| Hours: | MTWTh 12:30 - 2:20. F schedule depends on individual section. But not all the time will be used: | |
| Screenings will take place typically on Mondays and Tuesdays; duration depends on film length. | ||
| Lectures will take place typically on Wednesdays and thursdays and will be no longer than 90 minutes. | ||
| For quiz sections schedule, see below. |
Classroom:
|
| * Students are encouraged to let the instructors and TAs know in advance that they intend to meet during office hours. |
|
|
Grade
weighting: CHANGES TO SCHEDULE OR ASSIGNMENTS MAY BE ANNOUNCED LATER, USING UW EMAIL. PLEASE CHECK YOUR UW EMAIL DAILY! |
|
Excused absences: Participation in
sports events and illness must be documented and explained to your TA
at the earliest possible date. We will inform you how to catch up in
ways to be determined according to the circumstances. Minor reasons
for absence will not excuse failure
to submit assignments (note that two quizzes and two responses may be
missed in any case). - No use of electronics,
such as laptops and phones, is allowed during lectures and quiz sections.
Students who use such devices (unless permitted in advance in
cases of disability) will be asked to
leave the classroom. |
Required text (available at the UW Bookstore) |
| Films, on reserve at the Odegaard Media Center: |
| Jackie Chan,
Drunken Master
|
Class Schedule (SUBJECT
TO CHANGE)*
* CHANGES TO SCHEDULE OR ASSIGNMENTS
MAY BE ANNOUNCED LATER, USING UW EMAIL. PLEASE CHECK YOUR UW EMAIL DAILY!
>> assignment calendar
| WEEK 1 |
| Wednesday, 9/25 | Introduction: what is genre?; what are martial arts? course outline-films and themes; assignments and course requirements |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE |
| Thursday, 9/26 |
 Read for today: |
Jackie
Chan, Drunken
Master (1978,
111 mins.) * |
  |
| Friday, 9/27 | Quiz section: How to succeed in the course; basic terms; no quiz. |
| WEEK 2 |
| Monday, 9/30 | |
Wei Lo, The Chinese Connection (1972, 110 mins.) POSTING #1 DUE |
 |
Tuesday, 10/1 |
|
Gordon Chan, Fist
of Legend (1994, 103 mins.)
* |
 |
| Wednesday, 10/2 | Bruce Lee's career; realism and formalism in martial arts cinematography; nationalism in The Chinese Connection |
| Read for today: P&W, Cinematography (1st edition: 103-133; 2nd edition: 134-163; 3rd edition: 129-71) |
| Thursday, 10/3 | mise-en-scene and symbolism; from martial arts fiction to martial arts films; three different approaches to the same plot |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE |
| Friday, 10/4 |
Quiz section: The shot; cultural biases; essay
#1 introduced; Quiz #1 Images discussed in section |
| WEEK 3 |
| Monday, 10/7 |
Samurai: a historical background;
the martial ethics of Bushido; samurai films Read for today: P&W, Mise en Scene (1st edition: 60-85; 2nd edition: 89-119; 3rd edition: 91-128) POSTING #2 DUE |
| Tuesday,10/8 | The film director as an auteur; Kurosawa’s appproach to samurai film; mise-en-scene |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE |
| Wednesday, 10/9 |
|
Akira Kurosawa, The Seven Samurai (1954, 206 mins.) I |
 |
| Thursday, 10/10 |
|
Akira Kurosawa, The Seven Samurai II |
| Friday, 10/11 | Quiz section: discussion of draft for essay #1; Quiz #2 |
| WEEK 4 |
| Monday, 10/14 |
|
*Liu Jialiang, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978, 111 mins.) POSTING #3 DUE
|
 |
Tuesday, 10/15 |
|
|
 |
| Wednesday, 10/16 | A history of Shaolin temple; Basic concepts in
film genre; Shaolin films as a genre |
| Read for today: P&W, Genre (1st edition: 346-365; 2nd edition: 373-395; 3rd edition: 381-406) |
| Thursday, 10/17 | The Hong Kong studio system and Shaw Brothers; key themes: masculinity and revenge |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE |
| Friday, 10/18 |
Quiz section: genre; Quiz
#3 ESSAY #1 DUE. |
| WEEK 5 |
Monday, 10/21 |
|
King Hu, Touch of Zen (1969, 200 mins.) I POSTING #4 DUE |
 |
| Tuesday, 10/22 |
|
King Hu, Touch
of Zen II |
| Wednesday, 10/23 | Pu Songling’s Stories of the Strange; kung fu and swordplay; King Hu |
