Reading Response: Lee, Leo Ou-fan

This article depicts the film business in 1930s Shanghai as the site of the first Chinese film production and movie theaters. It shows the vast contrast between film culture, audience, and narrative conventions of the early era of Chinese film production and modern times. The Hollywood film industry and the traditional Chinese cultures play a great role in forming the early culture of Chinese cinema. It serves as a reflection of the rapid speed of modernization of China during the 1930s and the balance between western and traditional cultural influences.
The author describes how the imported medium of entertainment was crazed over, and the shadows of imitation of camera angles set designs as well as acting techniques in early Chinese cinema. However, it was not a direct replica of Hollywood cinema, for instance, subjects of sexuality are hardly emphasized in Chinese films, and most films followed the storytelling formula whose roots can be found in traditional Chinese tales and novels.
Kong Chun Yin 3036068826

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