| Hours: | Mondays and / or Tuesdays, 2:00 - 3:50 (screenings; exact duration depends on length of film), AND | |
| Wednesdays 2:00 - 3:45 (lecture and quiz) , AND | ||
| Thursdays 2:00 - 3:20 (lecture) AND | ||
| Fridays 1:30 - 2:20 OR 2:30 - 3:30 (TA sections) |
Classroom:
|
| Students are encouraged to let the instructors
and TAs know in advance that they intend to meet during office hours. |
Policies and Procedures
| Weekly quizzes | 8 x 7.5 = | 60 |
| Review quiz | 25 | |
| Section participation | 15 |
|
- The course adheres to
UW’s
rules on plagiarism. Any form of cheating will be reported to the
Provost's office. |
|
| Assigned
texts and movies |
|
Required texts |
|
At the University Bookstore (and on 4-hour reserve): Gianetti, Leon Hunt, Kung Fu Cult Masters On e-reserve: Law Kar, "The Origin and Development of Shaws' Colour Wuxia Century" Neale, Steve. "Questions of Genre" |
|
| Films, on reserve at the Odegaard Media Center: | |
| Wei Lo, The
Chinese Connection |
|
|
|
| WEEK 1 |
| Monday, 3/28 | Introduction: what is genre?; genre and subgenre in martial arts films; course outline; closely reading a film sequence; course requirements |
| Tuesday, 3/29 | 
|
Wei Lo, The
Chinese Connection (1972, 110
mins.)
 POINTS TO WATCH FOR |
  |
| Wednesday, 3/30 | Shooting technique; Bruce Lee's career; choreographing a fight sequence; reading the film's last sequence |
| Read for today: Bordwell, Chapter 2B ("Two Dragons"); Gianetti, Chapter 1 (Photography) |
| Thursday, 3/31 | Chinese Martial arts: historical background; from martial arts fiction to martial arts films; nationalism in The Chinese Connection and Fist of Legend |
Read for today: Bordwell, Chapter 3 ("The Chinese Connections") Liu Damu, "From Chivalric Fiction to Martial Arts Film" (on e-reserve) |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE |
| WEEK 2 |
| Monday, 4/4 |
|
Akira Kurosawa, The
Seven Samurai (1954, 206
mins.) I |
 |
| Tuesday, 4/5 |
|
Akira Kurosawa, The Seven Samurai II |
| Wednesday, 4/6 | Samurai: a historical background; the martial ethics of Bushido; samurai films |
Read for today: Silver, The Samurai Film, Chapters One ("General Introduction," 13-32) and Two ("The Samurai in Fiction," 33-42) (on e-reserve) |
| FIRST QUIZ ADMINISTERED (covering all materials introduced on 3/28 - 4/1) | |
| Thursday, 4/7 | NO CLASS MEETING. NOTE: LECTURE ON MONDAY, 4/11 |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE |
| WEEK 3 |
| Monday, 4/11 | The film director as an auteur; Kurosawa’s appproach to samurai film; mise-en-scene |
| Read for today: Mellen, Seven Samurai, 31-58 (on e-reserve) ; Gianetti, Chapter 2 (Mise-en-scène). |
| Tuesday, 4/12 |
|
Liu Jialiang, The
36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978, 111
mins.) |
 |
| Wednesday, 4/13 | A history of Shaolin temple; Basic concepts in
film genre; Shaolin films as a genre |
| Read for today: Neale, "Questions of Genre" (on e-reserve); Hunt, Chapter 2 ("Burning Paradise") |
| SECOND QUIZ ADMINISTERED (covering all materials introduced on 4/4 - 4/11 ) |
| Thursday, 4/14 | The Hong Kong studio system and Shaw Brothers; key themes: masculinity and revenge |
Read for today: Law Kar, "The Origin and Development of Shaws' Colour Wuxia Century" (on e-reserve) |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE |
| WEEK 4 |
| Monday, 4/18 |
|
King Hu, Touch
of Zen (1969, 200
mins.) I |
 |
| Tuesday, 4/19 |
|
King Hu, Touch
of Zen II |
| Wednesday, 4/20 | Pu Songling’s Stories
of the Strange;
kung fu and swordplay; King
Hu |
| Read for today: Bordwell,
Chapter 8B ("Three Martial Masters"); Hunt, Chapter 5 ("The Lady is the Boss") |
| THIRD QUIZ ADMINISTERED (covering all materials introduced on 4/12 - 4/15) | |
| Thursday, 4/21 | women warriors; movement in the frame and the moving frame; watching with our bodies |
Read for today: Gianetti, Chapter 3 (Movement). |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE |
| WEEK 5 |
| Monday, 4/25 | NO CLASS MEETING |
| Tuesday, 4/26 |
|
Ching Siu-tung, Chinese
Ghost Story (1987, 98 mins.) |
 |
| Wednesday, 4/27 | Demonology and cosmology; earlier
adaptations; editing |
| Read for today: Gianetti, Chapter 4 (Editing). |
| FOURTH QUIZ ADMINISTERED (covering all materials introduced on 4/18 - 4/22) | |
| Thursday, 4/28 | Special
effects; Tsui Hark and the Hong Kong New Wave |
Read for today: Bordwell, Chapters 6 ("Formula, Form and Norm") and 7 ("Plots, Slack and Stretched") |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE | |
| WEEK 6 |
| Monday, 5/2 | NO CLASS MEETING |
| Tuesday, 5/3 |
|
Takeshi Kitano, Zatoichi
(2003, 116 mins.)
