Chinese Film

Chinese cinema has existed in a number of different incarnations since China was first exposed to the art of cinematography in 1896. Movies, referred to as 'Western Peep Shows," were originally a distinctly alien medium. Most early films were foreign, and those that were shot in China were often produced by foreign companies and based on Western works of literature. The idea that film was strictly an imported art form began to fade as a domestic film industry flourished in Shanghai during the 1920-40s under what is now referred to as the "first generation" of filmmakers. Though most reels dealt with typical gangster intrigues and romanees that satiated a growing middle-class appetite, a few artsy pieces such as Tianya Ernu, a classic Chinese film noir, were produced.

The role of film as entertainment was marginalized by political demands in the 1950s as the CCP realized the possibilities for indoctrinating political consciousness through film. The desire to use cinema as a medium for political education led to the production of a great number of nationalist-socialist films, whose repetitive plot lines always included zealous heroes, class struggle, and the triumph of progressive protagonists over reactionary forces. The Chinese government banned all foreign films except those made in the Soviet Union, which, the CCP felt, were suitable specimens of "socialist realism." The onset of the Cultural Revolution in 1966 unleashed a torrent of revolutionary fervor, and the Gang of Four's command over all things cultural only strengthened this cinematic commitment to nationalist-socialist films and solidify the explicitly political function of art.

The end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 and Deng Xiaoping's rise to power brought about a new atmosphere of liberalism, which breathed new life into China's stagnant film industry. A gaggle of gifted directors, commonly referred to as the "Fifth Generation" of filmmakers, ushered in the "new wave" of Chinese ciiiema. Members of this group were interested in relating their films to modernism and internationalism. In doing so, they brought Chinese films into the world spotlight. But although Fifth Generation directors like Chen Kaige (Yellow Earth, Farewell My Concubine) and Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern, Shanghai Triad) were the darlings of flirn festivals around the world, they had to contend with myriad difficulties at home, in the form of hostile government officials who disapprove of their depictions of Chinese society and unreceptive local audiences.

Even more recently, a new flock of fllmmakers, known informally as the "Sixth Generation," has begun to take on new subject matter and styles. In contrast to the sumptuous historical settings of Fifth Generation films, Sixth Generation works are set in present-day China and filmed in a stark realist style. The bleak yet sympathetic lens through which these films view urban China may herald a new direction for the future of Chinese filmmaking. Most of these films have neither made much of an impact in the West nor been well-received in China, and getting a hold of them can be very difficult. Directors to look out for include Wang Xiaoshuai (The Days, Frozen) and He Ji.*un (The Postman, Red Beads).