NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Cinema of Taiwan

The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China and Cinema of Taiwan. Taiwanese cinema grew up outside of the Hong Kong mainstream and the censorship of the People's Republic of China. Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngw n) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: H nyǔ, Hu yǔ, or Zhōngw n) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. ... The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. ... The terrain of Taiwan is mostly mountainous in the east but gradually changes to gently sloping plains in the west. ...

Taiwanese cinema is deeply rooted in the island's unique and rapidly changing history. Since its introduction to Taiwan in 1901, cinema has developed in Taiwan through several distinct stages. See also History of the Republic of China for a history of the government that currently administers Taiwan. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Taiwanese Cinema: 1901–1970s

From 1901 to 1937, Taiwanese cinema was strongly influenced by the Japanese. This was during the Japanese colonial era, and many conventions in Japanese films were adopted by the Taiwanese filmmakers. For example, the use of a benshi (narrator of silent films), which was a very important component of the film-going experience in Japan, was adopted and renamed benzi by the Taiwanese. This narrator was very different from its equivalent in the Western world. It rapidly evolved into a star system. Actually, people would go to see the very same film dommented by different benshi, to hear the other benshi's interpretation. A romance could become a comedy or a drama, depending on the narrator's style and skills. Lu, a famous actor and benshi in Taiwan wrote the best reference book on Taiwan cinema. 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Benshi (å¼å£« in Japanese) were performers who provided live narration for silent Japanese films. ... Benshi (å¼å£« in Japanese) were performers who provided live narration for silent Japanese films. ... Benshi (å¼å£« in Japanese) were performers who provided live narration for silent Japanese films. ...

The first Taiwanese benshi master was a musician and composer named Wang Yung-feng, who had played on a regular basis for the orchestra at the Fang Nai Ting Theatre in Taipei. He was also the composer of the music for the Chinese film Tao hua qi xue ji (China, Peach girl, 1921) in Shanghai.

Other famous Taiwanese benshi masters were Lu Su-Shang and Zhan Tian-Ma. Lu Su-shang, will not be primarily remembered for his benshi performances, but mainly because he wrote the inestimable History of cinema and drama in Taiwan, the bible of Taiwanese film history. The most famous of all was Zhan Tian-ma, whose story is told in a recent Taiwanese biographical film, March of happiness (Taiwan, 1999, dir: Lin Sheng-shing).

Benshi masters were intellectuals: they spoke Japanese, had often travelled to Japan and/or China, and were poets writing their own libretto for each film. Since 1910, films had been distributed with a script, but these poets of the darkness would rather explore their personal style. Notable films during this period include The Eyes of Buddha (1922) and Whose Fault Is It (1925). 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Then, with the Second Sino-Japanese War came the Japanization era and Taiwan was restricted to playing Japanese repertoire only. Japanese strove to transform the locals into Japanese citizen, giving them Japanese names, a Japanese education, encouraging them to wear Japanese clothes and asking the men to cut their long hair. Hou Hsiao-Hsien's film, "The Puppetmaster" (1993), witnesses vividly this moment of history. Combatants Republic of China Empire of Japan Commanders Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Zhu De, He Yingqin Tojo Hideki, Matsui Iwane, Minami Jiro, Kesago Nakajima, Toshizo Nishio, Neiji Okamura. ... Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Chinese: ä¾¯åè³¢; pinyin: ) (born April 8, 1947) is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwans New Wave cinema movement. ...

In 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War interrupted the movie industry, and virtually nothing was produced until after the National government took over Taiwan in 1945. 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Combatants Republic of China Empire of Japan Commanders Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Zhu De, He Yingqin Tojo Hideki, Matsui Iwane, Minami Jiro, Kesago Nakajima, Toshizo Nishio, Neiji Okamura. ... The Chinese Nationalist Party (Traditional Chinese: ä¸åœ‹åœ‹æ°‘é»¨; Simplified Chinese: ä¸å›½å›½æ°‘å…š; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo Kuo-min-tang; Tongyong Pinyin: JhÅngguÃ³ GuÃ³mÃndÇŽng), commonly known as the Kuomintang (KMT), is a conservative political party currently active in the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...

To read more concerning the Japanese rule period, see: "Dancing shadows of film exhibition: Taiwan and the Japanese influence", by Jeanne Deslandes : <http://www.latrobe.edu.au/www/screeningthepast/current/cc1100.html>.

