An Amorous History of the Silver Screen : Shanghai Cinema, 1896-1937 (Cinema and Modernity Series)

An Amorous History of the Silver Screen : Shanghai Cinema, 1896-1937 (Cinema and Modernity Series)

Editorial Reviews
Review
Chris Berry :

"An Amorous History of the Silver Screen will be an instant classic. This lively yet rigorous work of original scholarship reconfigures the field of Chinese silent cinema. It constitutes an exciting new work at the cutting edge of the emergent transnational field of Chinese cinema studies."-Chris Berry, editor of Chinese Films in Focus

David Wang :

"Splendid. This is a rich and comprehensive review of the early Chinese movie industry, most eloquently written by a scholar whose amorous attachment to the silver screen is just as deep as her academic commitment. It will become a primary source for anyone in the English-speaking world interested in Chinese cinematic history."--David Wang, Harvard University

Book Description
Shanghai in the early twentieth century was alive with art and culture. With the proliferation of popular genres such as the martial arts film, the contest among various modernist filmmakers, and the advent of sound, Chinese cinema was transforming urban life. But with the Japanese invasion in 1937, all of this came to a screeching halt. Until recently, the political establishment has discouraged comprehensive studies of the cultural phenomenon of early Chinese film, and this momentous chapter in China's history has remained largely unexamined.

The first sustained historical study of the emergence of cinema in China, An Amorous History of the Silver Screen is a fascinating narrative that illustrates the immense cultural significance of film and its power as a vehicle for social change. Named after a major feature film on the making of Chinese cinema, only part of which survives, An Amorous History of the Silver Screen reveals the intricacies of this cultural movement and explores its connections to other art forms such as photography, architecture, drama, and literature. In light of original archival research, Zhang Zhen examines previously unstudied films and expands the important discussion of how they modeled modern social structures and gender roles in early twentieth-century China.

The first volume in the new and groundbreaking series Cinema and Modernity, An Amorous History of the Silver Screen is an innovative—and well illustrated—look at the cultural history of Chinese modernity through the lens of this seminal moment in Shanghai cinema.

An Amorous History of the Silver Screen : Shanghai Cinema, 1896-1937 (Cinema and Modernity Series),Zhen Zhang,University Of Chicago Press,0226982386,Asia - China,Cinema/Film: Book,Film & Video - General,Film & Video - History & Criticism,Film Criticism,Performing Arts,Pop Arts / Pop Culture,Performing Arts / Film / General

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