|
 |
| Wednesday, 5/4 | Sound; Samurai
film after Kurosawa |
| Read for today: |
| FIFTH QUIZ ADMINISTERED (covering all materials introduced on 4/26 - 4/29) | |
| Thursday, 5/5 | The Zatoichi subgenre; Takeshi Kitano; blindness and insight; the ethics of violence |
Read for today: Silver, The Samurai Film, Chapter Five (“The Alien Hero,” 76-107) (on e-reserve) |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE |
| WEEK 7 |
| Monday, 5/9 | NO CLASS MEETING |
| Tuesday, 5/10 |
|
Wong Kar Wai, Ashes
of Time (1994, 100 mins.) |
 |
| Wednesday, 5/11 | reappropriated memories;
Jin Yong; film outline;
cinematic plots |
| Read for today: Dissanayake, Wong Kar-Wai's Ashes of Time, "Narrative Structure"; "Style"; "Fragmentation" (on e-reserve) |
| SIXTH QUIZ ADMINISTERED (covering all materials introduced on 5/3 - 5/6) | |
| Thursday, 5/12 |
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 |
Read for today: Gianetti, Chapter 8 (Story); Rayns, "The Sword as Obstacle" (on e-reserve) |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE | |
| WEEK 8 |
| Monday, 5/16 | NO CLASS MEETING |
| Tuesday, 5/17 |
|
Zhang Yimou, Hero
(2001, 118 mins.) |
 |
| Wednesday, 5/18 | Records of the Historian; Chinese state ideology; earlier cinematic versions; nationalistic interpretations of Hero |
Read for today: Gianetti, Chapter 6 (Acting). |
| SEVENTH QUIZ ADMINISTERED (covering all materials introduced on 5/10 - 5/13) |
| Thursday, 5/19 | Zhang Yimou, structure and acting; the international careers of Zhang Yimou and Ang Lee |
Read for today: Hunt, Chapter 6 ("Last Hero in China?") |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE |
| WEEK 9 |
| Monday, 5/23 | NO CLASS MEETING | ||
| Tuesday, 5/24 |
|
Brothers Wachowski, Matrix
(1999, 136
mins.) |
 |
| Wednesday, 5/25 | Have martial arts been bastardized?: tradition and innovation; martial arts in the digital age; martial arts in Hollywood; Quentin Tarantino |
Read for today: Bordwell, Chapter 4A ("Once Upon a Time in the West") |
| EIGHTH QUIZ ADMINISTERED (covering all materials introduced on 5/17 - 5/20) | |
| GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING FOR THE REVIEW QUIZ | |
| Thursday, 5/26 |
Sci-fi and the critique of modernity; sci-fi and martial arts; animation; Hollywood as a global empire; Orientalism in Hollywood |
Read for today: Gianetti, Chapter 10 (Ideology) |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURES OUTLINE, CLICK HERE | |
| WEEK 10 |
| Monday, 5/30 | NO CLASS MEETING |
Tuesday, 5/31 |
|
Steven Chou, Shaolin
Soccer (2001, 102
mins.) |
 |
| Wednesday, 6/1 | Comedy and parody and genre; masters of comedy: Jackie Chan and Steven Chow; martial arts in a commercial world |
Read for today: Hunt, Chapter 4 ("Fat Dragons and Drunken Maters: Kung Fu Comedy") |
| FOR THIS WEEK'S LECTURE OUTLINE, CLICK HERE | |
| Wednesday, 6/1, 3:00-4:30 | OPTIONAL REVIEW SECTION WITH CHRIS AND YOMI |
| Thursday, 6/2 | REVIEW QUIZ ADMINISTERED (covering all materials introduced through the entire course; includes a section devoted to materials introduced on 5/24 - 6/1) |
| Friday, 6/3 |
NO MEETING |