Teaching About China Film List & Resource

[Anonymous]

One of the movies I was very interested in came from a suggestion during Professor Lippit’s presentation called Sakuran about the life of a Geisha. As a film, I actually really enjoyed it. I think that it is an example of the counterculture and a feminist take on Geisha life. However, there is very little in this film that I think I could actually show to students; there is a lot of sexual content and nudity. One of the parts that I could possibly show would be the beginning of the movie that shows how life in Japan as she comes to the city. Another part that may be suitable for students would be when she gets married. This part may be useful to illustration the lavish lifestyle of a samurai and of wealth in Japan. If I were to teach a college course, I may use this and have students analyze it as a comparison piece to other geisha movies or stories.

[Anonymous]

One of the videos I watched over break was a documentary mentioned during class called Nanking. This documentary was very moving. It told the story of the Rape of Nanking through the stories of Chinese civilians who lived through the experience as well as actors who recount the stories of those who had passed, but played a large role during this time; the Dean of the School where the Safety Zone was created, a Businessman, a doctor, etc. Both the primary and secondary accounts provided in this documentary are great because it allows the audience to hear the thoughts and experiences of those living during the time. Besides providing the emotional aspect of tragic time, the film describes the history through images. One of the quotes that stuck with me was the “3 Alls” policy that was taken by the Japanese: “Burn all, Kill all, Loot all.” I feel like this would be something that students would remember, especially after seeing the images that were presented in the film. It also discusses the “Safety Zone” created by westerners as a means to protect Chinese civilians. I liked that the documentary also went into the experiences of people during the Safety Zone and the dilemmas that occurred during their attempt to protect the people. I would definitely use parts of this documentary in my classroom because of the humanization that this video provides. Some of the descriptions are a bit graphic, but there are certainly sections that can be relevant to explaining what happened and providing context for people’s experiences.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the share! There are soo many good documentaries and films on this link. I'll probably use the movie to Live to do my movie Review. I'll share this site with my history department I'm sure someone will find a good film to show their students.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info! Netflix had some great films such as Like Father, Like Son. I know we discussed this one in class at some point and was eager to watch it when it came up on my recommended list.

Like Father, Like Son directed by Hirokazu Koreeda was a film with many layers. A quick synopsis of the film would show at the surface two families torn by the tragedy of their boys being switched at birth. However, the characters and their situations make the film a dense one.

First, I noted the family dynamic of Ryota, Midori and Keita. At first they seem very well put together but within the first ten minutes you see the fathers disconnect from his family. As a successful business man he is always working and his home life suffers. You can feel the frustration by the sly comments made by his tough but obedient wife Midori. They both want the best for their son but you can see the differences in parenting style. The father is a tough authoritarian and the mother a caring soul. At one point she is so fed up with all the decisions made by her husband that she asks her son Keita on the train if he would like to run away with her. Keita says well what about daddy and she replies, he has his work.

What’s even more burdening is that quickly we find out that Keita who has been groomed to be the perfect son is not actually theirs. Ryota and Midori struggle with the thought of having to trade their son with a boy they had never even met. Upon meeting the family that has been raising their actual son they are appalled. The family is seemingly poor and not very well mannered as Keita has been taught to be. The other family, the Saiki’s, quickly ask how much they will be paid in damages for such a horrible mix up. You quickly see the cultural and ideological differences between the two fathers.

As the film continues Midori begins to feel persecuted by others for the fact that she did not notice that she had taken the wrong child home. Her mother-in-law and husband even throw some blame in not so discrete ways. Midori actually finds a common ground and friendship with the woman that has been raising her actual son.
While all this is going on you see Ryota as a pious man that has never made a mistake and is quick to judge. After wrestling with the idea of switching children he finally decided that he must have his biological son after his father says it’s that blood that matters most. What is more strange and revealing is that Ryota was raised by a women that was not his mother but loved him just as a son.
After the switch you start to see the human side of Ryota and feel for him. He realizes the mistake he made by giving up the boy, his son, that he has raised for the past six years. The most powerful part of the film is when he sees all the pictures Keita had been taking of him while he was asleep and breaks down. He goes back to a furious Keita but is quickly forgiven.
My hope by what I saw at the end of the film is the families put all differences aside, remain with the boys they had been raising for years and still remain friends so that they see the boys grow together.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Hey Guys, As you're preparing to write a film review, I wanted to share a resource I found with a list of films & documentaries about teaching about China. Check it out:
https://www.world-affairs.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/2011.01.12-GC-Exploring-China-Through-Documentaries-and-Film.pdf

[Anonymous]

The 2004 remake of Japan's original screenplay for Shall We Dance? merited a deplorable 46% score from Rotten Tomatoes despite casting noteworthy actors such as Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon. In marked contrast the original 1996 film also known as Shall We Dansu? earned an impressive 91% rating from the snobbish film aficionados' favored review board. The more than doubly-enhanced rating of the Japanese film is well deserved. I had the opportunity to see it when the movie was released stateside in a small arthouse cinema in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The beautiful artistry of the intertwining storylines tugged at parts of my heart I had not hitherto noticed. When the film was lauded by one of our presenters during this seminar I wanted to share it with my husband. Luckily, we were able to easily locate it on Netflix and though some elements of costuming and mannerisms felt dated, we both relished the film on the eve of its twentieth anniversary. The actors showed restraint, an element sorely missing from mainstream American cinema.

That which is left unsaid and only suggested is far more powerful than anything that is depicted in great detail with the savagery of treating viewers as children who need to be directed or instructed how to feel. This is something I struggle to communicate to my AP Literature students who accompany their friends to films where they have no choice but to cheer for the hero and wince whenever the villain appears onscreen because the pop culture fodder that is foisted upon their ilk is replete with music and symbolism that is repeatedly pummeled into their senses assaulted by binary thinking where everything and everyone is either purely evil or disgustingly good.

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