Taiwanese cinema grew again after 1949, when the end of the Chinese civil war brought many filmmakers sympathetic to the Nationalists to Taiwan. During this era, the primary films produced were Mandarin films officially sanctioned by the government. As the government was attempting to unify the country by declaring Mandarin as the official language, the use of other dialects was controlled, and non-Mandarin films (e.g. Taiwanese language films) gradually declined. 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... Combatants Chinese Nationalist Party Chinese Communist Party Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Mao Zedong Strength 3,600,000 circa June 1948 2,800,000 circa June 1948 The Chinese Civil War (Traditional Chinese: åœ‹å…±å†…æˆ°; Simplified Chinese: å›½å…±å†…æˆ˜; Pinyin: guÃ³gÃ²ng neÃ¬zhÃ n; literally Nationalist-Communist Civil War) was a conflict in... Nationalism is an ideology that creates and sustains a nation as a concept of a common identity for groups of humans. ... Mandarin, or Beifanghua (Chinese: åŒ—æ–¹è©±; Pinyin: BÄ›ifÄnghuÃ ; literally Northern Dialect(s)), or Guanhua (Traditional Chinese: å®˜è©±; Simplified Chinese: å®˜è¯; Pinyin: GuÄnhuÃ ; literally official speech) is a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. ... Template:Dablick Taiwanese (Traditional Chinese: å°èªž, å°ç£è©±; Pinyin: TÃ¡iyÇ”, TÃ¡iwÄnhuÃ ; Taiwanese PeÌh-oÄ“-jÄ«: TÃ¢i-gÃ or TÃ¢i-oÃ¢n-oÄ“) is a dialect of Min Nan spoken by about 70% of the Taiwanese population. ...

The 1960s mark the beginning of Taiwan's rapid modernization. The government focused strongly on the economy, industrial development, and education, and in 1963 the Central Motion Picture Corporation (CMPC) introduced the "Health Realism" melodrama. This film genre was proposed to help build traditional moral values, which were deemed important during the rapid transformation of the nation's socioeconomic structure. During this time, traditional kung-fu films as well as romantic melodramas were also quite popular. The author Qiong Yao is especially famous for the movies made in this time period which were based on her widely-read romantic novels. The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with wushu. ...

Taiwanese cinema of this period is related to censorship in the Republic of China and Propaganda in the Republic of China. During its time as a one-party authoritarian state, the Kuomintang-Republic of China exercised strict control of the media. ... Propaganda has been an important tool of the Republic of China government since its inception in 1912. ...

Taiwan's New Wave Cinema (1982–)

By the early 1980s, the popularity of home video made film-watching a popular activity for the Taiwanese. However, the Taiwanese film industry was under serious challenges, such as the entry of Hong Kong films, well-known for their entertainment quality, into the Taiwanese market. In order to compete with Hong Kong films, the CMPC began an initiative to support several fresh, young directors. In 1982, the film In Our Time (1982), which featured four young talented directors (Edward Yang, Tao De-chen, Ke I-jheng, and Jhang Yi), began what would be known as the rejuvenation of Taiwanese cinema: the New Wave Cinema. The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive, informally sometimes including the years 1979, 1990 and 1991. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In Our Time can refer to a number of things: In Our Time — the BBC Radio 4 programme hosted by Melvin Bragg In Our Time — a collection of short stories by Ernest Hemingway In Our Time — a collection of cartoons and essays by Tom Wolfe In Our Time: The World... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Edward Yang (pinyin: Yang De Chang), along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming Liang, is one of the leading filmmakers and artists of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese Cinema. ...

In contrast to the melodrama or kung-fu action films of the earlier decades, New Wave films are known for their realistic, down-to-earth, and sympathetic portrayals of Taiwanese life. These films sought to portray genuine stories of people living either in urban or rural Taiwan, and are often compared stylistically to the films of the Italian neorealism movement. This emphasis on realism was further enhanced by innovative narrative techniques. For example, the conventional narrative structure which builds the drama to a climax was abandoned. Rather, the story progressed at the pace as it would in real life. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... East Asian cinema (sometimes called Far Eastern cinema, Eastern cinema, Asian cinema or Oriental cinema) is a term used to refer to the film industry and films produced in, and/or by natives of, East Asia. ... The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. ... The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. ... Japanese cinema (æ˜ ç”»; Eiga) has a history in Japan that spans more than 100 years. ... Korean cinema encompasses the motion picture industries of North Korea and South Korea. ... Italian neorealism is a film movement which started in 1943 with Ossessione and ended in 1952 with Umberto D.. The movement is characterized by stories set amongst the poor and working class, filmed in long takes on location, frequently using non-actors for secondary and sometimes primary roles. ...

Due to its honest portrayal of life, New Wave films examined many of the important issues facing Taiwan society at this time, such as urbanization, the struggle against poverty, and conflicts with political authority. For instance, Hou Hsiao-Hsien's A City of Sadness portrays the tensions and the conflicts between the local Taiwanese and the newly arrived Chinese Nationalist government after the end of the Japanese occupation. Edward Yang's Taipei Story (1985) and A Confucian Confusion (1994) talk about the confusion of traditional values and modern materialism among young urbanites in the 1980s and 1990s. The New Wave Cinema films are, therefore, a fascinating chronicle of Taiwan's socio-economic and political transformation in modern times. Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Chinese: ä¾¯åè³¢; pinyin: ) (born April 8, 1947) is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwans New Wave cinema movement. ... A City of Sadness (æ‚²æƒ…åŸŽå¸‚) is a 1989 film by Hou Hsiao-hsien about a family embroiled in the tragic White Terror wrought by the Kuomintang (KMT) on the Taiwanese people when they began to arrive from mainland China in the late-1940s. ... This article is about the year. ... The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive, informally sometimes including the years 1979, 1990 and 1991. ... See also 1990s, the band The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive, sometimes informally including popular culture from the very late 1980s and from 2000 and beyond. ...

