Island on the Edge: Taiwan New Cinema and After

by Chris Berry, Feii Lu

Overview

This is the first English-language anthology on the Taiwan New Cinema and its legacy. It is an exciting collection which covers all the major filmmakers from Hou Hsiao Hsien and Edward Yang to Ang Lee and more. The volume gatehrs a range of essays that analyze individual films produced since the advent of the Taiwan New Cinema in the early 1980s.

Taiwan and its internationally renowned cinema are " on the edge" in more ways than one. For all of its history the island has been on the edge of larger geopolitical entities, subjected to invasions, migrations, incursions, and pressures. On the other hand, as one of the "Little Tiger" economies of Asia, it has been on the cutting edge of the Asian economic boom and of technological innovation; in recent years it has pioneered democratization of authoritarian regimes in East Asia.

Hong Kong University Press

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789622097155
Publisher:	Hong Kong University Press
Publication date:	02/08/2005
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Chris Berry is the Professor of Film Studies at King's College London.

Feii Lu is Associate Professor of the Department of Radio/TV at National Chengchi University in Taiwan.

Hong Kong University Press

Table of Contents

ContributorsIntroduction / Chris Berry and Feii Lu1. The Terrorizer and the Great Divide in Contemporary Taiwan'sCultural Development / Sung-sheng Yvonne Chang2. Reflections on the Screen: Hou Hsiao Hsien's Dust In the Wind andthe Rhythms of the Taiwan New Cinema / Haden Guest3. A Borrowed Life in Banana Paradise: De-Cold War/Decolonization, orModernity and Its Tears / Chen Kuan-Hsing4. Hou Hsiao Hsien's City of Sadness: History and the Dialogic FemaleVoice / Rosemary Haddon5. A Myth(ology) Mythologizing Its Own Closure: Edward Yang's ABrighter Summer Day / Liu Yu-hsiu6. Hou Hsiao Hsien's The Puppetmaster: The Poetics of Landscape / Nick Browne7. Where Is the Love? Hyperbolic Realism and Indulgence in Vive L'Amour / Chris Berry8. Generational/Cultural Contradiction and Global Incorporation: AngLee's Eat Drink Man Woman / Ti Wei9. On Tsai Mingliang's The River / Gina Marchetti10. Compulsory Orientalism: Hou Hsiao Hsien's Flowers of Shanghai / Nick Kaldis11. Another Cinema: Darkness & Light / Feii Lu12. The China Simulacrum: Genre, Feminism, and Pan-Chinese CulturalPolitics in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon / Fran MartinAppendix: Filmmakers and FilmsNotesIndex

What People are Saying About This

Ru-Shou Robert Chen

This comprehensive anthology brings out a new perspective on the study of Taiwan cinema. For those who want to go beyond the Taiwan New Cinema movement and explore what happened during the past twenty years, they might begin with this book. It is, without doubt, a major contribution to the long-neglected territory in film history.

Sheldon H. Lu

As the first English-language anthology on Taiwan New Cinema, this is truly a groundbreaking work. The editors have assembled a collection of insightful essays by a group of well-informed and critically astute scholars. The book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to acquire an in-depth understanding of Taiwanese cinema, or more broadly, transnational Chinese-language cinema.

Editorial Reviews

As the first English-language anthology on Taiwan New Cinema, this is truly a groundbreaking work. The editors have assembled a collection of insightful essays by a group of well-informed and critically astute scholars. The book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to acquire an in-depth understanding of Taiwanese cinema, or more broadly, transnational Chinese-language cinema.

Sheldon Lu

This comprehensive anthology brings out a new perspective on the study of Taiwan cinema. For those who want to go beyond the Taiwan New Cinema movement and explore what happened during the past twenty years, they might begin with this book. It is, without doubt, a major contribution to the long-neglected territory in film history.

Ru-Shou Robert Chen