The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Subject Description Form
Subject Code
CC2C12P
Subject Title
Chinese Film and Society 中國電影與社會
Cluster Area
GUR Requirements
Intended to Fulfil
History, Culture and World Views
China Study Credit Value
3
Level
2
Pre-requisite /
Co-requisite/
Exclusion
Exclusion subjects for CC2C12: CC2C12P, CC225 and CC309
Instructor
Medium of
Instruction
Objectives
Intended Learning
Outcomes
Exclusion subjects for CC2C12P: CC2C12, CC225 and CC309
Putonghua
This subject is about film and history at the same time. It will lead
students through the development of Chinese film industry from the
1920s to the present time, in the process of which they will gain an
understanding of the nature of cinematic art as well as the changes in the
Chinese society captured in representative films produced in Mainland
China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The films of these three regions exhibit
a development trajectory of their own. In putting them in juxtaposition,
students will appreciate the interactions of the film industry of these
regions and the influences they are increasingly exerting on the
international level.
Upon completion of the subject, students will be able to:
a) know the course of the development of Chinese films and the
setbacks they encountered;
b) comprehend the close relationship between Chinese films and
contemporary history and society;
c) discourse on the uniqueness of Chinese films;
d) discuss the contribution of Chinese film to world cinema
Subject Synopsis/
Indicative Syllabus
1) Overview of Chinese film history
2) The audacious and liberal thirties
3) Lone Island: films of occupied Shanghai
4) Confusion in the post-war years
5) The fifties: new horizon
6) The suffocated film world during the Cultural Revolution
7) Breakthroughs in the eighties
8) In search of a new voice in the nineties
9) The loud new millennium
10) Development in Hong Kong and Taiwan
11) International repercussions
Teaching/Learning
Methodology
Assessment Methods
in Alignment with
Intended Learning
Outcomes
The subject puts high emphasis on the examination of the artistic
language of individual film in order to explore the pulse of the times
when the film is produced. Students are therefore required to watch the
films (all with English subtitles) assigned before the lectures in order to
participate in the discussion with the teacher. Students are also required
to watch current Chinese films and then write short reviews on them.
Students will learn how to collect source materials and to do research that
will result in the writing of academic reports under the guidance of the
teacher.
Specific assessment
methods/tasks
%
weighting
Intended subject learning
outcomes to be assessed (Please
tick as appropriate)
a
1.Short reviews
15%
3.Final paper
30%
4. Participation
15%
5. Mid-term quiz
20%
6. Oral Presentation
20%
Total
Student Study
Effort Expected

b
c




d






100 %
Class contact:

lecture
26 Hrs.

tutorial
13 Hrs.
Other student study effort:

writing
20 Hrs.

reading
20 Hrs.

film viewing
20 Hrs.
Total student study effort
Reading List and
References
99 Hrs.
Films:
1. 孫瑜：《大路》（1934）
2. 袁牧之：《馬路天使》（1937）
3. 李萍倩：《少奶奶的扇子》（1939）
4. 桑弧：《太太萬歲》（1947）
5. 費穆：《小城之春》（1948）
6. 鄭君里：《烏鴉與麻雀》（1949）
7. 蘇里：《劉三姐》（1960）
8. 謝晉：《舞台姐妹》（1965）
9. 李文化：《決裂》（1975）
10. 顏學恕：《野山》（1985）
11. 李少紅：《血色清晨》（1990）
12. 田壯壯：《藍風箏》（1993）
13. 姜文：《陽光燦爛的日子》（1994）
14. 賈樟柯：《小武》（1997）
15. 婁燁：《蘇州河》（2000）
16. 寧浩：《瘋狂的石頭》（2006）
17. 侯孝賢：《悲情城市》（1989）
18. 杜奇峰：《大事件》（2004）
19. 楊德昌：《一一》（1999）
20. 胡金銓：《山中傳奇》（1979）
21. 陳國富：《非誠勿擾》（2009）
22. 許鞍華：《千言萬語》（1999）
Books:
1. 倪震：《北京電影學院故事：第五代電影前史》。北京：作
家出版社，2002。
2. 梅冰、朱靖江：《中國獨立紀片檔案》。陝西師範大學出版
社，2004。
3. 張建勇等：《當代中國電影》（上、下）。中國社會科學出
版社，1989。
4. 楊遠嬰、潘樺、張專編：《90 年代的第五代》。北京：北京
廣播學院出版社，2000。
5. 歐陽江河：《中國獨立電影訪談錄》。香港：牛津出版社，
2007。
6. Berry, Chris. Perspectives on Chinese cinema. British Film
Institute, 1991.
7. Clark, Paul. Chinese cinema – Culture politics since 1949.
Cambridge University Press, 1987.