WEEK 4/OCT 25 SCREENING CHINA I—STARTING/ENDING WITH THE FIFTH GENERATION?

Homework Viewing:

Raise the  Red  Lantern (大紅燈籠高高掛),

dir. Zhang Yimou/張藝謀, 1991[available at YouTube etc.]

YOU COULD DOWNLOAD NOTES FOR WEEK 3:ASIAN CINEMA CULTURE—BETWEEN THE NATIONAL AND THE TRANSNATIONAL II [LINK EXPIRES BY OCT 26]

Required Readings

(for week 4-5)

Zhang, Yingjin. 2012. “Directors, Aesthetics, Genres: Chinese Postsocialist Cinema, 1979-2010”, in A Companion to Chinese Cinema, edited by Zhang Yingjin, Blackwell Publishing, p57-74 [download HERE]

NOTE: for first years, you could read this essay for both week 4 and 5, if you find the Zhang Zhen reading intimidating ; )

Reference Reading

Yang, Mayfair Mei-hui. 1993. “Of Gender, State Censorship, and Overseas Capital: An Interview with Chinese Director Zhang Yimou” Public Culture 5.2: 1-17. [download HERE]

NOTE: very useful for your to understand Zhang's take on the gender issue, and Chinese filmmaking in his times (early 90s)


Ran's questions:

questions on Raise the Red Lantern

1.     Yang considers RRL "is more directly political", try to discuss the "politics" of the film, in terms of its text (theme, characters, mise-en-scene) and context (socio-political background; production economy; audiences).

2.     Zhang in the interview posed that, "The Chinese people have for a long time confined themselves within a restricted walled space. Democracy is still very far off, and it will be slow in forming here. We have a historical legacy of extinguishing human desire (miejue renyu)/灭绝人欲 ." Would it be possible to relate his considerations as such to the fate and struggles of women/concubines living in the Chen mansion, and why (not)?

3.     How does the visual style of RRL impress you? What do you think of its use of color? How about the invented custom of "lighting up the lantern"? What do you think of the story, which is set in such a suffocating "walled mansion," and how would the spatial construction facilitate the filmmaker's agenda? There are people arguing  that Zhang's RRL is catering to the Western gaze, and what do you think of such "accusation"?