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East Asian cinema

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East Asian cinema
East Asian cinema is a term used to refer to the film industry and films produced in, and/or by natives of, East Asia. It can be seen as a sub-section of Asian cinema, which in turn is a sub-section of World cinema, a cover-all term used to describe any foreign language films.

The term East Asian cinema particularly refers to the large and well established film industries of China, Hong Kong and Japan, and the growing industries in Taiwan, North Korea and South Korea. By definition the term also includes any film production within all countries in this region including Mongolia, Vietnam and Macau.

The terms Far Eastern cinema, Asian cinema, Eastern cinema or Oriental cinema are sometimes used synonymously with East Asian cinema, particularly in the United States, although these are something of a misnomer, as their even broader scope means they could equally apply to the movies produced throughout other parts of the continent, particularly the cinema of India including the enormous Bollywood film industry.

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[edit] Styles and genres

The scope of East Asian cinema is huge and takes in a wide array of different film styles and genres. East Asian cinema is particularly famous in the West for:

[edit] 1950s

East Asian cinema has - to widely varying degrees nationally - had some degree of a global audience since at least the 1950s. At the beginning of the decade, Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon and Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu both captured prizes at the Venice Film Festival and elsewhere, with Teinosuke Kinugasa's Gate of Hell and the first part of Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy winning Oscars by mid-decade. Kurosawa's Seven Samurai became a global success; Japanese cinema had burst into international consciousness.

By the end of the decade, several critics associated with French journal Cahiers du Cinema were publishing some of the first Western studies on Japanese film; many of those critics went on to become founding members of the French nouvelle vague, which began simultaneous to the Japanese new wave.

[edit] 1960s and 1970s

However, by the late 60s and early 70s, Japanese cinema had begun to become seriously affected by the collapse of the studio system. As Japanese cinema slipped into a period of relative low visibility, the cinema of Hong Kong entered a dramatic renaissance of its own, largely a side effect of the development of the wuxia blending of action, history, and spiritual concerns.

Several major figures emerged in Hong Kong at this time - perhaps most famously, King Hu, whose 1966 Come Drink With Me was a key influence upon many subsequent Hong Kong cinematic developments. Shortly thereafter, the American-born Bruce Lee became a global icon.

[edit] 1980s to the present

During the 1980s, Japanese cinema - aided by the rise of independent filmmaking and the spectacular success of anime - began to make something of an international comeback. Simultaneously, a new post-Mao generation of Chinese filmmakers began to gain global attention. Another group of filmmakers, centered around Edward Yang and Hou Hsiao-hsien launched what has become known as the Taiwanese New Wave.

With the post-1980 rise in popularity of East Asian cinema in the West, Western audiences are again becoming familiar with many of the industry's film-makers and stars. A number of these key players have "crossed over", working in Western films. Others have gained exposure through the international success of their films, though many more retain more of a "cult" appeal, finding a degree of Western success through DVD sales rather than cinema releases.

[edit] Influence and Impact

As the popularity of East Asian films has endured, it's unsurprising that members of the Western film industry would cite the influence of their counterparts, citing them as influences (notably George Lucas, Robert Altman and Martin Scorsese citing Akira Kurosawa; and Jim Jarmusch and Paul Schrader's similar mentions of Yasujiro Ozu), and - on occasion - working to introduce less well-known filmmakers to Western audiences (such as the growing number of Eastern films released with the endorsement "Quentin Tarantino Presents").

[edit] Remakes: East and West

Furthermore, many Eastern films have been remade in Hollywood, which, though it may be considered cashing-in on the original films, or watering them down for a Western audience, is also a tradition of its' own - extending at least as far back as Preston Sturges' 1960 Magnificent Seven (Seven Samurai), and continuing through present day remakes of horror films like Ringu. It could be argued that remakes, especially when well-done - serve to engender interest in the originals.

It should be noted that any number of East Asian films have also been based upon Western source material - material as varied as the quickie Hong Kong remakes of Hollywood hits and Kurosawa's adaptations of Shakespeare (The Bad Sleep Well, Throne Of Blood, Ran), Maxim Gorky (Lower Depths) and Ed McBain (High and Low).

[edit] Prominent and Well-Known Figures

Some of the better known figures of East Asian cinema include:

[edit] Directors

[edit] China

[edit] Hong Kong

[edit] Japan

[edit] South Korea

[edit] Taiwan

[edit] Actors

[edit] See also

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