Approaches to East Asian Cinema

The world-renowned masterpieces of Kurosawa and Ozu, the kung fu epics of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, the recent unprecedented Oscar wins of Bong Joon Ho's Parasite, and countless other films from Japan, South Korea, and the Chinese diaspora have made East Asian cinema one of the region's most visible cultural products of the past seventy years. Popular film plays a large role in constructing the cultural identity of modern societies, but Hollywood casts a long shadow over national cinemas. Critical discussions of East Asian cinema from both within and without the region have frequently approached these works as either the alien Other of Hollywood, or else subordinate to its influence. In this course we will seek to move beyond East-vs-West and Hollywood-centric approaches to analyzing East Asian cinema. While considering the unique historical development of commercial film industries in the region, we will also take into account the inherently transnational and globalizing nature of cinema. How have filmmakers in Japan, Korea, and the Chinese-speaking world responded to the hegemonic influence of the Classical Hollywood style to create works that operate in a common global vernacular, yet also forge new and distinct modes of expression? In an attempt to answer this question, we will read classic works of criticism that adopt an arguably Orientalist approach to the study of East Asian film, as well as more recent scholarship that attempts to escape the binaries that defined previous discussions. Close analysis of classic and contemporary East Asian film will provide context for these debates as well as introduce some of the major works of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean cinema to students. Undergraduates enroll in the 400-level section; 500-level section is for graduate students only. Fulfills modern elective for EALC major. Prerequisites: unior level or above or permission of instructor.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU Hum; BU IS; AS HUM; AS LCD; FA HUM; AR HUM

Approaches to East Asian Cinema

EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES & CULTURES 4380

Section 01