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FM2601
ASIAN CINEMAS
Module Booklet for 2012-13
For student completion:Day
Room
Time
1
Module detail
Credits 20Module leader Leon HuntAssessment Method Proportion of
marks2000 word Essay 50%2000 word Essay 50%
Assessment Dates Assignment 1 Wednesday February 27th Assignment 2 Tuesday April 30th
Access to support material
Support material is provided electronically via the University’s Blackboard Learn system. You can gain access to the Blackboard Learn system via the following web page:
https://blackboard.brunel.ac.uk/
Introduction/aims/background
MAIN AIMS OF THE MODULE
To examine a range of Asian cinemas in their cultural and industrial contexts.
To consider how selected Asian cinema circulate globally as art cinema, genre cinema and popular or cult cinema.
To examine critical debates surrounding global and transnational cinema.
To develop critical skills in the contextual and formal analysis of films from selected Asian film industries.
Learning outcomes
2
There are learning outcomes that you must achieve in order to be awarded the credits for this module. These learning outcomes are listed below:-
(A) Knowledge and Understanding of:
Some of the key developments, trends and aesthetic traditions within selected Asian cinemas.
Relevant cultural and industrial contexts for the films examined on the module.
Debates surrounding the study of national, international and transnational cinema.
Critical and theoretical frameworks within which Asian filmmaking can be understood: as Art cinema, commercial/popular cinema and genre cinema.
Key ‘movements’, historical moments and filmmakers in Asian cinema.
‘Asia’ and ‘Asian cinema(s)’ as conceptual constructs.
(B) Cognitive (thinking) Skills
Demonstrate analytical skills appropriate to formal and aesthetic qualities of Asian filmmaking practices.
Demonstrate an ability to locate texts within a variety or relevant contexts.
Apply and engage critically with scholarly sources relevant to the study of Asian cinema.
Skills in synthesising primary and secondary sources in written work.
(C) Other Skills and Attributes (Practical/Professional/Transferable)
Effective skills in structuring and communicating ideas in written work.
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Skills in independent study and independent critical thought.
Skills in research and time management.
Personal and Key Skills
These are skills that are valued by employers and will help you in your personal and career development after graduating from Brunel: Team working – working with others in seminars or on set tasks to develop your ideas and create a piece of work like a group presentation or seminar contribution.
Planning and time management – organizing your study time, prioritizing your reading and seminar planning, working with your timetable and preparing to present your work on time.
Independent study and initiative – working on your own and thinking ahead. Identifying solutions to problems by applying your own initiative, and being proactive (closely related to research).
Research – reading from the reading list and exploring the world of the text from appropriate sources e.g. historical texts, interviews, web searches. Using your initiative to extend your study and preparation beyond that set down by module information or course tutor.
Live presentation in front of an audience – preparing a presentation in class if set by tutor/module requirements. Using Powerpoint and speaking to slides in a confident and precise manner. Developing the confidence to present your ideas coherently and cogently to other people verbally.
Method of teaching
Screenings Lectures Seminars Tutorials
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Teaching Programme
The Term 2 ASK/Reading Week for 2012-13 will be as follows:-
18/02/2013 to 22/02/2013
TERM 2
15 07/01/2013 to 11/01/2013Japan & the Emergence of Asian Art Cinema
16 14/01/2013 to 18/01/2013Chinese Art Cinema: The ‘Fifth Generation’
17 21/01/2013 to 25/01/2013 Contemporary Art Cinema18 28/01/2013 to 01/02/2013 Hindi Action Cinema
19 04/02/2013 to 08/02/2013Hindi Action Cinema (continued)
20 11/02/2013 to 15/02/2013Martial Arts and Trans-Asian Action Cinema
21 18/02/2013 to 22/02/2013ASK/RESEARCH WEEK – NO TEACHING
22 25/02/2013 to 01/03/2013
From Kaiju Eiga to the Korean Wave: Monster Movies
23 04/03/2013 to 08/03/2013‘Asia Extreme’ and Asian Cult Cinema
24 11/03/2013 to 15/03/2013 Transnational Stardom: Jet Li25 18/03/2013 to 22/03/2013 National and Global India
29 15/04/2013 to 19/04/2013Anime and the Japanese Blockbuster
Week OneLecture: Japan and the Emergence of Asian Art CinemaScreening: Rashomon (Kurosawa Akira, Japan 1950)Recommended Viewing: Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, Japan 1954), Throne of Blood (Kurosawa, Japan 1957), Yojimbo (Kurosawa, Japan 1961), Late Spring (Ozu Yasujiro, Japan 1949), Early Summer (Ozu, Japan 1951), Tokyo Story (Ozu, Japan 1953), Ugetsu Monogatari (Mizoguchi Kenji, Japan 1953), Sansho-Dayu
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(Mizoguchi, Japan 1954), Street of Shame (Mizoguchi, Japan 1956).Reading:
Anne T. Ciecko, ‘Theorizing Asian Cinema(s)’ in Contemporary Asian Cinema, ed. Anne T. Ciecko, Berg 2006.
Stephen Crofts, ‘Concepts of National Cinema’ in The Oxford Guide to Film Studies, ed. John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson, Oxford University Press 1998.
