Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe Historical Dictionary of Taiwan Cinema includes a chronology, list of acronyms and abbreviations, introduction, dictionary, and a topical bibliography. The Dictionary offers reliable counts of the country's film history with cross-references of the important directors, producers, performers, films, studios, and genres. The author is an award-winning filmmaker and film scholar as well as associate professor in the Department of Filmmaking and at Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan. The films are discussed are analyzed with thoughtful perspectives. This Dictionary offers a good starting point for readers to understand Taiwan's rich motion picture history. This work is recommended for libraries with a collection of East Asia studies. * American Reference Books Annual *
Taiwan cinema has been intertwined historically and politically with that of China, Hong Kong, and Japan for over a century. Academic and film historian Lee (Taipei National Univ. of the Arts in Taiwan) focuses on Taiwan cinema during two divided periods of Taiwan history: Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945) and Nationalist rule (1945-present). This well-researched book features an excellent and informative introductory essay, a reader's note, a list of acronyms and abbreviations, a detailed chronology (1895-2011), more than 140 entries, an extensive bibliography, maps, and photographs. In the reader's note, Lee explains the complex Romanization systems used throughout the volume, including Cantonese, English, Pinyin, and Wade-Giles for Chinese names, and modified Hepburn for Japanese names. The main dictionary entries feature prominent directors, producers, actors, studios, organizations, genres, and representatives of the best Taiwanese films. Overall, this is a useful resource for students and scholars in film or East Asian studies. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers. * CHOICE *
