Introduction, Clarification of Mutual Expectations, and the Beginning of Chinese Film

                                         Laborer’s Love (Laogong zhi aiqing, 1922, silent)

The "Yes, but" group game:

When does "contemporary" begin?

What is "Chinese"?

Why film?

Housekeeping items: 

Our Blackboard site at elearning.uky.edu

Link to our class blog on Blackboard

Syllabus and film schedule (important Monday due dates)

Course Content (required and recommended readings)

Weekly film responses and comments to others as blog entries

Collective group note-taking and reflection on Google docs

Midterm paper and final project posts 

Final project presentations and feedback

Weekly study time

Why Contemporary Chinese Film?

Why contemporary Chinese film? What does each of the word--contemporary, Chinese, and film--mean in the context of this course?

As this course does not assume any linguistic and cultural background, it has to be a course on both film and contemporary China. It is an introduction to the study of film and contemporary China with attention to the historical transformations and contemporary manifestations of the aesthetics and politics of Chinese films.  

When does "contemporary" begin? What is meant by "China" and is it a singular entity? Why film? How have gender, class, the local, the national, and the global come together to "speak in images" and tell stories of personal struggle and political intrigue?

Woman Demon Human (photo credit: Facets EDU)

You are welcome to join us on a journey through a dozen selected contemporary Chinese films this fall. Some highlights include: Stage Sisters (Wutai jiemei, 1964), Woman, Demon, Human (Ren gui qing, 1987), East, Drink, Man, Woman (Yinshi nannü, 1994), Comrades, Almost a Love Story (Tian mi mi, 1996), Millennium Mambo (Qianxi manbo, 2001), Blind Shaft (Mang jing, 2003), and Let the Bullets Fly (Rang zidan fei, 2010).