Week10 -Cinema of Japan

《Detroit Metal City》plot：Soichi Negishi is a shy young musician who dreams of a career in pop. Dreams don't pay the bills, so he's ended up as the lead singer and guitarist of a blackened death metal band, "Detroit Metal City." Negishi despises DMC and all that it stands for, but he can't walk away as he has a talent to play the psychotic frontman of the band. The Krauser persona also functions as an outlet to vent his frustration over his failing personal career, which has not advanced beyond him being a street musician.

Negishi is envious of the popularity DMC and his Krauser persona enjoy in contrast to the music he actually wants to play being ridiculed, which in turn leads to his Krauser persona coming out more often, which leads to Krauser's popularity growing. The explores the futile attempts of Negishi to break this vicious circle, escape his DMC persona and become a successful pop musician

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69oBnU-CB7o

The Cinema of Japan 

The cinema of Japan (日本映画 Nihon eiga) has a history that spans more than 100 years. 

Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2010, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced.

In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that earned 54.9% of a box office total of US$2.338 billion.

Movies have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived. In a ranking of the best films produced in Asia, Japan made up eight of the top twelve, with Tokyo Story ranked number one. 

Japan has won the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film four times, again more than any other country in Asia.


My Recommend：

Hana and Alice（2004）
Hana and Alice is a 2004 Japanese teen romance film by director Shunji Iwai. The film, shot on HD digital video by the director of photography, Noboru Shinoda, who shared a longstanding working relationship with Shunji Iwai, concerns the life of two girls, the titular Hana and Alice , and the stress placed on their friendship as they move into high school.

Originally shot as a series of short films for the 30th anniversary of Kit Kat in Japan, it was later expanded into a feature film by Iwai and received theatrical release in Japan in 2004. It moved into theaters in other Asian territories later in 2004 and 2005, and into western film festivals, such as New York Asian Film Festival and Seattle International Film Festival.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smRad0sPrbk

  

Departures (2008）

Departures is a 2008 Japanese drama film directed by Yōjirō Takita and starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryōko Hirosue, and Tsutomu Yamazaki. Loosely based on Coffinman, a memoir by Shinmon Aoki, the film follows a young man who returns to his hometown after a failed career as a cellist and stumbles across work as a nōkanshi—a traditional Japanese ritual mortician. He is subjected to prejudice from those around him, including from his wife, because of strong social taboos against people who deal with death. Eventually he earns their respect and learns the importance of interpersonal connections through the beauty and dignity of his work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH0sJiFd1Gg

Spirited Away（2001）

Spirited Away  is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli.The film stars Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Takeshi Naito, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Tsunehiko Kamijō, Takehiko Ono and Bunta Sugawara, and tells the story of Chihiro Ogino (Hiiragi), a sullen ten-year-old girl who, while moving to a new neighborhood, enters the spirit world. After her parents are transformed into pigs by the witch Yubaba (Natsuki), Chihiro takes a job working in Yubaba's bathhouse to find a way to free herself and her parents and return to the human world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByXuk9QqQkk

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Week 9_Cinema of China

Cinema of China

The Cinema of China is one of three distinct historical threads of Chinese-language cinema together with the Cinema of Hong Kong and the Cinema of Taiwan.

Cinema was introduced in China in 1896 and the first Chinese film, The Battle of Ding jun shan, was made in 1905, with the film industry being centered on Shanghai in the first decades. The first sound film, Sing-Song Girl Red Peony, using the sound-on-disc technology, was made in 1931. The 1930s, considered the first "golden period" of Chinese cinema, saw the advent of the Leftist cinematic movement and the dispute between Nationalists and Communists was reflected in the films produced. After the Japanese invasion of China and the occupation of Shanghai, the industry in the city was severely curtailed, with filmmakers moving to Hong Kong, Chongqing and other places, starting a "Solitary Island" period in Shanghai, referring to the city's foreign concessions, with the remaining filmmakers working there. Princess Iron Fan (1941), the first Chinese animated feature film, was released at the end of this period. After being completely engulfed by the occupation in 1941, and until the end of the war in 1945, the film industry in the city was under Japanese control.

