Chinese Films in Focus

25 New Takes

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Edited by Chris Berry

British Film Institute

Due/Published November 2003, 312 pages, paper

ISBN 0851709869

The Chinese cinemas--including mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong--have been the most internationally popular and successful non-Western cinemas for almost two decades now. In recent years, they have generated a vigorous and thriving field of interpretation and criticism. Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes is an anthology of 25 new and original readings of individual Chinese films. Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the diaspora are all included, and historical coverage ranges from the 1930s to the present. Film titles covered include Farewell My Concubine, Chungking Express, Flowers of Shanghai, The Goddess, Bullet in the Head, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Crows and Sparrows, Yi Yi, and many more. As well as globally famous films, the anthology also introduces a number of Chinese classics that are less well known internationally and deserve more attention.

The essays are concise and on the cutting edge of current research. Each one outlines existing writing on the film, and then presents an original perspective. All are designed for classroom use, scholarly research, and to appeal to the general reader with an interest in Chinese film.

Contents

 Introduction, by Chris Berry

1. Black Cannon Incident: Countering the Counterespionage Fantasy, by Jason McGrath
2. Boat People: Second Thoughts on Text and Context, by Julian Stringe
3. Bullet in the Head: Trauma, Identity, and Violent Spectacle, by James Steintrager
4. Centre Stage: A Shadow in Reverse, by BČrČnice Reynaud
5. A Chinese Ghost Story: Ghostly Counsel and Innocent Man, by John Zou
6. Chungking Express: Time and its Displacements, by Janice Tong
7. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Reading Ambiguity and Ambivalence, by Felicia Chan
8. Crows and Sparrows: Allegory on a Historical Threshold, by Yiman Wang
9. Ermo: (Tele)Visualizing Urban/Rural Transformation, by Ping Fu
10. Evening Bell: Wu Ziniu's Visions of History, War and Humanity, by Yingjin Zhang
11. Farewell My Concubine: National Myth and City Memories, by Yomi Braester
12. Floating Life: Nostalgia for the Confucian Way in Suburban Sydney, by Kam Louie
13. Flowers of Shanghai: Visualizing Ellipses and (Colonial) Absence, by Gang Gary Xu
14. The Goddess: Fallen Woman of Shanghai, by Kristine Harris
15. Hibiscus Town: Revolution, Love, and Beancurd, by Charles W. Hayford
16. In The Mood for Love: Intersections of Hong Kong Modernity, by Audrey Yue
17. Love Eterne: Almost a (Heterosexual) Love Story, by Tan See Kam and Annette Aw
18. Not One Less: The Fable of a Migration, by Rey Chow
19. The Red Detachment of Women: Resenting, Regendering, Remembering, by Robert Chi
20. A Time to Live, A Time to Die: A Time to Grow, by Corrado Neri
21. A Touch of Zen: Action in Martial Arts Movies, by Mary Farquhar
22. Vive L'Amour: Eloquent Emptiness, by Fran Martin
23. Wedding Banquet: A Family Affair, by Chris Berry
24. Yellow Earth: Hesitant Apprenticeship and Bitter Agency, by Helen Hok-Sze Leung
25. Yi Yi: Reflections on Reflexive Modernity in Taiwan, by David Leiwei Li
Notes on Contributors
Chinese Character Lists, compiled by Wang Dun