This is a seminar on comparative narrative and stylistic film analysis that focuses on contemporary pictures from Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, South Korea, and Japan, regions that have produced some of the most exciting commercial and art cinema in the past 30 years. We will begin by examining narrative and stylistic trends at work in the region and by considering individual films in a historical and industrial context. We will then develop our film analysis skills via formal comparison of the aesthetics of individual directors working in both popular and art cinema traditions. The films of Wong Kar-wai, Tsai Ming-liang, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Kitano Takeshi, Kore-eda Hirokazu, Lee Chang-dong, Wang Xiaoshuai, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Johnnie To, Edward Yang, Yuen Kuei, Hong Sang-soo, Tsui Hark, Peter Chan, Lee Hyun-ju, and others will be featured. |