After the end of the war, a second golden age took place, with production in Shanghai resuming, with films such as Spring in a Small Town (1948), named the best Chinese-language film at the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards. After the communist revolution in 1949, previous and some foreign films were banned in 1951, and movie attendance increased sharply. During the Cultural Revolution, the film industry was severely restricted, coming almost to a standstill from 1967 to 1972. The industry flourished following the end of the Cultural Revolution, including the "scar dramas" of the 1980s, such as Evening Rain (1980), Legend of Tianyun Mountain (1980) and Hibiscus Town (1986), depicting the emotional traumas left by the period. Starting in the mid to late 1980s, with films such as One and Eight (1983) and Yellow Earth (1984), the rise of the Fifth Generation brought increased popularity to Chinese cinema abroad, especially among Western arthouse audiences, with films like Red Sorghum (1987), The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) and Farewell My Concubine (1993) winning major international awards. The movement partially ended after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The post-1990 period saw the rise of the Sixth Generation and post-Sixth Generation, both mostly making films outside of the main Chinese film system and played mostly on the international film festival circuit.

Following the international commercial success of films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Hero (2002), the number of co-productions in Chinese-language cinema has increased and there has been a movement of Chinese-language cinema into a domain of large scale international influence. After The Dream Factory (1997) demonstrated the viability of the commercial model, and with the growth of the Chinese box office, Chinese films have broken box office records and, as of September 2015, 5 of the top 10 highest-grossing films in China are domestic productions. Lost in Thailand (2012) was the first Chinese film to reach CN¥1 billion at the Chinese box office and Monster Hunt (2015) is currently the highest grossing Chinese film in the domestic market and worldwide and the first to reach CN¥2 billion.

China is the home of the largest film studio in the world, the Hengdian World Studios, and in 2010 it had the third largest film industry by number of feature films produced annually. In 2012 the country became the second-largest market in the world by box office receipts. In 2014, the gross box office in China was ¥29.6 billion (US$4.82 billion), with domestic films having a share of 55%. The country is predicted to have the largest market in the world in 2017 or 2018. China has also become a major hub of business for Hollywood studios.



Hero (2002)
Hero is a 2002 wuxia film directed by Zhang Yimou. Starring Jet Li as the nameless protagonist, the film is based on the story of Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin in 227 BC.

Hero was first released in China on 24 October 2002. At that time, it was the most expensive project and the highest-grossing motion picture in Chinese film history. Miramax Films owned the American market distribution rights, but delayed the release of the film for nearly two years. It was finally presented by Quentin Tarantino to American theaters on 27 August 2004.





Plot：
In ancient China during the Warring States period, the nameless prefect of a small jurisdiction arrives at the Qin state's capital city to meet the king of Qin, who has survived an attempt on his life by the assassins Long Sky, Flying Snow, and Broken Sword. Because of the assassination attempt, no visitors are to approach the king within 100 paces. 'Nameless' claims that he has slain the three assassins and he displays their weapons before the king, who allows the former to sit closer to him and tell him his story.

Nameless recounts killing Long Sky at a weiqi parlor; later to meet Flying Snow and Broken Sword at a calligraphy school in the Zhao state, where he pitted them against each other until Snow killed Sword and was herself slain by Nameless. As the tale concludes, the king expresses disbelief and accuses Nameless of staging the duels with the assassins, who surrendered their lives to allow him to gain the king's trust and take the king's life.

Nameless admits that he is a native of the Zhao state and that his family was killed by Qin soldiers; he also confesses that he defeated Sky without killing him and asked Snow and Sword to cooperate by faking a duel as well. Sword had waited for Nameless on his way to Qin after his false duel with Snow. He told Nameless that the only way to achieve peace was to unite the states under a common dynasty, namely that of Qin, which alone had the ability to do so, thus revealing why Sword gave up his earlier assassination attempt.

The king, affected by the tale and by Sword's understanding of his dream to unify China, ceases to fear Nameless. He tosses his sword to Nameless and examines a scroll drawn by Sword. The king understands that it describes the ideal warrior, who, paradoxically, should have no desire to kill. When Nameless realizes the wisdom of these words, he abandons his mission and spares the king.

When Snow learns that Sword convinced Nameless to forgo the assassination, she furiously challenges Sword to a fight and unintentionally kills him when he chooses not to defend himself so that she would understand his feelings for her. Overwhelmed with sorrow, Snow commits suicide. Urged by his court, the king reluctantly orders Nameless to be executed at the Qin palace. He understands that in order to unify the world, he must enforce the law to execute Nameless as an example to the world. As the film ends, Nameless receives a hero's funeral and a closing text identifies the king as Qin Shi Huang.

