Building a New China in Cinema: The Chinese Left-Wing Cinema Movement, 1932-1937

(Paperback)

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Description

Building a New China in Cinema introduces English readers for the first time to one of the most exciting left-wing cinema traditions in the world. This unique book explores the history, ideology, and aesthetics of China's left-wing cinema movement, a quixotic film culture that was as political as commercial, as militant as sensationalist. Drawing on detailed archival research, Pang demonstrates that this cinema movement was a product of the era's social, economic, and political discourses. The author offers a close analysis of many rarely seen films, richly illustrated with over eighty stills collected from the Beijing Film Archive. With its original conceptual approach and rich use of primary sources, this book will be of interest not only to scholars and fans of Chinese cinema but to those who study the relationship between cinema and modernity. Visit our website for sample chapters!

Reviews

Pang provides invaluable information for both Asian film scholars and those interested in modern Chinese history. Highly recommended. * Choice Reviews *
This book makes a significant contribution to the growing literature on pre-1949 Chinese film. The book is well-researched and informative. -- Zhiwei Xiao * China Quarterly *
As the first concentrated study of Shanghai leftist cinema in English, this book is of great interest to scholars and students of Chinese cinema, Republican cultural history, and leftist cinema in general. * Journal of Asian Studies *
Pang writes in a careful and nuanced way . . . beneath her modest tone lies originality that significantly redraws our picture of this important film movement. -- Chris Berry, Kings College London * Screen *
This author should be applauded for solid archival work and for bringing forth this well-researched, illustrated, and documented volume. -- Yiman Wang, Haverford College
A stimulating and engaging book with many valuable historical insights. There is no other book that I have seen that engages in such depth with this period of film-making in China. -- Stephanie Hemelryk Donald, Professor of Film, Lincoln University and Honorary Professor, UNSW
[Pang's] informative readings of a variety of progressive films and her analysis of the history surrounding the founding of this movement certainly deserve our attention. * Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews *

Author Bio

Laikwan Pang is lecturer at the General Education Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.