Mitsuhiro Yoshitomo, ‘Kurosawa Criticism and the Name of the Author’ in Kurosawa: Film Studies and Japanese Cinema, Duke University Press 2000
Further Reading: David Desser, ‘Remaking Seven Samurai in World Cinema’
in East Asian Cinemas: Exploring Transnational Connections on Film, ed. Leon Hunt and Leung Wing-Fai, I.B. Tauris 2008.
Gary Needham, ‘Japanese Cinema and Orientalism’ in Asian Cinemas: A Reader and Guide, ed. Gary Needham and Dimitris Eleftheriotis, Edinburgh University Press 2006.
Donald Richie, The Films of Akira Kurosawa, University of California Press 1996.
Stephen Prince, The Warrior’s Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa, Princeton University Press 1999.
Week TwoLecture: Chinese Art Cinema: The ‘Fifth Generation’Screening: Raise the Red Lantern (Zhang Yimou, China 1991)Recommended viewing: Red Sorghum (Zhang Yimou, China 1987), Ju Dou (Zhang Yimou, China 1990), The Story of Qiu Ju (Zhang Yimou, China 1990), Farewell My Concubine (Chen Kaige, China 1993).Reading:
Wendy Larson, ‘The Fifth Generation: A Reassessment’ in The Chinese Cinema Book, ed. Song Hwee Lim and Julian Ward, BFI/Palgrave 2011.
Esther C.M. Yau, ‘Yellow Earth: Western Analysis and a Non-Western Texts’ in Asian Cinemas: A Reader and Guide, ed. Gary Needham and Dimitris Eleftheriotis.
Sheldon Hsiao-peng Lu, ‘National Cinema, Cultural Critique, Transnational Capital: The Films of Zhang Yimou’ in Transnational Chinese Cinema: Identity, Nationhood, Gender, ed. Sheldon Hsiao-peng Lu, University of Hawaii Press 1997.
Further Reading:
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Haomin Gong, ‘Zhang Yimou’ in Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers, ed. Yvonne Tasker, Routledge 2011.
Rey Chow, ‘The Force of Surfaces: Defiance in Zhang Yimou’s Films’ in Primitive Passions: Visuality, Sexuality, Ethnography and Contemporary Chinese Cinema, Columbia University Press 1995.
Shuqin Cui, ‘Gendered Perspective: The Construction and Representation of Subjectivity and Sexuality in Ju Dou’ in Transnational Chinese Cinema: Identity, Nationhood, Gender, ed. Sheldon Hsiao-peng Lu, University of Hawaii Press 1997.
Dimitris Eleftheriotis, ‘Cross-Cultural Criticism and Chinese Cinema’ in Asian Cinemas: A Reader and Guide, ed. Needham and Eleftheriotis.
Yingjin Zhang, Chinese National Cinema, Routledge 2004 – ‘The PRC – Post-Socialist Cinema’.
Week ThreeLecture: Contemporary Art CinemaScreening: Hani-Bi (Kitano Takeshi, Japan 1998)Recommended viewing: Violent Cop (Kitano, Japan 1989), Sonatine (Kitano, Japan 1993), Zatoichi (Kitano, Japan 2003).Reading:
Darrell William Davis, ‘Therapy for Him and Her: Kitano Takeshi's Hana-Bi’ in Japanese Cinema: Texts and Contexts, ed. Alastair Philips and Julian Stringer, Routledge 2007
Darrell William Davis, ‘Re-igniting Japanese Tradition with Hana-bi’, Cinema Journal 40.4 (Summer 2001).
Steve Neale, ‘Art Cinema as Institution’, Screen 22.1 (1981).Further reading:
Aaron Gerow, Kitano Takeshi, London: London: BFI 2007. Dan Edwards, ‘Never Yielding Entirely into Art: Performance
and Self-Obsession in Takeshi Kitano’s Hana-Bi’, Senses of Cinema 10 (2000) http://sensesofcinema.com/2000/10/hanabi/
(There are also 4 other articles on Kitano in Senses of Cinema 10)
Donald Totaro, ‘Violent Cop’ in Justin Bowyer (ed) The Cinema of Japan and Korea, Wallflower 2005.
David Bordwell, 'The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice', Film Criticism 14.1 (1979).
Week Four
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Lecture: Cinema of Interruptions? Hindi Action CinemaScreening: Sholay (Ramesh Sippy, India 1975) – Part 1Recommended viewing: Satya (Ram Gopal Varma, India 1998), Zanjeer (Prakash Mehra, India 1973), Muquaddar Ka Sikandar (Prakash Mehra, India 1978).Reading:
Rosie Thomas, ‘Indian Cinema: Pleasures and Popularity’ in The Bollywood Reader, ed. Rajinder Dudrah and Jigna Desai, Open University Press 2008.
Tejaswini Ganti, ‘The Production and Distribution of Popular Hindi Cinema’ in Bollywood: A Guidebook to Popular Hindi Cinema, Routledge 2004.
Lalitha Gopalan, ‘Introduction: ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun?’ – Cinephilia and Indian Films’ in Cinema of Interruptions: Action Genres in Contemporary Indian Cinema, Palgrave Macmillan 2001.