Let the Bullets Fly（2010）

Let the Bullets Fly  is a 2010 action comedy film written and directed by Jiang Wen, based on a story by Ma Shitu (马识途), a famous Sichuanese writer. The film is set in Sichuan during the 1920s when the bandit Zhang (Jiang Wen) descends upon a town posing as its new mayor. The film also stars Chow Yun-fat, Ge You, Carina Lau, Chen Kun and Zhou Yun.

The film's script went through over thirty drafts before Jiang Wen was happy with it. Let the Bullets Fly was originally to be released in September 2010 but was pushed back to December. Made in Mandarin and Sichuanese, the film broke several box office records in China, and has received critical acclaim, when it was released. Let the Bullets Fly grossed 674 million yuan (US$110 million) in Chinese box office (becoming the highest grossing domestic film in China until it was beaten by Painted Skin: The Resurrection in 2012) and $140 million worldwide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFoLfRA5ghw

week 8_Hong Kong Cinema (part 2)

《He's a Woman, She's a Man》

He's a Woman, She's a Man (金枝玉葉） is a 1994 film directed by Peter Chan Ho Sun and written by James Yuen and Lee Chi Ngai. It stars Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing, Anita Yuen Wing Yee, Carina Lau Kar Ling, Jordan Chan Siu Chun and Eric Tsang Chi Wai. Its many awards garnered include Best Actress at the 14th Annual HK Film Awards for Anita Yuen and Best Original Song for 'Chase' by Leslie Cheung. It was followed by a sequel: Who's the Woman, Who's the Man? in 1996. The theme song is 'Chase' (追) sung by Leslie Cheung (Most Beloved album, 1995).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0N46dxiCCg




Plot：
Wing (Anita Yuen) is a sassy girl who deeply idolizes Rose (Carina Lau), a pop singer, and Rose's boyfriend, top record producer and songwriter Sam (Leslie Cheung). Rose has been groomed by Sam, achieving stardom and international acclaim. With her success, Sam decides to try his hand at bringing up a male singer. He decides to announce a country-wide, males-only talent search, much to his former protegée's chagrin.

Wing, desperate to meet her idols, seizes this opportunity and enters the contest disguised as a male. Her childhood friend (Jordan Chan) trains her to perfect this whimsical idea.

As fate would have it, Wing succeeds in the audition thanks to the poor quality of those auditioning and in part to Rose's taunts. Rose challenges Sam to see to the idea of him bringing up a (relatively) talentless Wing.


Wing is later invited to stay at Sam and Rose's home for her/"his" musical education. Wing tries unsuccessfully to reconcile the two lovers' difference. Trouble and comedy ensue as she finds herself falling for Sam and vice versa, despite him thinking she is a he.



Film Review：

Leslie performances in the play of color and not as good as cliche, a pinnacle of the music entertainment industry Language nobility how longing mortal struggle behave penetrating music, and suffered "gay" Ling zi ying period and found myself actually in love with him when it kind of helpless panic that heart is through his brother more confused eyes passed vividly. And when the singer came out crazy ideas contest, so let fans experience the wild face a positive, high aspirations of musicians, such a performance, called the Hong Kong film flash in the pan. Actress Anita's performance is a breakthrough in a new level, and when a fledgling new face and envision different idols and love a special exhibit a very high level of loss.

 At first glance, the film is only a seemingly touched touched, not really impressed. Occasion, re-read, just savor the meaning of the title, "descendants of royal families", said a group of people, it seems to say is these people's plight, director Peter Chan in the film which reflects one of the basic ideology of entertainment, but also thereby expressed Age of Innocence memories. The so-called imperious princess, eventually to the world is the root, is an extraordinary opportunity which can not beg of mind, only really know people and have fun. Such feelings in "Tale Of Two Cities," which has been seen, and finally in "Roman Holiday", the experience is not the same feeling.

 In fairness Leslie Cheung Hong Kong cinema as a Gorgeous myths, extraordinary acting, smiles, showing a strange tension, into the role and beyond the role, I seem to see the anxious face cause difficulties when he himself, even if 94 years, he has not for these problems.

Carina Lau arrogant and naive coexistence "Rose" is also performing certain look, plus gold and gold wash estimate Tsang supporting Law Ka Ying, "Jinzhiyuye" dramatic color is also quite strong.

Week7 - Hong Kong Cinema (part1)

The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema , alongside the cinema of China , and the cinema of Taiwan.For decades, Hong Kong was the third largest motion picture industry in the world (after Indian cinema and Hollywood ) and the second largest exporter.

