Subject Librarian
Lucinda M. Hall
Contact:
Evans Map Room, Baker-Berry Library
Dartmouth College
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Hanover, NH 03755
Dartmouth College
25 N Main ST
Hanover, NH 03755
(603) 646-0962
Website Skype Contact: d1128r8@kiewit.dartmouth.edu
Other library resource(s)
Asian film online: volumes 1 & 2 by Call Number: Electronic resourceAsian Film Online offers a view of Asian culture as seen through the lens of the independent Asian filmmaker. Through a selection of over 1,000 narrative feature films, documentaries and shorts curated by film scholars and critics, the collection offers highly relevant perspectives and insights onto themes relevant across Asia, including modernity, globalization, female agency, social and political unrest, and cultural and sexual identity. ...
Chinese cinema from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Call Number: Electronic resourceISBN: 9780199791286Chinese cinema in this bibliography covers Chinese-language cinema, including films in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Taiwanese (or Minnan dialect) as well as Sinophone productions by the Chinese diasporas.
Chinese language film from Oxford Bibliographies Online - Chinese Studies by Call Number: Electronic resourceISBN: 9780199920082International interest in Chinese cinema in the late 20th and early 21st centuries is often traced back to the showing of Chen Kaige’s 'Yellow Earth' at the Hong Kong Film Festival in 1985. Since then the number of publications from academics and film critics has grown steadily, and the teaching of Chinese cinema has spread through universities and, to a lesser extent, schools across the world.- Transnational and diasporic cinema from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Call Number: Electronic resourceISBN: 9780199791286Although from the earliest years film production, marketing, and reception involved extensive national border crossing, the rubric “transnational cinema” has emerged only comparatively recently. Taken up from other disciplines such as anthropology and migration and postcolonial studies, the concept of “transnational” in this still-emerging area of cinema studies remains highly varied, pointing to sometimes contested working definitions and analytic approaches.
Introduction to Chinese cinema
Early cinema in China was dominated by foreign imports, especially from the US. An early US co-production, Nan fu nan qi/An Unfortunate Couple was made in Shanghai in 1913. That film’s director, Zhang Shichuan, also produced and directed the earliest locally produced film, Hei ji yuan hun/Wronged Ghosts in an Opium Den (1916) and the earliest surviving film, Zhi guo yuan/Romance of A Fruit Pedlar (1922). In parallel with similar developments in Hong Kong, by the 1930s, a number of film companies had become established in Shanghai, with Mingxing and Lianhua the largest. Films about city life and adaptations of Chinese traditional cultural forms such as the Beijing Opera were popular with audiences.
Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 provoked a rise in Chinese nationalism and communist activism, and an influx of left-wing artists and intellectuals into the film industry ensured a pronounced political dimension in films of the 1930s; Chun can/Spring Silkworms (Cheng Bugao, 1933) and Dalu/The Big Road (Sun Yu, 1935), for example, combined the songs and comedy of popular genre films with comment on Japanese aggression and class struggle. The period from 1932 is widely regarded as a first golden age of Chinese cinema, with a robust film industry producing popular and political fare, and with Ruan Lingyu, ‘the Chinese Garbo’, a successful star. Malu tianshi/Street Angel (Yuan Mu-jih, 1937) and Shizi jietou/Crossroads (Shen Xiling, 1937) are considered classics of the period. ...
Kuhn, A., & Westwell, G. (2020). China, film in. In A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 15 Aug. 2022
In the Library Collection
The diaspora of Chinese filmmaking is wide. You have the Peoples Republic of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Chinese filmmakers living in Thailand, the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Below are some of the subject headings to will help you narrow your searching.
- motion pictures chinaCall number range PN 1993.5 .C5 on Baker Level 4.
Introductory reading(s)
Chinese-language film: historiography, poetics, politics by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .C4 C463 2005ISBN: 9780824828134This volume, the most comprehensive work to date on Chinese film, explores the manifold dimensions of the subject and highlights areas overlooked in previous studies. Leading scholars take up issues and topics covering the entire range of Chinese cinema. Their cross-cultural engagements with individual films, accomplished with an acute sense of chronology and history, tackle questions of issues related to historiography, poetics, aesthetics, genres, and directorial styles; at the same time, they address the economics of film production and consumption as well as the cultural politics of globalization, identity, subjectivity, nationality, citizenship, and gender formation as embodied in filmic texts.
The Chinese cinema book by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .C4 C4422 2020ISBN: 9781911239529Publication Date: 2nd ed.This revised and updated new edition provides a comprehensive introduction to the history of cinema in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as to disaporic and transnational Chinese film-making, from the beginnings of cinema to the present day. ...
