New Chinese Cinema Challenging Representation (Short Cuts)

The 11th volume of the Short Cuts series from Wallflower Press covers a lot of territory, both literally, figuratively, and cinematically. More ambitious than Wallflower's other survey of national cinema (Early Soviet Cinema) New Chinese Cinema: Challenging Representations surveys the whole of 20th Century Chinese history and the filmmaking that has reflected and been shaped by that history. Authors Sheila Cornelius and Ian Hayden Smith engage a myriad of topics: a sweeping yet concise narrative of modern Chinese history (always a fascinating subject), the tenets of Confucianism, delineation of the major film "generations," the vicissitudes of state control, career summaries, Western filmic depictions of China, the status of women under Confucianism and communism, analyses of key films, and future prospects for a distinctive Chinese cinema. The authors manage to deftly weave historical, cultural, political, thematic, and stylistic analysis throughout. Even the most seasoned film enthusiast is guaranteed to learn something new. Hopefully, subsequent Wallflower editions on national cinemas will be this thorough. Fun-yet-tragic fact: Just as it had in the USSR under Stalin, feature film production in China ground to a halt because of the political pressure and social disarray of the Cultural Revolution.