Lee delves into the importance of cinema in urban Shanghainese life, discussing how early film production first came about partly because of the demand for leisure and entertainment. I think it’s really interesting how the development of modern Chinese cinema is so intertwined with the urban and cultural setting at the time. Lee discusses how cinema was first embraced by intellectuals before essentially becoming a new commodity of urban life. The arrival of cinema undoubtedly came along with the Hollywood influence, introducing an interesting “hybridity” where native cinema mimicked and served as a foil to the western film industry. He

Continue readingReading Response: Leo Ou-Fan Lee

The writing, The Urban Milieu of Shanghai Cinema written by Lee Oufan, is condensed with a series of deep and critical analyses of the mixed relationship between Shanghai movies and Hollywood movies. It emphasizes the significant impact on the birth and development of Chinese film through the transmission of foreign film, more specifically in areas of the use of movie techniques and exotic cultures. For the sake of concrete knowledge of movie history, it is undoubtedly that readers are given insight into how the shadow of foreign cultures and traditions was embedded into Chinese movies in its initial generation. Long

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The cinema has been a space of hybridity since its arrival in China. Zhang describes the history of cinema in China, where shows were first projected by some Frenchmen in a Shanghai teahouse. Right from the start, it was a mix of the west into the east. By operating its showings in the teahouse, a place of entertainment, it made way for itself into the everyday urban space, paving its way for Western film to become localised within the Chinese context. According to Lee, the rise of the cinema saw the decline of the amusement hall. The new visual medium

Continue reading[Reading Response: Leo Ou-fan Lee and Zhen Zhang

Starting from reviews about previous literature (Burch), the author pointed out that the earliest period of Chinese cinema has been recognized as “chaotic” and thus academically valueless by most relevant studies. However, through evaluating the main themes and filming techniques of films around that period, early Chinese films show great complexity (Bhabha) – filming techniques borrowed from the west and spirit from locals. It is a hybrid, a result of historical necessity (colonialism), but also a practical approach to reproduce the essence of traditions (theatrical adaptations), indicating the existing social problems such as regulating marriage (Labourer’s Love), propagating political opinions,

Continue readingReading Response: Zhang Zhen

First we discussed the “hibridity” in the early chinese cinema. Based on the second reading, people in China used to watch shadowplay in a teahouse, since it is the perfect place for many people to gather around . When the western culture came in, this is where they implement “hibridity”. From there, they started to play movies in their teahouse, in which it depicts a modernity in the history of chinese cinema. We also discussed what differs montage and long shot in a film scene. As long shot can create a more realistic views on the scene by providing center

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Early cinema as a foreign medium not only allowed local audiences to appreciate foreign cultures but also allowed people to experience new forms of art. For this reason, Hollywood films are very popular in China, especially among writers or students. However, I believe that Chinese films cannot just imitate the acting style and camera features of Hollywood films, they need to choose a suitable shooting method and content about the local culture to dominate more in the local market. This act allows for a deeper connection between the film and the cultural context of the local city and facilitates the

Continue readingReading Response: Lee, Leo Ou-fan