New Chinese Cinema: Challenging Representations examines the 'search for roots' films that emerged from China in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution. The authors contextualise the films of the so-called Fifth Generation directors who came to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s such as Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou and Tian Zhuangzhuang. Including close analysis of such pivotal films as Farewell My Concubine, Raise the Red Lantern and The Blue Kite, the book also examines the rise of contemporary Sixth Generation underground directors whose themes embrace the disaffection of urban youth.

Sheila Cornelius is Visiting Lecturer in Chinese Cinema at Morley College, London.
Ian Haydn Smith is a freelance film critic, and series co-editor of the 24 FRAMES series.

2001
144 pages
978-1-903364-13-0   £12.99 (pbk)

view contents


chapter samples
Introduction


reviews
‘Very thorough in its coverage of the historical and cultural background to new Chinese cinema … clearly written and appropriately targeted at an undergraduate audience.’
Leon Hunt, Brunel University

‘An excellent overview of mainland Chinese cinema since the Cultural Revolution and an ideal introductory text for any course on modern Chinese film, this book is an engrossing read in its own right … It provides a succinct and helpful summation of the twentieth-century Chinese history, an insightful depiction of key elements of traditional and contemporary Chinese thought and practice, a shrewd analysis of Western cinematic portrayals of China and the East, and a provocative inquiry into issues of authority, patriarchy, and state power as they shape film culture … A superior value for its modest price.’
CHOICE

‘Now adding commercial clout to its longstanding critical respectability, new wave Chinese cinema is on something of a high. This, then, is a timely addition to the Short Cuts series – a tidy digest of the films’ social, historical, cultural and political context. Just don’t expect eulogies to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The text – written with film students and Sinophiles in mind – examines the influence of Confucius, Mao and the Cultural Revolution on the likes of Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou, detailing their methods of circumventing censorship and state control. This is, by definition, little more that a taster but it’s an appetising insight nonetheless.’
Hotdog

'The eleventh volume of the Short Cuts series from Wallflower Press covers a lot of territory, both literally, figuratively, and cinematically … New Chinese Cinema: Challenging Representations surveys the whole of twentieth-century Chinese history and the filmmaking that has been reflected and been shaped by that history. Authors Sheila Cornelius and Ian Haydn 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 distinctive Chinese cinema. The authors manage to deftly weave historical, cultural, political, thematic and stylist analysis throughout.’
John P. Garry III

‘Showing extensive knowledge of politics and film history, the authors are sensitive to Chinese reconances around music, metaphor, art, allegory, even colour, and the way Confucian patriarchal heritage hangs heavy across women’s history … The integration of sociohistorical and textual analysis is just what is needed. The filmography and bibliography are also thorough, and it would be hard to find a better short cut to the subject.’
Richard Armstrong, The Times Higher Education Supplement

‘New Chinese Cinema provides a thorough introduction to a variety of important, perhaps even essential, issues within the world of Chinese filmmaking. Covering three generations of filmmakers in particular, from the fourth through to the sixth, Cornelius attempts to contextualise the study of Chinese film within what she terms "a social and political context". Her chapters begin generally with broad introductions that focus down into specific case studies that she interpolates within the wider context of the chapter. Particularly good is Chapter Two, in which she deals with the issue of censorship within Chinese cinema using Tian Zhuangzhuang's The Blue Kite (1993) to exemplify the precarious conditions of film production even in contemporary China.’
Rayna Denison, Scope: Online Journal of Film Studies

books of related interest
The Cinema of Japan and Korea
Kung Fu Cult Masters: From Bruce Lee to Crouching Tiger