Tradition, Culture and Aesthetics in Contemporary Asian Cinema

167 Pages·2013·1.91 MB·English

by  Peter C. Pugsley

Tradition, Culture and Aesthetics
in Contemporary Asian Cinema
Peter C. Pugsley
TradiTion, CulTure and
aesTheTiCs in ConTemporary
asian Cinema
Dedicated to Bob and Beth Pugsley
Tradition, Culture and
Aesthetics in Contemporary
Asian Cinema
peTer C. pugsley
University of Adelaide, Australia
© peter C. pugsley 2013
all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
peter C. pugsley has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, designs and patents act, 1988,
to be identified as the author of this work.
published by
ashgate publishing limited ashgate publishing Company
Wey Court east suite 420
union road 101 Cherry street
Farnham Burlington
surrey, gu9 7pT VT 05401-4405
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
pugsley, peter C.
Tradition, culture and aesthetics in contemporary asian cinema.
1. motion pictures – asia – history. 2. motion pictures – asia – distribution.
3. national characteristics in motion pictures.
i. Title
791.4’3’095–dc23

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
pugsley, peter C.
Tradition, culture and aesthetics in contemporary asian cinema / by peter C. pugsley.
pages cm
includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-5313-0 (hardback)—ISBN 978-1-4094-5314-7 (ebook)—
ISBN 978-1-4724-0454-1 (epub) 1. Motion pictures—Asia. 2. Motion pictures—Aesthetics—
asia. 3. Culture in motion pictures. i. Title.
pn1993.5.a75p84 2013
791.43’095—dc23
2012040433
ISBN 9781409453130 (hbk)
ISBN 9781409453147 (ebk – PDF)
ISBN 9781472404541 (ebk – ePUB)
V
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
1 An Asian Aesthetic 11
2 Orientalism and Tradition on Screen 31
3 Of Auteurs and Aesthetes 63
4 The Emerging Consciousness of Asia 77
5 Beyond Asia: The International Film Festival 107
Conclusion 127
Bibliography 129
Films Cited 139
Index 145
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Acknowledgements
For several years now I have been fortunate enough to teach a number of
undergraduate courses on Asian cinema. During this time I have watched, read
about and discussed many hundreds of hours of Asian films with students,
friends and colleagues. When the opportunity arose to conduct a long-term
research project, I had no hesitation in choosing my topic. The writing of this
book would not have been possible without the support of the Faculty of
Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Adelaide. Their awarding to
me of SSP study leave and funding in 2011 allowed me to focus my concentration
on this project. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Professor
James Farrer at the Institute of Comparative Culture at Sophia University in
Tokyo, where I was able to take up a short-term visiting fellowship in 2011. My
colleagues, past and present, including Ramiswami Harindranath, Sean Cubitt,
Simon Cottle, Andrew Loo Hong Chuang, Audrey Yue, Brian Morris, Kelly
Farrell, Brigid Magner, Mike Wilmore, Ben McCann and Dhamu Pongiyannan
have all offered encouragement and helped to guide me along the path. Thanks
also to Claire Jarvis and Sarah Charters at Ashgate for their supportive editorial
advice.
Most of all, I could not have achieved the writing of this book without the
support of my family over the years. I entered into academia at a later stage than
many, and have only ever received positive affirmation from my parents (Bob
and Beth) and my siblings Jan, Lynda, Andrew and Sue (and their respective
partners!). Finally, and most especially, my heartfelt thanks and appreciation
to my darling wife Mandy and my girls, Charlie and Louisa. Perhaps now I can
come out of the study!
Extensive efforts were made to identify all copyright holders of the images
in this book, however it was not always possible to locate them. Any omissions
or corrections brought to our attention will be remedied in any future editions
of this book.
This page has been left blank intentionally
Introduction
Tradition, Culture and Aesthetics in Contemporary Asian Cinema focuses on cinematic
output from the Asian region – increasingly a force in global media production
and in the exchange of cultural understanding. Two key themes will be discussed
throughout this book. The first is a working toward a conception of an Asian
aesthetic in films from and about Asia – a recognisable visual and aural assembly
of culturally-loaded images that appear on screen. The second is, perhaps, a
more hotly debated topic – that of Asia as ‘the Orient’. Although there are
many who decry the Orientalism debate as dead and buried, revisiting some of
the central tenets of the various discourses surrounding it serves as a valuable
device for unearthing why and how ‘Asian cinema’ still stands apart from its
Western counterparts. The book’s central approach is through a text-based
analysis of contemporary Asian films, although the impact of Asian media in
the global marketplace is also taken into consideration. My search is for those
images and motifs that lead us toward an understanding of how identities are
constructed and how ultimately, in what is being cited as ‘the Asian Century’, we
see ourselves and others. Through the medium of cinema (often more global in
its reach than television) identities are articulated utilising ready-to-hand images
and myths which, combined, create a recognisable aesthetic of Asianness, and
an ontological site for the maintenance of social and cultural identities.
In this book I ask readers to consider how Asian cinema’s aesthetic
construction may affect its popularity in different countries and / or cultures
at different times. In other words, I explore the spatial and temporal influences
within films from Asia including themes of localisation, nationalisation and
globalisation and how these are situated in the context of popular cinema as a
global phenomenon. Therefore, it is hoped that through this book readers can
acquaint themselves with a variety of Asian cinematic texts from diverse cultures
(and nations) – as well as from a range of genres (such as action, comedy, and
drama). It introduces readers to the growing body of academic literature that
focuses on the success of Asian film, and reflects upon possible influences of
the West on Asia and increasingly of Asia on the West. Through looking at key
filmmakers (a select body of contemporary auteurs) I illustrate how individual
filmmakers produce works that maintain a particular aesthetic and continue an
Asian presence on global cinema screens.
It is hoped that the ensuing chapters will enable readers to develop an
understanding of film and cultural production throughout the Asian region,
increasingly important in the region’s desires to resist the hegemonic invasion of