In the West, Hong Kong's vigorous pop cinema (especially Hong Kong action cinema ) has long had a strong cult following , which is now arguably a part of the cultural mainstream, widely available and imitated.

Unlike many film industries, Hong Kong has enjoyed little or no direct government support, through either subsidies or import quotas. It is a thoroughly commercial cinema: highly corporate, concentrating on crowd-pleasing genres like comedy and action, and relying heavily on formulas , sequels and remakes .

Hong Kong film derives a number of elements from Hollywood, such as certain genre parameters, a "thrill-a-minute" philosophy and fast pacing and editing .But the borrowings are filtered through elements from traditional Chinese drama and art , particularly a penchant for stylisation and a disregard for Western standards of realism .This, combined with a fast and loose approach to the filmmaking process, contributes to the energy and surreal imagination that foreign audiences note in Hong Kong cinema.


                                

Bodyguards and Assassins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_98z02TPVw 

Bodyguards and Assassins is a 2009 Hong Kong historical action film directed by Teddy Chan, featuring an all-star cast, including Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Leon Lai, Wang Xueqi, Simon Yam, Hu Jun, Eric Tsang, Cung Le and Fan Bingbing.

Plot：

In 1905, Sun Wen intends to go abroad to Hong Kong, then a British colony, to discuss his plans with fellow Tongmenghui members to overthrow the corrupt and crumbling Qing dynasty in China. Empress Dowager Cixi sends a group of assassins, led by Yan Xiaoguo, to kill Sun. Revolutionary Chen Shaobai arrives in Hong Kong a few days before Sun's arrival, to meet Li Yutang, a businessman who provides financial aid for the revolutionaries. As Sun Wen's arrival day draws near, trouble begins brewing in Hong Kong as Chen Shaobai's acquaintances are murdered and Chen himself is kidnapped by the assassins during a raid. Li Yutang decides to officially declare his support for the revolutionaries after the newspaper agency is closed by the British authorities, who do not interfere in China's political situation. Li rallies a group of men, including rickshaw pullers, hawkers and a beggar, to serve as bodyguards for Sun Wen when he arrives. Li's son, Chongguang, is chosen to act as a decoy for Sun Wen to divert the assassins away while Sun attends the meeting and leaves Hong Kong safely.

Infernal Affairs




















Infernal Affairs is a 2002 Hong Kong crime-thriller film directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. It tells the story of a police officer who infiltrates a triad, and a police officer secretly working for the same gang. The Chinese title means "The Unceasing Path", a reference to Avici, the lowest level of hell in Buddhism, where one endures suffering incessantly. The English title is a word play combining the law enforcement term "internal affairs" with the adjective "infernal". Infernal Affairs was followed by Infernal Affairs II and Infernal Affairs III.

Pre-release publicity focused on its star-studded cast (Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Kelly Chen and Sammi Cheng), but it later received critical acclaim for its original plot and its concise and swift storytelling style.

The film had been selected as the Hong Kong entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Academy Awards but it was not nominated. Still, Miramax Films acquired the United States distribution rights of this film and gave it a limited U.S. theatrical release in 2004.

Infernal Affairs was remade by Martin Scorsese in 2006 as The Departed, which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Plot：
Infernal Affairs focuses on a police officer named Chan Wing-yan, who goes undercover into a triad, and a triad member Lau Kin-ming, who infiltrates the Hong Kong Police Force. Each mole has been planted by the rival organisation to gain an advantage in intelligence over the other side. The more the moles become involved in their undercover lives, the more issues they have to cope with.

The prologue opens with the introduction of triad boss Hon Sam, who sends a number of young gangsters to the police academy as moles, among whom include a young Lau. Concurrently, a young Chan joins the police force but is seemingly expelled from the academy even though he manages to impress Superintendent Wong Chi-shing. In reality, Chan has become an undercover agent reporting only to Wong. Over the course of ten years, Chan experiences great stress from his undercover work while Lau quickly rises through the ranks in the police department. The film begins with a meeting between Chan and Lau in a hi-fi store without either of them knowing the other's identity.

Wong and his team interrupt a deal between Hon Sam and a Thai cocaine dealer after receiving a tip-off from Chan using Morse code. However, Lau alerts Hon, giving him enough time to order his minions to dispose of the cocaine, eliminating solid evidence of the drug deal. After the incident, Wong and Hon are both aware that they each have a mole within their respective organisations, placing them in a race against time to root out the other mole. Later, Chan sees Hon conversing with Lau at a cinema but does not see Lau's face clearly; he ultimately fails to capture Lau. By this time, both Chan and Lau are struggling with their double identities – Chan starts losing faith in himself as a cop after being a gangster for ten years; Lau becomes more accustomed to the life of a police officer and he wants to erase his criminal background.