Further Reading: Vijay Mishra, ‘The Actor as Parallel Text: Amitabh Bachchan’
in Bollywood Cinema: Temples of Desire, Routledge 2002. Vijay Mishra, ‘Towards a Theoretical Critique of Bombay
Cinema’ in The Bollywood Reader, ed. Rajinder Dudrah and Jigna Desai.
Sarfraz Manzoor, ‘How Amitabh Bachchan United Generations of British Asians’, The Guardian October 25th, http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/oct/25/amitabh-bachchan-british-asians-bollywood.
Valentina Vitali, ‘The 1970s’ in Hindi Action Cinema, Indiana University Press 2008.
Dmitris Eleftheriotis, ‘Genre Criticism and Popular Indian Cinema’ in Asian Cinemas: A Reader and Guide, ed. Needham and Eleftheriotis.
Rachel Dwyer and Divia Patel, Cinema India: The Visual Culture of Hindi Film (Reaktion Books 2002)
Sangita Gopal and Biswarup Sen, ‘Inside and Out: Song and Dance in Bollywood Cinema’ in The Bollywood Reader.
Week FiveNo Lecture – Seminar onlyScreening: Sholay (Ramesh Sippy, India 1975) – Part 2Reading – as last week
Week Six
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Lecture: Action as Contact Zone: Martial Arts and Trans-Asian CinemaScreening: The Raid (Gareth Evans, Indonesia/US 2011)Recommended viewing: Tom Yum Goong/The Warrior King (Prachya Pinkaew, Thailand 2005), Ong-Bak (Prachya Pinkaew, Thailand 2003), Police Story (Jackie Chan, HK 1985), Hard Boiled (John Woo, HK 1992).Reading:
Krishna Sen, ‘Indonesia: Screening a Nation in the Post-New Order’ in Contemporary Asian Cinema, ed. Anne Tereska Ciecko, Berg 2006.
Leon Hunt, ‘Ong-Bak: New Thai Cinema, Hong Kong and the Cult of the Real’, New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film 3, 2.
Valentina Vitali, ‘Hong Kong-Hollywood-Bombay: On the Function of “Martial Art” in the Hindi Action Cinema’ in Hong Kong Connections: Transnational Imagination in Action Cinema, ed. Meaghan Morris, Siu Leung Li and Stephen Chan Ching-kiu, Duke University Press/HK University Press 2005.
Further Reading: Leon Hunt, Kung Fu Cult Masters – ch.2. Anchalee Chaiworaporn and Adam Knee, ‘Thailand: Revival
in an Age of Globalization’ in Anne T. Ciecko (ed) Contemporary Asian Cinema.
Glen Lewis, ‘The Thai Movie Revival and Thai National Identity’, Continuum 17, 1.
Ding-Tzan Lii, ‘A Colonized Empire: Reflections on the Expansion of Hong Kong Cinema is Asian Countries’ in Kuan-hsing Chen (ed) Trajectories: Inter-Asian Cultural Studies (Routledge 1998).
Kim Soyoung, ‘Genre as Contact Zone: Hong Kong Action and Korean Hwalkuk’ in Hong Kong Connections, ed. Morris, Li and Chan.
S.R. Srivinas, ‘Hong Kong Action Film and the Career of the Telugu Mass Hero’ in Hong Kong Connections.
Kinnia Yau Shuk-ting, ‘Interactions Between Japanese and Hong Kong Action Cinemas’ in Hong Kong Connections.
Week Seven – ASK/Research Week (No class this week)
Week Eight
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Lecture: From Kaiju Eiga to the ‘Korean Wave’: Godzilla and Other MonstersScreening: The Host (Bong Joon-ho, South Korea 2006)Recommended viewing: Gojira/Godzilla (Honda Ishiro, Japan 1954), any other Godzilla film (or alternatively, his Japanese rival Gamera)Reading:
William M. Tsutsui and Michiko Ito (eds) In Godzilla’s Footsteps: Japanese Pop Culture Icons on the Global Stage (Palgrave Macmillan 2006) – particularly essays 3, 4 and 5.
Chon A. Noriega, ‘Godzilla and the Japanese Nightmare: When Them! Is U.S.’ in Asian Cinemas: A Reader and Guide, ed. Needham and Eleftheriotis
Philip Brophy, ‘Monster Island: Godzilla and Japanese Sci-Fi/Horror/Fantasy’ in Asian Cinemas: A Reader and Guide.
Further reading: Kyung Hyun Kim, ‘Virtual Landscapes: Sopyonje, The Power
of Kangwon Province, and The Host’ in Virtual Hallyu: Korean Cinema of the Global Era, Duke University Press 2011 – especially pp. 42-51.
David Desser, ‘Consuming Asia: Chinese and Japanese Popular Culture and the American Imaginary’ in Jenny Kwok Wah Lau (ed) Multiple Modernities: Cinema and Popular Media in Transnational East Asia (Temple University Press 2003)
Samara Lea Allsop, ‘Gojira/Godzilla’ in Justin Bowyer (ed) The Cinema of Japan and Korea (Wallflower Press 2004.)
Ken Hollings, ‘Godzilla, Mon Amour’, Sight and Sound July 1998 pp.20-23.