Chinese national cinema by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780415172905This introduction to Chinese national cinema covers three 'Chinas': mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Historical and comparative perspectives bring out the parallel developments in these three Chinas, while critical analysis explores thematic and stylistic changes over time. As well as exploring artistic achievements and ideological debates, Yingjin Zhang examines how - despite the pressures placed on the industry from state control and rigid censorship - Chinese national cinema remains incapable of projecting a single unified picture, but rather portrays many different Chinas.
The Oxford handbook of Chinese cinemas by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780199765607What does it mean for a cinematic work to be "Chinese"? Does it refer specifically to a work's subject, or does it also reflect considerations of language, ethnicity, nationality, ideology, or political orientation? Such questions make any single approach to a vast field like "Chinese cinema" difficult at best. Accordingly, The Oxford Handbook of Chinese Cinemas situates the term more broadly among various different phases, genres, and distinct national configurations, while taking care to address the consequences of grouping together so many disparate histories under a single banner. ...
Speaking in images: interviews with contemporary Chinese filmmakers by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .C4 B49 2005ISBN: 9780231133302Speaking in Images offers an engaging and rare collection of interviews with the directors who have changed the face of Chinese and international cinema. Michael Berry's discussions with such directors as Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Stanley Kwan, Tsai Ming-Liang, Edward Yang, and Hou Hsiao-hsien offer an eclectic and comprehensive portrait of contemporary Chinese cinema. ...
Transnational Chinese cinemas: identity, nationhood, gender by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .C4 T65 1997ISBN: 9780824818456Zhang Yimou's first film, Red Sorghum, took the Golden Bear Award in 1988 at the Berlin International Film Festival. Since then Chinese films have continued to arrest worldwide attention and capture major film awards, winning an international following that continues to grow. Transnational Chinese Cinemas spans nearly the entire length of twentieth-century Chinese film history. The volume traces the evolution of Chinese national cinema, and demonstrates that gender identity has been central to its formation. Femininity, masculinity and sexuality have been an integral part of the filmic discourses of modernity, nationhood, and history. ...
Selected book titles
Historical dictionary of Chinese cinema by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .C4 Y43 2012ISBN: 9780810879133Motion pictures were first introduced to China in 1896 and today China has become a major player in the film industry. However, the story of how Chinese cinema became what it is today is an exceptionally turbulent one. It encompasses incursions by foreign powers, warfare among contending rulers, the collapse of the Chinese empire, and the massive setback of the Cultural Revolution. The Historical Dictionary of Chinese Cinema covers the history of Chinese cinema from its very beginning in 1896 to the present. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section contains several hundred cross-referenced dictionary entries on films, directors, and historical figures. ...
New Chinese cinemas: forms, identities, politics by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .C4 N49 1994ISBN: 9780521444095New Chinese Cinemas analyses the changing forms and significance of film-making in the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong since the end of the Cultural Revolution, with a particular emphasis on how film comments on the profound social changes that have occurred in East Asia over the past two decades. ...
Painting the city red: Chinese cinema and the urban contract by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780822347231Painting the City Red illuminates the dynamic relationship between the visual media, particularly film and theater, and the planning and development of cities in China and Taiwan, from the emergence of the People's Republic in 1949 to the staging of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Remade in Hollywood: the global Chinese presence in transnational cinemas by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9789622090552The dramatic surge of Chinese visibility in Hollywood has been spurred by Sino-chic talents such as directors Ang Lee, John Woo, Wong Kar-wai, Wayne Wang, and Zhang Yimou, and stars such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chow Yun-fat, Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi, and Michelle Yeoh. Analyzing well-known films by Chinese stars and crew, and the influence they have had on Hollywood directors, Kenneth Chan describes how post-1997 notions of Chinese identity and cultural genres have been reinvented and repackaged by major US studios. Highlighting numerous contradictions and cultural anxieties evident in transnational Hollywood films, Chan suggests that many Chinese stars and directors have made painful compromises to get their films successfully launched into the global capitalist stream of cultural commodities.
The Rey Chow reader by Call Number: Baker-Berry CB 430 .C4975 2010ISBN: 9780231149952Rey Chow is arguably one of the most prominent intellectuals working in the humanities today. Characteristically confronting both entrenched and emergent issues in the interlocking fields of literature, film and visual studies, sexuality and gender, postcolonialism, ethnicity, and cross-cultural politics, her works produce surprising connections among divergent topics at the same time as they compel us to think through the ethical and political ramifications of our academic, epistemic, and cultural practices. ...Sulian ying xiang yu Zhongguo "17 nian" dian ying = Influence from the Soviet Union and the Chinese "17-year" films by
Call Number: Baker-Berry East Asian PN 1993.5 .C4 H58 2008
Finding journal articles
Articles and other writings about Chinese language films can be found in many publications. Our collection includes 2 journals which look exclusively at Chinese language cinema. You can use Film & Television Literature Index to find articles or use the search box at the top of the page.
Film & television literature index by Call Number: Electronic resourceUse this index to find articles about this national cinema.
Bibliography of Asian studiesCall Number: Electronic resourceThis database has citations to western-language journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, anthologies, Festschriften, etc. about to East, Southeast, and South Asia.
Media history digital library by Call Number: Electronic resourceThe Media History Digital Library digitizes collections of classic media periodicals that belong in the public domain for full public access. The project is supported by owners of materials who loan them for scanning, and donors who contribute funds to cover the cost of scanning.
The Collection feature extensive runs of several important trade papers and fan magazines.
Screen studies collection by Call Number: Electronic resourceA comprehensive survey of current publications related to film scholarship alongside detailed filmographies. This collection includes the FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals Database and the detailed and complementary filmographies created by the American Film Institute (AFI) and the British Film Institute.
The web of science citation databases by Call Number: Electronic resourceThe online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.
Selected movie titles
Find more Chinese film titles in the library's online catalog.
Jinling shi san chai = The flowers of war by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #14802The dangerous streets of Nanjing throw together a group of opposites, a flock of shell-shocked schoolchildren, a dozen seductive courtesans, and a renegade American posing as a priest to save his own skin, or so he thinks, all seeking safety behind a walled cathedral. Trapped by marauding soldiers, over the next few days the prejudices and divides between them will fall away as they unite around a last ditch plan to protect the children from impending catastrophe.
Mei li Shanghai = Shanghai story by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #6493ISBN: 9787880814804Four siblings are reunited when their mother falls and hurts herself. After being apart for 10 years they have a lot of catching up to do.
Nanjing! Nanjing! = City of life and death by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #13679On December 9, 1937, the Imperial Japanese Army laid siege to the Chinese capital of Nanking, beginning a reign of terror that killed as many as 300,000 civilians, an infamous tragedy now referred to as the Rape of Nanking. The first big-budget fiction film by the Chinese to deal with the seminal event in their modern history, City of Life and Death is a visceral, heartbreaking portrait of life during wartime, and an unforgettable masterpiece of contemporary world cinema.
A soul haunted by painting = Hua Hun by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #5869ISBN: 9781565804081In the late 1920s, a woman painter specializing in nude painting returns from France to China to teach her skills but finds that the art form is being heavily condemned by the general public and the government. In dismay, she leaves her husband several years later and returns to France to pursue her career.
The story of Qiu Ju = Qiuju da guan si by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #7364ISBN: 9781424806171In a small Chinese village a farmer (Qing Lai) and his chief quarrel over land. When Qing Lai is injured by the chief, who kicks him in the groin, Qing's wife Qiu Ju begins a quixotic odyssey that takes her from her small village to the provincial capital. She is relentless in her one-woman crusade to wreak a simple justice from the proud Chief ... she wants him to apologize.
The woman knight of Mirror Lake by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #14668In late 19th century China, Qui Jin was many things: a defiant rebel armed with both blades and guns; a paramilitary leader dedicated to overthrowing an unjust government; a non-conformist who boldly donned men's attire in spite of tradition; a radical poet whose words inspired the oppressed; a heroic martyr whose views on equality altered history. Her steadfast resolve to improve the plight of women and her bravery in the face of tyranny led her to the executioner--but her determination to topple the status quo changed a nation forever.
Ying xiong = Hero by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #6563ISBN: 9780788857034With supernatural skill and no fear a nameless soldier embarks on a mission of revenge against the fearsome army that massacred his people. Now, to achieve the justice he seeks, he must take on the empire's most ruthless assassins and reach the enemy he has sworn to defeat.
Internet resource(s)
- A Century of Chinese Cinema: an introduction
From the 1930s golden age via kung-fu and swordplay epics to new waves and the modern era, we introduce the five sections that make up our huge, four-month celebration of 100 years of filmmaking in China. ... - Independent Documentary Filmmakers from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan web archive
Chinese independent documentary filmmakers from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong have been crucial to bring attention to social and political developments. Their projects are important primary source material for the study of contemporary China, and support institutions’ programs on contemporary China studies. Because of the sensitive nature of their work, their web presences are at risk to disappear at any time. ...
Keeping up with the journal literature
Want an easy way to keep up with the journal literature for a national or regional cinema? And you use a mobile device? You can install the BrowZine app and create a custom Bookshelf of your favorite journal titles. Then you will get the Table of Contents (ToCs) of your favorite journals automatically delivered to you when they become available. Once you have the ToC's you can download and read the articles you want.
You can get the app from the App Store or Google Play.
Don't own or use a mobile device? You can still use BrowZine! It's now available in a web version. You can get to it here. The web version works the same way as the app version. Find the journals you like, create a custom Bookshelf, get ToCs and read the articles you want.