World on Film: An Introduction

How to Use This Book x

Part I Nations Make Movies 1

Introduction: Other Languages, Other Stories 2

The Point, So Far 11

Talking about International Film 11

National Film Cultures 14

Questions in the Chapters 18

Summary 19

For Further Thought 21

Projects 21

Further Reading 22

1 France: French Revolutions at the Movies 23

The Movies Are Born in France 28

Case Study: Jean Renoir 31

Renoir’s Peers and the Golden Age of French Cinema 38

For Further Thought 44

Projects 44

The Fourth and Fifth Republics and the Prologue to the New Wave 45

The New Wave 49

Case Study: Jean-Luc Godard 51

Beyond the New Wave 62

For Further Thought: Dogme 95 68

Mini Research Mission 68

Projects 69

Further Reading 69

2 Russia: Utopia and Dystopia 71

The Russian Revolution and the Golden Age of Soviet Cinema 76

Stalinism and the Ebb and Resurgence of Soviet Cinema 89

For Further Thought 91

Projects 92

New Freedoms 93

Case Study: Andrei Tarkovsky 93

Post-Soviet Cinema 101

Mini Research Mission 106

For Further Thought 106

Projects 106

Further Reading 107

3 Germany: From Darkness toward Light 108

Early History 113

For Further Thought 123

Projects 124

Nazi Cinema and Beyond 124

Case Study: Werner Herzog 136

New German Cinema and the International Community 142

Mini Research Mission 143

For Further Thought: East German Cinema 143

Projects 148

Further Reading 149

4 Italy: The Myth of History, Neorealism, and Beyond 150

Italian Cinema and the Risorgimento 154

The Evolution of Neorealism 158

For Further Thought 173

Projects 174

Case Study: Federico Fellini 174

Debating Italian Postwar Recovery 182

Mini Research Mission 193

For Further Thought 193

Projects 194

Further Reading 194

5 Japan: Screening Feudalism and Modernism 195

Early Film in Japan 198

Meiji Era and Taishd Era Japanese Cinema (1896–1926) 202

Film During the Shdwa Era 205

Case Study: Akira Kurosawa 214

For Further Thought 224

Projects 224

The New Wave and Beyond 225

Mini Research Mission 234

For Further Thought 234

Projects 235

Further Reading 236

6 India: Cinema of Combination and Contradiction 237

Film in Colonial India 243

Early Postcolonial Indian Film 247

For Further Thought 256

Projects 257

Bollywood Takes Charge 258

Case Study: Amitabh Bachchan 259

Bollywood and Parallel Cinema 270

Mini Research Mission 275

For Further Thought 276

Projects 277

Further Reading 278

Part II Movie Making in the Global Village 279

Introduction: They Do It Their Way 280

When Is a Film Foreign? 280

Reading Movies in the Global Village 287

Culture under a Microscope: A Modern Muddle or a 288

New Mirror?

Mini Research Mission 289

For Further Thought 290

Projects 290

Further Reading 291

7 Spain: Luis Buñuel, Playing with Ideas 292

The Arc of Buñuel's Career 298

Conclusion 306

Mini Research Mission 306

For Further Thought 307

Projects 308

Further Reading 309

8 Sweden: Ingmar Bergman, Being and Nothingness 310

The Arc of Bergman's Career 315

Conclusion 326

Mini Research Mission 327

For Further Thought 327

Projects 329

Further Reading 330

9 Hong Kong: Wong Kar-wai, Now You See It . . . 331

The Arc of Wong’s Career 338

Conclusion 349

Mini Research Mission 350

For Further Thought 351

Projects 352

Further Reading 353

10 Senegal: Ousmane Sembene, Postcolonial Pioneer 354

The Arc of Sembene's Career 359

Conclusion 374

Mini Research Mission 374

For Further Thought 375

Projects 376

Further Reading 377

11 Mainland China: Jia Zhangke, Freedom and the Sixth Generation 378

The Arc of Jia's Career 385

Conclusion 399

Mini Research Mission 399

For Further Thought 400

Projects 401

Further Reading 401

Glossary 402

Index 418