Darcy Paquet, New Korean Cinema: Breaking the Waves, Wallflower 2009.
Hyangjin Lee, ‘South Korea: Film on the Global Stage’ in Anne T. Ciecko (ed) Contemporary Asian Cinema
Susan Sontag, ‘The Imagination of Disaster’ in Gerald Mast and Marshall Cohen, Film Theory and Criticism (Oxford University Press 1985)
Week NineLecture: ‘Asia Extreme’ and Asian Cult CinemaScreening: Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, South Korea 2004)Recommended viewing: JSA/Joint Security Area (Park Chan-wook, South Korea 2000), Sympathy for Mr Vengeance (Park, South Korea 2002), Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (Park, South Korea 2005), Ichi the Killer (Miike Takashi, Japan 2001), Battle Royale (Fukasaku Kinji, Japan 2001), Three … Extremes (Miike
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Takashi, Park Chan-wook, Fruit Chan, Japan/South Korea/Hong Kong 2004).
Oliver Dew, ‘Asia Extreme: Japanese Cinema and British Hype’, New Cinemas 5:11, April 2007.
Chi-yun Shin, ‘Art of Branding: Tartan “Asia Extreme” films’, Jump Cut 50, Spring 2008. http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc50.2008/TartanDist/text.html.
Nikki J.Y. Lee, ‘Oldboy Goes Mainstream? Birth of a Cult Director?’ in Leon Hunt and Leung Wing-fai (eds) East Asian Cinemas: Transnational Perspectives, I.B. Tauris, forthcoming 2008.
Further Reading: Kyung Hyun Kim, ‘Park Chan-wook’s “Unknowable” Oldboy’
in Virtual Hallyu: Korean Cinema of the Global Era, Duke University Press 2011.
Anne T. Ciecko and Hunju Lee, ‘Park Chan-wook’ in Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers, Routledge 2011.
Steven Rawle, ‘From The Black Society to The Isle: Miike Takashi and Kim Ki-Duk at the intersection of Asia Extreme’, Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema 1.2 (December 2009).
Earl Jackson Jnr., ‘Borrowing trouble: Oldboy as adaptation and intervention’, Transnational Cinemas 3.1 (May 2012).
Hyangjin Lee, ‘South Korea: Film on the Global Stage’ in Anne T. Ciecko (ed) Contemporary Asian Cinema (Berg 2006).
Soyoung Kim, ‘Cine-Mania or Cinephilia: Film Festivals and the Identity Question’ and Kyu Hyun Kim, ‘Horror as Critique in Tell Me Something and Sympathy for Mr Vengeance’ in Chi-Yun Shin and Julian Stringer (eds) New Korean Cinema (Edinburgh University Press 2005).
Tony Rayns, ‘Suspicious Minds’, Sight and Sound, September 2004.
Tony Rayns, ‘Shock Tactics’, Sight and Sound May 2005, Grady Hendrix, ‘Vengeance is Theirs’, Sight and Sound,
February 2006. Gary Needham, ‘Japanese Cinema and Orientalism’ in
Needham and Dimitris Eleftheriotis (eds) Asian Cinemas: A Reader and Guide (Edinburgh University Press 2006).
Charles Leary and Chua Beng Huat, ‘Introduction: Violence in Contemporary Asian Cinemas’, New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film 8.3 (January 2011).
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Darrell William Davis, ‘Japan: Cause for (Cautious) Optimism’ in Anne T. Ciecko (ed) Contemporary Asian Cinema (Berg 2006).
Tom Mes, Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike (FAB Press 2003) pp.228-43.
Tony Williams, ‘Case-Study: Battle Royale’s Apocalyptic Millennial Warning’ in Jay McRoy (ed) Japanese Horror Cinema (Edinburgh University Press 2005)
Matt Hills, ‘Ringing the Changes: Cult Distinctions and Cultural Differences in US Fans’ Readings of Japanese Horror Cinema’ in McRoy (ed) Japanese Horror Cinema.
Anthony Antoniou, ‘Batoru Rowaiaru/Battle Royale’ in Justin Bowyer (ed) The Cinema of Japan and Korea (Wallflower 2004)
Julian Stringer, ‘Problems with the Treatment of Hong Kong Cinema as Camp’, Asian Cinema, vol.8 no.2.
Week TenLecture: Transnational Stardom – Jet LiScreening: The Warlords (Peter Chan Ho-sun, HK/China 2007)Recommended viewing: Hero (Zhang Yimou, China/HK/US 2002), Fearless (Ronny Yu, HK/China 2005), Once Upon a Time in China (Tsui Hark, HK 1991), Once Upon a Time in China 2 (Tsui Hark, HK 1992),Once Upon a Time in China III (Tsui Hark, HK 1993), Fist of Legend (Gordon Chan, HK 1994), Unleashed/Danny the Dog (Louis Leterrier, France/US/UK 2005), The Forbidden Kingdom (Rob Minkoff, US/China 2008). Reading:
Sabrina Qiong Yu, Jet Li: Chinese Masculinity and Transnational Film Stardom, Edinburgh University Press 2012 – ch.’s 1, 5 and 7.