The Second New Wave (1990s–)

The New Wave gradually gave way to what could be informally called the Second New Wave, which are slightly less serious and more amenable to the populace, although just as committed to portraying the Taiwanese perspective.

For example, Tsai Ming-liang's Vive L'Amour, which won the Golden Lion at the 1994 Venice Film Festival, portrays the isolation, despair, and love of young adults living in the upscale apartments of Taipei. Stan Lai's The Peach Blossom Land (1992) is a tragi-comedy involving two groups of actors rehearsing different plays on the same stage; the masterful juxtaposition and the depth of the play's political and psychological meanings helped it win recognition at festivals in Tokyo and Berlin. Tsai Ming-liang (è”¡æ˜Žäº®, pinyin: CÃ i MÃngliÃ ng) (born in 1957 in Kuching, Malaysia) is one of the most celebrated Second New Wave film directors of Taiwanese Cinema, along with such contemporaries as Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Edward Yang. ... Vive LAmour is a 1994 Taiwanese film by Tsai Ming-liang. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... The Venice Film Festival (it: Mostra Internazionale dArte Cinematografica) is the oldest Film Festival in the World (began in the 1932) and takes place every year in late August/early September on the Lido di Venezia in the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi, in Venice, Italy. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

Ang Lee is perhaps the most well-known of the Second New Wave director. His early films Pushing Hands (1991), The Wedding Banquet (1993), and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) focus on the generational and cultural conflicts confronting so many modern families. His recent Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) revived the wuxia genre successfully. Although not in the tradition of New Wave or Second New Wave, it is a commercial success which placed Asian films firmly in the international domain. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Eat Drink Man Woman (Traditional Chinese: é£²é£Ÿç”·å¥³; Simplified Chinese: é¥®é£Ÿç”·å¥³; Pinyin: yÇn shÃ nÃ¡n nÇš) is a film directed by Ang Lee and stars Sihung Lung, Yu-wen Wang, Chien-lien Wu, Kuei-mei Yang. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Traditional Chinese: è‡¥è™Žè—é¾; Simplified Chinese: å§è™Žè—é¾™; Pinyin: WÃ² HÇ” CÃ¡ng LÃ³ng) is a wuxia (martial arts and chivalry) film released in 2000. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Poster from the American release of Zhang Yimous 2002 film Hero (è‹±é›„) WÇ”xiÃ¡ (also Wu Xia) (Traditional Chinese: æ¦ä¿ ; Simplified Chinese: æ¦ä¾ ; Mandarin IPA: ; Cantonese: mÃ³w hÃ b), literally meaning martial arts chivalry or martial arts heroes, from Chinese, is a distinct genre in Chinese literature, television and cinema. ...

Notable directors, actors and actresses

Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Chinese: ä¾¯åè³¢; pinyin: ) (born April 8, 1947) is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwans New Wave cinema movement. ... Nien-Jen Wu (Wu Nien-Jenï¼Œå³å¿µçœŸ) was born in a coal miners family on August 5, 1952. ... King Hu (胡金銓, pinyin: Hú Jīnquán, April 29, 1931 - January 14, 1997) was a Hong Kong and Taiwan-based Chinese film director whose wuxia films brought Chinese cinema to new technical and artistic heights. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Tsai Ming-liang (è”¡æ˜Žäº®, pinyin: CÃ i MÃngliÃ ng) (born in 1957 in Kuching, Malaysia) is one of the most celebrated Second New Wave film directors of Taiwanese Cinema, along with such contemporaries as Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Edward Yang. ... Shu Qi (Chinese: èˆ’æ·‡; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Shu Chi) (born April 16, 1976) is the stage name of a Taiwanese actress born Lin Li-hui (æž—ç«‹æ…§). Her stage name is occasionally romanized as Hsu Chi, Hsu Qi, Shu Qui or Shu Kei. ... Alec Su, Taiwanese pop star and well-known actor. ... Edward Yang (pinyin: Yang De Chang), along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming Liang, is one of the leading filmmakers and artists of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese Cinema. ...

Film awards

This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Nickname: the City of Azaleas Government Official Website City of Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou Capital District Xinyi Geographical characteristics Area - Total - % water Ranked 16 of 25 271. ...

Contents

Taiwanese Cinema: 1901–1970s

Taiwan's New Wave Cinema (1982–)

The Second New Wave (1990s–)

Notable directors, actors and actresses

Film awards

See also

External links

Contents

Taiwanese Cinema: 1901–1970s GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Taiwan's New Wave Cinema (1982–)

The Second New Wave (1990s–)

Notable directors, actors and actresses

Film awards

See also

External links

Taiwanese Cinema: 1901–1970s