Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes

Chris Berry
ISBN: 978-0-85170-986-4
British Film Institute
216 pag. paperback 15 x 23 cm 2006

The Chinese cinemas--including mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong--have been the most internationally popular and successful non-Western cinemas for almost two decades now. In recent years, they have generated a vigorous and thriving field of interpretation and criticism. Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes is an anthology of 25 fresh and original readings of individual Chinese films. Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the diaspora are all included, and historical coverage ranges from the 1930s to the present. Film titles covered include Farewell My Concubine, Chungking Express, Flowers of Shanghai, The Goddess, Bullet in the Head, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Crows and Sparrows, Yi Yi, and many more. As well as globally famous films, the anthology also introduces a number of Chinese classics that are less well known internationally and deserve more attention.
The essays are concise, accessible, rich, and on the cutting edge of current research. Each one outlines existing writing on the film, and then presents an original perspective. All are designed for classroom use, scholarly research, and to appeal to the general reader with an interest in Chinese film.