, gender/sexuality and community activism. Insightful and challenging, the essays in this collection will attract attention to a globally significant field of cultural production and will appeal to readers from the areas of film studies, cultural studies and Chinese culture and society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415412575
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/26/2007
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Darrell William Davis is Senior lecturer at the School of Media, Film & Theatre, University of New South Wales, Sydney.

Ru-Shou Robert Chen is Associate Professor at the Department of Radio-Television, National Chengchi University.

Table of Contents

Preface: Screening Contemporary Taiwan Cinema. Introduction: Cinema Taiwan, a Civilizing Mission? Part 1: Politics 1. The Vision of Taiwan New Documentary 2. Haunted Realism: Postcoloniality and the Cinema of Chang Tso-chi 3. The Impossible Task of Taipei Films 4. Taiwan in Mainland Chinese Cinema 5. Festivals, Criticism and International Reputation of Taiwan New Cinema Part 2: Popularity 6. The Unbearable Lightness of Globalization: On the Transnational Flight of Wuxia Film 7. "This Isn’t Real!" Spatialized Narration and (In)Visible Special Effects in Double Vision 8. Morning in the New Metropolis: Taipei and the Globalization of City Film 9. Taiwan (Trans)National Cinema, or, The Far-Flung Adventures of a Taiwanese Tomboy 10. Trendy in Taiwan: Problems of Popularity in the Island’s Cinema Part 3: State of Arts 11. King Hu: Experimental, Narrative Filmmaker 12. "I thought of the times we were in front of the flowers": Analyzing the Opening Credits of Goodbye Dragon Inn 13. "This Time He Moves!": The Deeper Significance of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Radical Break in Good Men, Good Women 14. The Road Home: Stylistic Renovations of Chinese Mandarin Classics

Editorial Reviews

'[F]ull of useful material that is up-to-date, informative, and scholarly.' - R. D. Sears, CHOICE, Vol. 45, No. 06, February 2008

"As China gains more and more prominence as an economic superpower, the pressure it exerts on the geo-political status of Taiwan intensifies. As the recent (and by now familiar) squabble over whether a film like Ang Lee's Lust, Caution should be entered into the Venice Film Festival under "Taiwan" or "Taiwan, China" indicates that, any consideration of Taiwan's history, politics or culture within a "national" framework would become mired in geo-political arguments. Avoiding the pitfalls of such an unproductive debate, Cinema Taiwan by its very title defines its object of study not as a "national cinema" but rather as a "place where Taiwan is located by movies." (p. 8)." - Helen Hok-Sze Leung, Pacific Affairs, Vol. 80, No. 3, Fall 2007

From the Publisher