World on Film: An Introduction

This uniquely engaging and lively textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to international film, from the golden age of European cinema to the contemporary blockbusters of India and Asia , and the post–World War II emergence of global film culture. Providing students with basic background information on the home cultures and auteurs of world cinema, this engrossing text allows them to appreciate the significance of each film on its own terms. In each chapter, World on Film highlights the intersections between students′ previous experiences with Hollywood and other mainstream film, and their new encounters with films from other cultures. Through in–depth discussions of individual films, and explanations of how these fit within the specific filmic and cultural history, Nochimson introduces sophisticated theories and concepts in clear and straightforward language. Including chapter summaries, key terms, discussion questions, suggestions for further reading, and illustrated with provocative film stills throughout, this comprehensive introduction demonstrates that cinema from other cultures and in other languages isn’t so foreign after all.

Acknowledgments ix How to Use This Book x Part I Nations Make Movies 1 Introduction: Other Languages, Other Stories 2 The Point, So Far 11 Talking about International Film 11 National Film Cultures 14 Questions in the Chapters 18 Summary 19 For Further Thought 21 Projects 21 Further Reading 22 1 France: French Revolutions at the Movies 23 The Movies Are Born in France 28 Case Study: Jean Renoir 31 Renoir’s Peers and the Golden Age of French Cinema 38 For Further Thought 44 Projects 44 The Fourth and Fifth Republics and the Prologue to the New Wave 45 The New Wave 49 Case Study: Jean–Luc Godard 51 Beyond the New Wave 62 For Further Thought: Dogme 95 68 Mini Research Mission 68 Projects 69 Further Reading 69 2 Russia: Utopia and Dystopia 71 The Russian Revolution and the Golden Age of Soviet Cinema 76 Stalinism and the Ebb and Resurgence of Soviet Cinema 89 For Further Thought 91 Projects 92 New Freedoms 93 Case Study: Andrei Tarkovsky 93 Post–Soviet Cinema 101 Mini Research Mission 106 For Further Thought 106 Projects 106 Further Reading 107 3 Germany: From Darkness toward Light 108 Early History 113 For Further Thought 123 Projects 124 Nazi Cinema and Beyond 124 Case Study: Werner Herzog 136 New German Cinema and the International Community 142 Mini Research Mission 143 For Further Thought: East German Cinema 143 Projects 148 Further Reading 149 4 Italy: The Myth of History, Neorealism, and Beyond 150 Italian Cinema and the Risorgimento 154 The Evolution of Neorealism 158 For Further Thought 173 Projects 174 Case Study: Federico Fellini 174 Debating Italian Postwar Recovery 182 Mini Research Mission 193 For Further Thought 193 Projects 194 Further Reading 194 5 Japan: Screening Feudalism and Modernism 195 Early Film in Japan 198 Meiji Era and Taishd Era Japanese Cinema (1896–1926) 202 Film During the Shdwa Era 205 Case Study: Akira Kurosawa 214 For Further Thought 224 Projects 224 The New Wave and Beyond 225 Mini Research Mission 234 For Further Thought 234 Projects 235 Further Reading 236 6 India: Cinema of Combination and Contradiction 237 Film in Colonial India 243 Early Postcolonial Indian Film 247 For Further Thought 256 Projects 257 Bollywood Takes Charge 258 Case Study: Amitabh Bachchan 259 Bollywood and Parallel Cinema 270 Mini Research Mission 275 For Further Thought 276 Projects 277 Further Reading 278 Part II Movie Making in the Global Village 279 Introduction: They Do It Their Way 280 When Is a Film Foreign? 280 Reading Movies in the Global Village 287 Culture under a Microscope: A Modern Muddle or a 288 New Mirror? Mini Research Mission 289 For Further Thought 290 Projects 290 Further Reading 291 7 Spain: Luis Buñuel, Playing with Ideas 292 The Arc of Buñuel′s Career 298 Conclusion 306 Mini Research Mission 306 For Further Thought 307 Projects 308 Further Reading 309 8 Sweden: Ingmar Bergman, Being and Nothingness 310 The Arc of Bergman′s Career 315 Conclusion 326 Mini Research Mission 327 For Further Thought 327 Projects 329 Further Reading 330 9 Hong Kong: Wong Kar–wai, Now You See It . . . 331 The Arc of Wong’s Career 338 Conclusion 349 Mini Research Mission 350 For Further Thought 351 Projects 352 Further Reading 353 10 Senegal: Ousmane Sembene, Postcolonial Pioneer 354 The Arc of Sembene′s Career 359 Conclusion 374 Mini Research Mission 374 For Further Thought 375 Projects 376 Further Reading 377 11 Mainland China: Jia Zhangke, Freedom and the Sixth Generation 378 The Arc of Jia′s Career 385 Conclusion 399 Mini Research Mission 399 For Further Thought 400 Projects 401 Further Reading 401 Glossary 402 Index 418

Martha P. Nochimson  has taught in the Department of Film and Television at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and at Mercy College, where she developed and chaired a program in Film Studies, and she is the author of four other books, including her internationally acclaimed studies  The Passion of David Lynch: Wild at Heart   in Hollywood  (1997);  Dying to Belong: Gangster Movies in Hollywood and Hong Kong  (Wiley–Blackwell, 2007);  No End to Her: Soap Opera and the Female Subject;  and  Screen Couple   Chemistry: The Power of 2.  Dr. Nochimson has been invited to appear on television in her capacity as a film and media critic in the United States, Canada, and France, and she has covered international film festivals in New York, Montreal, and Istanbul for over a decade. Her numerous articles about world film and interviews of major directors have appeared in  Cineaste,   Film Quarterly , and  The New Review of Film and Television Studies . Further information is available at her website  www.marthapnochimson.com .