Movies I have used and ideas for movies I'd like to use

[Anonymous]

Would have added this earlier, but I couldn't remember the name of the movie. It's called 「黒い雨」Kuroi Ame -- Black Rain in English. It also comes to mind because recently at an Asia Society meeting, I was confronted with goals called "Leadership Performance Outcomes." Part of the outcomes gesture to internalizing multi-cultural points of view and evaluating one event from a point of view not native to your cultural background. The movie deals with the fall out in Hiroshima after the nuclear bombing and all the troubles created for the residents of Hiroshima after the bombing with personal health and personal relationships. And, again, it has a literature basis to be compared with, Masuji Ibuse who wrote a text of the same name prior to the film being produced. I can see an entire unit built on cultural exchange and viewpoints from the movie as well as other world changing events.

Here's the link for the film on imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097694/%5BEdit by="mdiaz on Nov 16, 5:38:13 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

I have used the film The CupIt is a film set in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery and the main character is an adolescent boy training to be a Buddhist monk. Despite his training to relinquish all worldly desires, he is obsessed with watching the World Cup. He and the other boys rent a satellite dish and find other ways to watch the World Cup, while evading the watchful eye of the elder monks. The film is comical and engaging. My students enjoyed the film and discovered that they had a lot in common with the boy in the film, especially last summer when they did everything in their power to watch the World Cup during class time. Even though the film has English subtitles, students seemed to enjoy the youthful antics of the protagonist. One warning: the film is hard to come-by. I ordered it from a foreign film distributor years ago.

[Anonymous]

Very interesting. I can definitely use this movie when teaching about current global issues. Thanks for that resource.

[Anonymous]

I would like to use the Kurosowa film, Roshoman. I've heard Kurosawa was inspired by silent film. I think I may have seen this movie before and it might be great for making connections.
I remember one of our presenters talking about the Bergman film The Seventh Seal. It's obviously not an Asian film, but I'm quite the fan of this film and the philosophical ideas within this film. I am curious to see if anybody can help me remember what comments our presenter had made about this film on that saturday session and how it tied in to Japanese culture.

[Anonymous]

I would like to see "Empire of the Sun". It reveals the cruelty of the Japanese culture during World War II

[Anonymous]

I just watched Farewell My Concubine which, despite the name, is very appropriate for high school students. I would use this specifically for the scenes on Mao's takeover in and after 1949 and how the people reacted. And for any US history teacher I would use this movie to compare/contrast McCarthyism in the US with treatments of the same time around the world.

[Anonymous]

I am using the movie "Chilsu and Mansu" in my lesson. It is kind of an obscure Korean movie, but well known for how it changed the status of the Korean movie industry. I guess what I am trying to say, is that it wasn't a blockbuster, but politically it made it's mark. At the time the movie was made, there was little that people were allowed to do in terms of criticize the government. The movie was released at a time when protests were really building up, and Korea was to host the 1998 Olympics. It is kind of a cute movie too, but a little too soap opera for my likes. Of course some of drama queens, and kings might just really like this. It is a good opportunity to give me a chance to make a political statement about Korea.
edited by ebeneke on 1/7/2011

[Anonymous]

Re "Farewell my Concubine". I would be very interested to see that, since I have heard previous to your post that it was really good. I just never knew what it was about. I was glad to hear from you, that despite its title it is appropriate for High School.

Because of this class, my interest has been sparked tremendously in all things Chinese. I am hoping that on my own, I will go on to read more of the poetry, and 20th century history. Have a book hanging around called "Joe Stillwell's China". Stared it, but something else came up.

The other two books that I have read about China, and the east are of course "The Good Earth", and "The Samurai's Garden".
edited by ebeneke on 1/7/2011

[Anonymous]

The film, "The Last Emperor" is certain an excellent film for introducing students to certain aspects of Chinese culture and history. I have already used this film several times with my students in my course on Chinese. I would also like to recommend the 1997 film, "Seven Years in Tibet" which stars Brad Pitt as another contrasting perspective to understand the changes that have taken place in the history of Chinese culture. Furthermore, as a means of encouraging even greater comprehension of how dominant groups and archaic philosophies can control and influence a culture, I would strongly recommend the Persian film, "Osam" which depicts the cruelty upon women under the period when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan.

[Anonymous]

I used Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon as an illustration on the Chinese language. I used the DVD and played the same scene twice, once in English (with Spanish subtitles) and then in Mandarin Chinese to illustrate the tones that Mandarin uses.

[Anonymous]

I would recommend the film Seven Years in Tibet. It takes place during WWII where two Austrians end up in Tibet. It does a pretty good job at showing buddhist ideas from an outsiders point of view. It also shows the conflict between China and Tibet, and the role the Dalai Lama plays in the issue. It is a hollywood film, but in my opinion it was a good one to get students thinking about the difference in cultures and values. And to learn about Tibet.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Good evening again colleagues,

Had some questions about movies that would work as companions for the texts and material in the seminar and in general as a teaching tool for transmitting Asian Culture to the student body.

I've used the move "Joy Luck Club" with some success. It's the basis for "Two Kinds," a story that is part of the 7th grade curriculum, but I'd like to explore a bit more latitude in Chinese/Japanese/Korean cinema. Any ideas?

I know this next idea will sound ridiculous, but any way I could use that old John Carpenter movie, "Big Trouble in Little China" to any positive effect?

What other movies are coming to mind for everyone else?

p.s. How about the 2006 movie "Fearless" with Jet Li? It seems like something could rigorously woven in there...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446059/

[Anonymous]

The video I viewed was an A&E award-winning series “Biography” DVD. The title is “Confucius: Words of Wisdom”. Its copyright date is 1996 and it is approx. 50 minutes in length, which would work well for an entire period or split into to 30 minute viewings.

The documentary explores the life and times of Confucius – from childhood to his adult career and death. It also highlights his achievements, particularly how his philosophy has influenced the world today – both inside and outside of China. One interesting aspect is that there is an interview with someone who claims to be a direct descendant of Confucius.

The other highlight is that the DVD comes with a study guide that includes a list of vocabulary words and discussion questions. I provided my students with a list of the questions prior to viewing the film and they were able to answer the questions as they watched. This helped to keep them engaged. There are also a few extra credit ideas, such as writing a comparative essay or completing a poster project.

I enjoyed this film, but I also enjoy a lot of documentaries from A&E. What really mattered was that my seventh grade English students were engaged and interested.
edited by mball on 2/5/2011

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