Description
In the United States, the exceptional emotional charge that imbues images of China has tended to swing violently from positive to negative and back again: China has been loved and- as is generally the case today-feared. Using film to trace these dramatic fluctuations, Naomi Greene relates them to the larger arc of historical and political change. She finds that American ethno-centrism is related both to an ever-present sense of American exceptionalism and to a Manichean world view that perceives other countries as friends or enemies.
Greene analyzes a series of influential films, including classics like Shanghai Express (1932), The Good Earth (1936), and Shanghai Gesture (1941); important cold war films such as The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and The Sand Pebbles (1966); and a range of contemporary films, including The Wedding Banquet (1993), Kundun (1997), Mulan (1998), and Shanghai Noon (2000). Her consideration makes clear that while many stereotypes and racist images of the past have been largely banished from the screen, the political, cultural, and social impulses they embodied are still alive and well.
About the Author
Naomi Greene is professor emeritus of French and film studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.
Book Information
ISBN 9780824838355
Author Naomi Greene
Format Hardback
Page Count 288
Imprint University of Hawai'i Press
Publisher University of Hawai'i Press
Weight(grams) 456g