| Read for today: P&W, Writing about Film (1st edition: 270-280; 2nd edition: 33-43; 3rd edition: 37-47) |
| Thursday, 10/24 | women warriors; movement in the frame and the moving frame; watching with our bodies |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE |
| Friday, 10/25 | Quiz section: camera movement; Quiz #4 |
| WEEK 6 |
| Monday,
10/28 |
|
Ching Siu-tung, Chinese Ghost Story (1987, 98 mins.) |
 |
Tuesday, 10/29 |
|
Rickly Lau, Mr. Vampire (1985, 96 mins.) *
|
 |
| Wednesday, 10/30 | Demonology and cosmology; earlier
adaptations; editing |
| Read for today: P&W, Editing (1st edition: 162-194; 2nd edition: 191-224; 3rd edition: 191-226) |
| Thursday, 10/31 | Special effects; Tsui Hark and the Hong Kong New Wave |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE | |
| Friday, 11/1 | Quiz section: editing; essay #2 introduced; Quiz #5 |
| WEEK 7 |
| Monday, 11/4 |
|
Wong Kar Wai, Ashes of Time Redux (1994, re-edited 2008, 94 mins.) POSTING #6 DUE
|
 |
| Tuesday, 11/5 |
|
Jeffrey Lau, The Eagle-Shooting Heroes (1993, 100 mins.) *
|
 |
| Wednesday, 11/6 | reappropriated memories; Jin Yong; film outline; cinematic plots |
| Read for today: P&W, Narrative Form (1st edition: 38-51; 2nd edition: 68-83; 3rd edition: 65-90) |
| Read for today: P&W, Narrative Form (1st edition: 38-51; 2nd edition: 68-83; 3rd edition: 65-90) |
| Thursday, 11/7 |
The reception of martial arts films among culturally-informed audiences; Jin Yong on TV and the silver screen; Wong Kar Wai and Hong Kong's culture of disappearance |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE | |
| Friday, 11/8 |
Quiz section: discussion of draft for essay #2; Quiz #6 |
| WEEK 8 |
| Monday, 11/11
|
No class (VETERANS
DAY) |
| Tuesday,
11/12 |
|
Takeshi Kitano, Zatoichi (2003, 116 mins.) |
 |
| Wednesday, 11/13 | Sound; Samurai film after Kurosawa |
| Read for today: |
| Thursday, 11/14 | The Zatoichi subgenre; Takeshi Kitano; blindness and insight; the ethics of violence |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE |
| Friday, 11/15 |
Quiz section: sound; Quiz
#7 essay #2 DUE. |
| WEEK 9 |
| Monday, 11/18 |
|
Zhang Yimou, Hero (2001, 118 mins.) POSTING
#8 DUE |
 |
| Tuesday, 11/19 | |
Zhang Yimou, Hero (2001, 118 mins.) (ending) |
| Wednesday, 11/20 | Records of the Historian; Chinese state ideology; earlier cinematic versions; nationalistic interpretations of Hero |
| Read for today: P&W, Film Authorship (1st edition: 366-375; 2nd edition: 397-407; 3rd edition: 407-428) |
| Thursday, 11/21 | Zhang
Yimou, structure and acting; the
international careers of Zhang Yimou and Ang Lee |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE |
| Friday, 11/22 | Quiz section: nationalism; Quiz #8 |
| WEEK 10 |
|
|
Brothers Wachowski, The Matrix (1999, 136 mins.) I POSTING
#9 DUE |
 |
| Tuesday, 11/26 |
|
Brothers Wachowski, The Matrix (1999, 136 mins.) II |
| Wednesday, 11/27 | Have martial arts been bastardized?: tradition and innovation; martial arts in the digital age; martial arts in Hollywood; Quentin Tarantino |
| Read for today: P&W, Cinema as Industry (1st edition: 383-396; 2nd edition: 416-430; 3rd edition: 429-441) |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE |
| Thursday, 11/28 |
THANKSGIVING - NO CLASS |
| Friday, 11/29 | THANKSGIVING - NO QUIZ SECTION |
| WEEK 11 |
| Monday, 12/2 |
Sci-fi and the critique of modernity; sci-fi and martial arts; animation; Hollywood as a global empire; Orientalism in Hollywood POSTING #10 DUE |
Tuesday, 12/3 |
|
Steven Chou, Kung Fu Hustle (2004, 95 mins.) |
 |
| Wednesday, 12/4 | Comedy and parody and genre; masters of comedy: Jackie Chan and Steven Chow |
| Thursday, 12/5 | Martial arts in a commercial world |
| Read for today: P&W, Special Visual Effects and Digital Cinema and Cinematography (1st edition: 142-152; 2nd edition: 173-183; 3rd edition: 171-182) |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURE OUTLINE, CLICK HERE |
| Friday, 12/6 | FINAL EXAM ADMINISTERED |
| * | asterisked films will not be discussed in detail in class, but will be at the focus of quiz sections and the final project |