Leon Hunt, Kung Fu Cult Masters: From Bruce Lee to Crouching Tiger, Wallflower Press 2003 – ch.’s 6 and 7.
Sabrina Yu, ‘Jet Li: Star Construction and Fan Discourse on the Internet’ in Chinese Film Stars, ed. Mary Farquhar and Yingjin Zhang, Routledge 2010.
Further reading: Leon Hunt, ‘Dragons Forever: Chinese Martial Arts Stars’ in
The Chinese Cinema Book, ed. Song Hwee Lim and Julian Ward, BFI/Palgrave Macmillan 2011.
Mary Farquhar, ‘Jet Li: Wushu Master’ in Celebrity in China, ed. L. Edwards and M. Farquhar, Hong Kong University Press 2010.
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Barna William Donovan, ‘Jet Li: The Noble Warrior’ in The Asian Influence on Hollywood Action Films, McFarland 2008.
Steve Fore, ‘Jackie Chan and the Cultural Dynamics of Global Entertainment’ in Transnational Chinese Cinemas: Identity, Nationhood, Gender, ed. Sheldon Hsiao-peng Lu
Steve Fore, ‘Life Imitates Entertainent: Home and Dislocation in the Films of Jackie Chan’ in At Full Speed, ed. Esther Yau, University of Minnesota Press 2001.
Mark Gallagher, ‘Masculinity in Translation: Jackie Chan’s Transcultural Star Text’, Velvet Light Trap, 39, Spring 1997
Leon Hunt, ‘Once Upon a Time in China: Kung Fu from Bruce Lee to Jet Li’, Framework 40, April 1999.
Mary Farquhar, ‘ Jackie Chan: Star Work as Pain and Triumph’ in Chinese Film Stars, ed. M. Farquhar, Y. Zhang, Routledge 2010.
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Week ElevenLecture: Indian Cinema – the National and the GlobalScreening: Bombay (Mani Ratnam, India 1995)Recommended viewing: Roja (Mani Ratnam, India 1992), Dil Se (Mani Ratnam, India 1998)Reading:
Lalitha Gopalan, Bombay, BFI Modern Classics 2005. Nicholas B. Dirks, ‘The Home and the Nation: Consuming
Culture and Politics in Roja’ in The Bollywood Reader, ed. Dudrah and Desai.
Ashish Rajadhyaksha, ‘The ‘Bollywoodization’ of the Indian Cinema: Cultural Nationalism in a Global Arena’ in The Bollywood Reader, ed. Dudrah and Desai.
Further Reading: Vijay Mishra, ‘After Ayodhya: The Sublime Object of
Fundamentalism’ in Bollywood Cinema: Temples of Desire. Phil Hoad, ‘Why Aren’t More Bollywood Films Marketed in
English?’, The Guardian (October 23rd 2012) http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/oct/23/why-arent-bollywood-films-marketed-english
Lalitha Gopalan, ‘Screening the Past in Mani Ratnam’s Nakayan’ in Cinema of Interruptions.
Nitin Govil, ‘Bollywood and the Frictions of Global Mobility’ in The Bollywood Reader.
Easter Break
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Week Twelve Lecture: Anime and the Japanese BlockbusterScreening: Spirited Away (Miyazaki Hayao, Japan 2001)Further viewing: My Neighbour Totoro (Miyazaki, Japan 1988), Princess Mononoke (Miyazaki, Japan 1997), Kiki’s Delivery Service (Miyazaki, Japan 1989), Howl’s Moving Castle (Miyazaki, Japan 2004), Ponyo (Miyazaki, 2008).
Rayna Denison, ‘The Language of the Blockbuster: Promotion, Princess Mononoke and the Daihitto in Japanese Film Culture’ in East Asian Cinemas: Exploring Transnational Connections on Film, ed. Leon Hunt and Leung Wing-Fai.
Rayna Denison, ‘The Global Markets for Anime: Miyazaki Hayao's Spirited Away’ in Japanese Cinema: Texts and Contexts.
Andrew Osmond, Spirited Away, BFI 2008.Further Reading:
Rayna Denison, ‘Hayao Miyazaki’ in Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers, ed. Yvonne Tasker, Routledge 2011.
Susan Napier, Anime From Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation, Houndmills and New York: Palgrave 2001
Susan Napier, From Impressionism to Anime: Japan as Fantasy and Fan Cult in the Mind of the West, Palgrave 2007.
Chris Berry, ‘”What’s Big About the Big Film?”: De-Westernising the Blockbuster in Korea and China’ in Movie Blockbusters, ed. Julian Stringer, Routledge 2003.
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Brunel UniversityGeneric Undergraduate Grade Descriptors
Grade A*Clearly demonstrates a highly sophisticated, critical and thorough understanding of the topic. Provides clear evidence of originality and independence of thought and clearly demonstrates exceptional ability to develop a highly systematic and logical or insightful argument, solution or evaluation at the current Level. Demonstrates exceptional ability in the appropriate use of the relevant literature, theory, methodologies, practices, tools, etc., to analyse and synthesise at the current Level. Shows an exceptionally high level of clarity, focus and cogency in communication at the current Level.