At their next meeting, Wong intends to pull Chan out of undercover work for fear of his safety. They are unaware that Lau has his subordinate, CIB Inspector B, tracking him. Meanwhile, Hon sends "Crazy" Keung and other henchmen to confront them after receiving intel from Lau. Inspector B informs Lau and sends an OCTB squad to save Wong. Chan flees from the building using a crane while Wong sacrifices himself to save him by distracting Hon's men. Wong is beaten and thrown off the roof by the gangsters. As the police close in, a shootout ensues in which several gangsters are killed. Keung drives Chan away from the scene, but later dies from a mortal gunshot wound. It is reported on the news that Keung himself was an undercover cop; Hon assumes that he was the mole and that Chan killed him to protect the triad.

Lau retrieves Wong's cell phone and contacts Chan, with both of them agreeing to foil a drug deal by Hon. The plan succeeds and many of Hon's men are arrested, while Lau betrays Hon and kills him. Everything seems to have returned to normal – Chan can revert to his true identity as a cop, while Lau has erased his criminal connections by eliminating Hon's triad. However, back at police headquarters, Chan discovers that Lau was the mole and leaves immediately. Lau, realising what has happened, erases Chan's file from the police database. Chan spends an evening with his therapist, Dr. Lee Sum-yee, with whom he has fallen in love. He sends to Lau a compact disc with a recording that Hon kept between himself and Lau; the disc is inadvertently intercepted by Lau's girlfriend, Mary.

Chan and Lau meet on the same rooftop where Wong was killed earlier. Chan disarms Lau without resistance and holds a gun to Lau's head, as a rebuke to Lau's plea for forgiveness and request to remain as a cop. Inspector B arrives on the scene shortly and orders Chan to release Lau. Chan holds Lau as a hostage at gunpoint and backs into an elevator, but upon moving his head from behind Lau he is suddenly shot in the head by B. B then reveals to Lau that he is also a mole planted by Hon. As they take the lift down to the lobby, Lau kills B out of his desire to eradicate traces of his past, become a "good guy" cop, and end the mole hunt.

The original ending climaxes with Lau identifying himself to the police as one of them. Lee discovers records revealing Chan as the undercover officer; B is blamed of being the mole within the force and the case is closed. Lau salutes Chan at his funeral, with Cheung and Lee present as well. A flashback reaffirms the point that Lau wished he had taken a different route in life. In mainland China, an alternate ending for the film was created, in which Lau exits the elevator and is informed by Cheung that the police have found evidence that he was a mole. Lau hands them his badge and is arrested without protest. The sequel, Infernal Affairs III, uses the original ending instead of the alternate one.

Film Review：
This is a great color films in Hong Kong, as the theme song in the Mandarin class sings it, who understand the survival ratio is often also cruel fate, but no one wants to admit defeat. This is a story about survival, but it seems that "survive" as the theme, in Hong Kong, a slit-like on land yet so sharp.

We all know that their duties would be after the end of the story in stone, so will the story wrong thing. However, when this is our story, when our story, the end of our life? Nobody knew we were going to go, no one knows in the end there will be any Armageddon ...... because everything is unknown, select the camp will be in good and bad for himself. Then, it became an eternal topic, you are good or bad?

The film starring all have reached the pinnacle of his career, Tony Leung, Andy Lau, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, including Chapman. Everyone, all with such a distinctive label, Yeung-Jen Chen and Liu Jianming, Wong Chi-ming and Han Chen, who is good or bad they are all too vividly. People live too understand that when life is so bloody, but if live confused, these may also be a band before, so that woolly-headed, especially in the face of such impossible strict division of a second election. We are to defend themselves, want others to know that they are generally dedicated as Yeung-Jen Chen side, but also expect others to be able to understand their own side as Liu Jianming, just because a step wrong wrong step or in fact the fate of us simply do not go down that arrangements good road.

The film's story of life and death can only be used to end, and life stories, but they can be more tolerant, to good people like to own some of the cozy comfort, give the bad guys a chance just like to give yourself a chance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-_qN1uR7pU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN1XouJPhbo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGmdJJKBxDw