Description
Book SynopsisSinascape: Contemporary Chinese Cinema is one of the most comprehensive studies of transnational Chinese-language films at the turn of the millennium. Gary Xu combines a close reading of contemporary movies from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong with an intimate look into the transnational Chinese film industry, based on his working relationship with filmmakers. He coins the word sinascape to reflect on the intersection between Chinese cinema and global cultural production, referring to cinematic representations of ethnic Chinese people around the globe. Sinascape describes contemporary Chinese cinema as a global network and a group of contact zones where ideologies clash, new identities emerge (through both border crossings and resistance to globalization), and visual innovations and progressive visions become possible. General readers, film enthusiasts, and critics alike will benefit from Xu''s discussion of popular film, which leads to a broader conversation about China''s economic transformations, global politics, and cultural production. Including discussion of films like Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Kung Fu Hustle, Devils on the Doorstep, Suzhou River, Beijing Bicycle, Millennium Mambo, Goodbye Dragon Inn, and Hollywood Hong Kong, the book emphasizes the transnational nature of contemporary Chinese cinema.
Trade ReviewSinascape is an exciting study of transnational Chinese cinema in the early twenty-first century. This book exhibits Gary Xu's rare combination of theoretical persuasiveness, superb grasp of the film medium, and intimate personal knowledge of the film industry. Page after page, the reader will experience nothing less than intellectual stimulation and scholarly ingenuity. -- Sheldon H. Lu, University of California, Davis
Sinascape applies its sharp-eyed focus to spotting trends and interpreting aspects in Chinese cinema, and uses examples of popular Chinese movies to illustrate its points. * Midwest Book Review *
He [Xu] ends up presenting an interesting challenge to the standard view of the industry.... Xu's thoughftul investigation into Non-Hollywood sharpens our critical awareness of the nature of representation and of the new versions of Orientalism produced by the transnational movie industry. -- Karen Louise Erichson, Editor, Frydenlund Publishing House, Copenhagen
Sinascape contends that the myth of a 'China’s century' is fundamentally linked to that of a 'Hollywood’s century,' for in both cases a cinematic mode of production dominates the realms of culture, ideology, and politics. With this book, Gary Xu establishes himself as a cutting-edge scholar who offers provocative readings on urgent issues such as copyright, piracy, digital technology, global networking, and cross-cultural spectatorship, all at a time when China is inventing a new visual culture on a dazzling transnational, translocal scale. -- Yingjin Zhang
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 The Right to Copy and the Digital Copyright: Hero, House of Flying Daggers, and China's Cultural Symptoms Chapter 3 Violence, the Sixth Generation Filmmaking, and Devils on the Doorstep Chapter 4 My Camera Doesn't Lie: Cinematic Realism and Chinese Cityscape in Beijing Bicycle and Suzhou River Chapter 5 Shaw Brothers' Old Cinema Excavated: From Kung Fu Hustle to Goodbye Dragon Inn Chapter 6 The Smell of the City: Memory and Hou Hsiao-hsien's Millennium Mambo Chapter 7 Hollywood Hong Kong, Hollywood Hong Kong, and the Cinematic Mode of Production Chapter 8 Postscript: Remaking East Asia
