HCRT-302: Contemporary Chinese Cinema

One of the most exciting cinema cultures to emerge in recent decades is that of Mainland Chinese cinema. Mired in propaganda for the first three decades after the Communist revolution (1949), Chinese cinema finally found its authentic voice with the Fifth Generation, which emerged in the 1980s. These talented and ambitious filmmakers were graduates of the Beijing Film Academy, which had been shut down during the disastrous Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), and they were eager to tell stories truthful to the modern Chinese experience --- while eloquently using cinema language. The films they made --- such as "Yellow Earth," "Raise the Red Lantern," and "Blue Kite" --- were often banned at home but found audiences abroad through international film festivals, and the directors were lauded as auteurs. Today, Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou are internationally recognized, and a younger generation steps in to try to capture China in transition. This course will start with examples from the silent era (1930s) and Communist propaganda films (early 1970s), then quickly move into the films that became international sensations. Also covered will be the art films of Feng Xiaogang and Jia Zhangke.