150032 VO+UE Contemporary East Asian Film (2010W)

This course provides a general survey of East Asian film, with particular emphasis on the screen industry of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The fast development of East Asian film industries after official deregulation and open-door policies of the 1990s gained international recognition and influence for East Asian cinema. Until then, the most influential films in East Asia had been Hollywood productions; because of the growth of the East Asian film industry, especially its success in obtaining larger budgets, East Asian film has been recognized not only within the region, but in U.S. and European markets. Since the 1990s, the East Asian cinematic landscape has responded dramatically to changes in governmental policies and marketing strategies in a reaction to global capital opportunities. International influence among East Asian nations has increased, and it has led to the development of pan-Asian cinema. The artistic flow had once been entirely from West to East, but now it includes East-to-West activity, such as remaking East Asian films in the United States and the debuts of East Asian stars, such as the Korean pop singer Rain, in Hollywood movies. Coproduction, assimilation, U.S. remakes of East
Asian films, growing pan-Asianism, international film festivals, and cofinancing and marketing are issues that will be treated in this course.