Grade Band A (A+, A, A-)Clearly demonstrates a sophisticated, critical and thorough understanding of the topic. Provides evidence of independence of thought and clearly demonstrates the ability to develop a highly systematic and logical or insightful argument, solution or evaluation at the current Level. Demonstrates excellence in the appropriate use of the relevant literature, theory, methodologies, practices, tools, etc., to analyse and synthesise at the current Level. Shows a high level of clarity, focus and cogency in communication at the current Level.
Grade Band B (B+, B, B-)Clearly demonstrates a well-developed, critical and comprehensive understanding of the topic. Provides some evidence of independence of thought and clearly demonstrates the ability to develop a systematic and logical or insightful argument, solution or evaluation at the current Level. Demonstrates a high degree of competence in the appropriate use of the relevant literature, theory, methodologies, practices, tools, etc., to analyse and synthesise at the current Level. Shows clarity, focus and cogency in communication at the current Level.
Grade Band C (C+, C, C-)Demonstrates a systematic and substantial understanding of the topic. Demonstrates the ability to develop a systematic argument or solution at the current Level. Demonstrates a significant degree of competence in the appropriate use of the relevant literature, theory, methodologies, practices, tools, etc., to analyse and
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synthesise at the current Level. Provides evidence of clarity and focus in communication at the current Level.
Grade Band D (D+, D, D-)Provides evidence of a systematic understanding of the key aspects of the topic. Demonstrates the ability to present a sufficiently structured argument or solution at the current Level. Demonstrates an acceptable degree of competence in the appropriate use of the relevant literature, theory, methodologies, practices, tools, etc., to analyse and synthesise at the current Level. Provides evidence of effective communication at the current Level.
Grade Band E (E+, E, E-)Provides evidence of some understanding of key aspects of the topic and some ability to present an appropriate argument or solution at the current Level. Demonstrates some competence in the appropriate use of the relevant literature, theory, methodologies, practices, tools, etc at the current Level. Provides some evidence of effective communication at the current Level. However, there is also evidence of deficiencies which mean that the threshold standard (D-) has not been met.
Grade FWork that is unacceptable.
Assessment
Two pieces of coursework - 50% each. Assignment 1 – due Wednesday February 27thWrite an analysis of 2000 words of one film from one of the national cinemas studied on the module. Your analysis should include consideration of the following:
The relevant national/cultural/historical context of the film. The film’s place either within its genre(s) or as a type of Art
Cinema.
Assignment 2 – due Tuesday April 30th Choose one of the following and write an essay of 2000 words.
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1. With reference to 2-3 films, discuss the proposition that all art cinema is also commercial cinema.
2. With reference to one Asian filmmaker, discuss the importance of authorship in the promotion and reception of national cinema.
3. In what ways can Kurosawa be considered one of the first transnational Asian filmmakers.
4. To what extent can martial arts action be seen as a ‘contact zone’ for different Asian national cinemas? You should refer to 2-3 films.
5. Comparing The Host with at least one Japanese monster movie, discuss how the figure of the monster functions within national and/or historical contexts.
6. How useful is Lalitha Gopalan’s idea of a ‘Cinema of Interruptions’ in accounting for the pleasures of popular Hindi cinema?
7. Compare two different examples (from two different Asian national cinemas) of what can be seen as ‘Blockbusters’. What does each suggest about its respective industry and its international reputation?
8. According to David Desser, the influence of East and West does not go in one direction but ‘back and forth … popular culture circulates, available for both producers and consumers to mediate, extend, rework, rethink, reinvent’. Discuss with reference to 2-3 relevant films.
9. Rayna Denison suggests that Miyazaki is as much a ‘global brand’ for Studio Ghibli as auteur filmmaker. Discuss.
10. In what ways can the ‘Asia Extreme’ label be seen to have extended the audience for Asian cinema at the expense of fostering a misleading image of particular Asian film industries?
11. ‘In contrast with the cinemas of Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea, Indian popular cinema has largely failed to extend its audience beyond a national and diasporic one’. Discuss.
12. Critically discuss the career of ONE transnational Asian star. Your answer should not simply provide a career overview but analyse how their persona has been shaped and/or received in different cultural contexts.
How the assessment relates to the learning outcomes
Assessment criteria:
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A good assignment will: address the question and keep it central to the essay’s argument. demonstrate an understanding of and engagement with theories and debates relevant to the study of Asian films. combine skills in textual analysis with appropriate contextual material. show evidence of reading and viewing beyond material covered in class, including use of journals and other research materials held in the University libraries or in the BFI, or on the Internet. engage with the reading rather than simply restating it, both by applying it to selected texts and by offering views and arguments on the reading material. demonstrate an effective synthesis of materials in constructing the assignment - selection of primary materials, textual analysis, critical debates and individual argument. be well structured and focused, with a coherent and persuasive argument backed up by appropriate research, reading and viewing. be clearly expressed and presented, with an appropriate standard of spelling, punctuation, grammar and referencing for honours level work.
How the assessment relates to the learning outcomes
Assignment 1 requires students to:
Demonstrate an understanding of relevant debates surrounding selected Asian national cinemas through the analysis of an individual film.
Demonstrate an awareness of the cultural and generic context of the chosen film
Demonstrate a familiarity with a range of secondary critical sources.
