This is an in-depth subject analyzing contemporary, popular films from Japan, Hong Kong, and greater China. In recent years films from this region have enjoyed international acclaim, not only from festivals and critics, but also a warm embrace worldwide. These films, along with those of S.Korea, have also spawned a number of Hollywood remakes. This course does not approach these as ¡§national cinemas¡¨, but as intertextual fields of great range and power. We will consider these films in light of their economic, industrials, technological, historical and international impact, leading to reflections on media popularity: its structure, functions and processes. An operating premise of the course is that global film industries are rapidly consolidating, and while popular East Asian films remain distinctive, they do so in a marketplace of rising expectations, in storytelling, technical polish, and sophisticated promotion. While we take into account culturally special features, we will emphasize the ways these films engage with international frameworks of entertainment, and how these frameworks are changing. By the end of the course, you should be able to:
1) identify key features of East Asian popular films;
2) reflect clearly on these in relation to film industries and in conjunction with mainstream entertainment in the West;
3) show evidence of original thinking in framing questions of popularity in any medium (method of approach).