Demonstrate skills in textual analysis.
Assignment 2 requires students to: Demonstrate an understanding of key debates surrounding the
study of selected Asian cinemas. Critically engage with relevant theoretical ideas and sources. Demonstrate an independent selection and use of secondary
materials. Demonstrate skills in textual analysis alongside cultural and
historical contextualisation.
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Assessment Criteria
Indicative Mark Band
Degree class equivalent
Grade Grade Point
90 and above 1 A++ 1780-89 1 A+ 1673-79 1 A 1570-72 1 A- 1468-69 2.1 B+ 1363-67 2.1 B 1260-62 2.1 B- 1158-59 2.2 C+ 1053-57 2.2 C 950-52 2.2 C- 848-49 3 D+ 743-47 3 D 640-42 3 D- 538-39 Fail E+ 433-37 Fail E 330-32 Fail E- 229 and below Fail F 1Non submission
Fail F 0
Submitting your work
In order to be marked without penalty for lateness, work must always be handed in before 1.00 p.m. on the day it is due.
It should be submitted with an official blue cover sheet (available in the foyer of the Gaskell Building).
Y our work must be date stamped in 4 places 1. on the blue cover sheet2. on the front page of your work3. on the last page of your work 4. and a page in the middle of your work.
The assignment and the attached cover sheet should be “posted” in the appropriate coursework collection box in the foyer of the Gaskell Building.
You must add your student number to the top of every page of your work. You must NOT write your name on the pages of your work.
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ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF COURSEWORK:You are also required to submit an electronic copy of every piece of work submitted onto the module file on Blackboard . This electronic version must be submitted within 48 hours (2 working days) of the coursework submission date. Full support resources are available on the Blackboard Learn portal to assist you with using the assignment tool to submit your electronic copy.
If work is submitted late, the following penalties will be uniformly applied, in the absence of accepted relevant mitigating circumstances:
o Up to 1 working day late Grade capped at A- (GPA14)o Up to 2 working days late Grade capped at B- (GPA 11)o Up to 5 working days late Grade capped at C- (GPA 8)o Up to 10 working days late Grade capped at D- (GPA 5)o Up to 15 working days late Grade capped at E- (GPA 2)o More than 15 working days late Grade capped at NS (GPA 0)
A working day is defined as Monday to Friday at any time of year, with the exception of UK national holidays.
Mitigating circumstances are defined by the University as: “A serious or significant event” (Senate Regulation 4.31). For example, serious illness or death of a close relative. Please refer to the School of Arts handbook for further details.
Feedback on your work
You will be notified via your Brunel Webmail account when your coursework and feedback will be either available for collection from UG Administration or posted to your term time address. In some cases you may receive your coursework and feedback direct from the module leader. If this is the case you will be notified. If the deadline is at the end of the term it will be posted to your permanent home address. Please check your addresses are correct on e-Vision to ensure it is sent to the right place.
Academic staff aim to grade work and provide detailed and constructive feedback, normally within three working weeks of the hand-in date. However, there may be delays for work submitted at the end of terms and for modules that have particularly high numbers, although you will be notified via your Brunel webmail account if this is the case.
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ReferencingYou should use the Harvard method of referencing – name, year and page number in brackets i.e. (Bordwell 2003: 67). When referencing essays from edited collections, the bracketed citation should give the name of the author(s) of the essay, not the editor(s) of the book.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is passing off ideas words, illustrations, ideas or other materials created by someone else as being one’s own ideas or words. The following penalties currently operate:
First offences for undergraduate students
a mark of zero/grade F is assigned to the piece of work in question and to the associated assessment block; where permitted under the Regulations, reassessment may be allowed for a maximum grade of D- in the assessment block (this reassessment shall not contribute to the reassessment volume limit defined in SR2); the assessment block in question shall contribute grade point 0 to the GPA calculation for the classification of any award.
Repeat offences for undergraduate students
a mark of zero/grade F is assigned to the piece of work in question and to the associated module; the student shall be expelled from the University and barred from re-entry; any credits already achieved will be retained and an intermediate award may be awarded as appropriate, unless the Panel determines that there is just cause to deprive the student of any credits already achieved and any intermediate award to which they may lead.
For further information on plagiarism, and how to avoid committing this serious offence, please refer to the School of Arts handbook and Senate Regulations 6 - http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/administration/rules/senateregs/sr6
The School of Arts Handbook contains detailed information on referencing and the presentation of coursework.
Core reading list
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Anne Tereska Ciecko (ed) Contemporary Asian Cinema (Oxford and New YorK; Berg 2006)
Dimitris Eleftheriotis and Gary Needham (ed) Asian Cinemas: A Reader and Guide (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press 2006)
Leon Hunt and Leung Wing-fai (eds) East Asian Cinemas: Exploring Transnational Connections on Film (Lobdon and New York: I.B. Tauris 2008)
Jenny Kwok Wah Lau (ed) (2003) Multiple Modernities: Cinema and Popular Media in Transcultural Asia, (Philadelphia: Temple University Press).
Vivian P.Y. Lee, East Asian Cinemas: Regional Flows and Global Transformations (New York and Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan 2011)
Secondary Reading
Jinsoo An (2001) ‘The Killer: Cult film and Transcultural (Mis)Reading’ in Yau, Esther (ed) At Full Speed: Hong Kong Cinema in a Borderless World, ed. Esther Yau (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press).
Arjun Appaduri (ed) Globalization (Durham NC: Duke University Press 2003).
Colette Balmain, Introduction to Japanese Horror Film (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press 2008)
Chris Berry (ed), Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes (London: BFI 2003)
Chris Berry (ed), Perspectives on Chinese Cinema, (London: BFI 1991)
David Bordwell, Planet Hong Kong: Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment, (Harvard: Harvard University Press 2003)
Justin Bowyer (ed) The Cinema of Japan and Korea, (London: Wallflower 2005).
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Nick Browne, Paul G. Pickowitz, Vivian Sobchack and Esther Yau (eds), New Chinese Cinemas: Forms, Identities, Politics, (Cambridge University Press 1996)
Rachel Dwyer, 100 Bollywood Films (London: BFI 2005)
Rachel Dwyer and Divia Patel, Cinema India: The Visual Culture of Hindi Film (Reaktion Books 2002)
Elizabeth Ezra and Terry Rowden (eds) Transnational Cinema: A Film Reader (London: Routledge 2006)
Mary Farquhar and Yingjin Zhang (eds) Chinese Film Stars (London and New York: Routledge 2010).
Tejanswini Ganti, Bollywood: A Guide to Popular Hindi Cinema (London: Routledge 2004)
Aaron Gerow, Kitano Takeshi (London: London: BFI 2007)
Lalitha Gopalan, Cinema Of Interruption: Action Genres in Contemporary Indian Cinema (London: BFI 2002)
Christopher Gow, From Iran to Hollywood and Some Places In-Between: Reframing Post-Revolutionary Iranian Cinema (London and New York: I.B. Tauris 2011)
Leon Hunt Kung Fu Cult Masters: From Bruce Lee to Crouching Tiger, (London: Wallflower 2003)
Leon Hunt (2005) ‘Ong-Bak: New Thai Cinema, Hong Kong and the Cult of the Real’, New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film 3, 2 (2005).
Raminder Kaur and Ajay J. Sinha (eds) Bollywood: Popular Indian Cinema Through a Transnational Lens (New Delhi: Sage 2005)
Kyung Hyun Kim, Virtual Hallyu: Korean Cinema of the Global Era (Durham and London: Duke University Press 2011)
Hyangjin Lee, Contemporary Korean Cinema: Culture, Identity and Politics (Manchester: Manchester University Press 2001)
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Song Hwee Lim and Julian Ward (eds) The Chinese Cinema Book (London: BFI 2011)
Sheldon Hsiao-peng Lu (ed) Transnational Chinese Cinema: Identity, Nationhood, Gender (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press 1997)
Jay McRoy (ed) (2005) Japanese Horror Cinema, (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press 2005).
Jay McCroy, Nightmare Japan: A Contemporary Japanese Horror Cinema, Editions Rodopi 2007.
Tom Mes, Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike, (London: FAB Press 2003).
Vijay Mishra, Bollywood Cinema: Temples of Desire (London: Routledge 2002)
Meaghan Morris, Siu Leung Li and Stephen Chan Ching-kiu (eds) Hong Kong Connections: Transnational Imagination in Action Cinema (Hong Kong, Durham and London: Hong Kong University Press/Duke University Press 2005)
Susan Napier, Anime From Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation, Houndmills and New York: Palgrave 2001
Susan Napier, From Impressionism to Anime: Japan as Fantasy and Fan Cult in the Mind of the West, Palgrave 2007.
Aihwa Ong (1999) Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality, Durham NC: Duke University Press 1999
Darcy Paquet, New Korean Cinema: Breaking the Waves (London: Wallflower 2009)
Alastair Philips and Julian Stringer (eds) Japanese Cinema: Texts and Contexts (London and New York: Routledge 2007)
Isolde Standish, A New History of Japanese Cinema (London: Continuum 2005)
Julian Stringer and Chi-yun Shin (eds) New Korean Cinema, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press 2005.
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Valentina Vitali, Hindi Action Cinema: Industry, Narratives, Bodies (Indiana: Indiana University Press 2010)
Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto, Kurosawa: Film Studies and Japanese Cinema (Durham, NC: Duke University Press 2000)
Sabrina Qiong Yu, Jet Li: Chinese Masculinity and Transnational Film Stardom (Edinburgh University Press 2012)
Yingjin Zhang, Chinese National Cinema, (London: Routledge 2004).
Journals:
Asian Cinemas
Cinema Journal
Journal of Chinese Cinemas
Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema
Jump Cut (http://ejumpcut.org/)
New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film
Senses of Cinema (http://www.sensesofcinema.com/)
Scope (http://nottingham.ac.uk/film/journal/)
Transnational Cinemas
Student Support:Academic Skills Services (ASK)
Study skills support is offered in the Library. This covers a number of areas including:
Academic Writing; Critical Reading; Maths, Numeracy and Statistics; Time Management; Presentations and Seminars; Note Taking; and Critical Thinking.
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For further details, please contact the Library or go to
http://www.brunel.ac.uk/library/ask
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