Building a New China in Cinema introduces English readers for the first time to one of the most exciting left-wing cinema traditions in the world. This unique book explores the history, ideology, and aesthetics of China's left-wing cinema movement, a quixotic film culture that was as political as commercial, as militant as sensationalist. Originating in the 1930s, it marked the first systematic intellectual involvement in Chinese cinema. In this era of turmoil and idealism, the movement's films were characterized by fantasies of heroism intertwined with the inescapable spell of impotency, thus exposing the contradictions of the filmmakers' underlying ideology as their political and artistic agendas alternately fought against or catered to the taste and viewing habits of a popular audience. Political cinema became a commercially successful industry, resulting in a film culture that has never been replicated. Drawing on detailed archival research, Pang demonstrates that this cinema movement was a product of the era's social, economic, and political discourses. The author offers a close analysis of many rarely seen films, richly illustrated with over eighty stills collected from the Beijing Film Archive. With its original conceptual approach and rich use of primary sources, this book will be of interest not only to scholars and fans of Chinese cinema but to those who study the relationship between cinema and modernity.

About the Author
Laikwan Pang is lecturer at the General Education Centre of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Reviews
Pang provides invaluable information for both Asian film scholars and those interested in modern Chinese history. Highly recommended. * CHOICE *
This book makes a significant contribution to the growing literature on pre-1949 Chinese film. The book is well-researched and informative. -- Zhiwei Xiao * China Quarterly *
As the first concentrated study of Shanghai leftist cinema in English, this book is of great interest to scholars and students of Chinese cinema, Republican cultural history, and leftist cinema in general. * Journal of Asian Studies *
Pang writes in a careful and nuanced way . . . beneath her modest tone lies originality that significantly redraws our picture of this important film movement. -- Chris Berry, Professor of Film Studies at Kings College London * Screen *
This author should be applauded for solid archival work and for bringing forth this well-researched, illustrated, and documented volume. -- Yiman Wang, Haverford College
A stimulating and engaging book with many valuable historical insights. There is no other book that I have seen that engages in such depth with this period of film-making in China. -- Stephanie Hemelryk Donald, University of Liverpool
[Pang's] informative readings of a variety of progressive films and her analysis of the history surrounding the founding of this movement certainly deserve our attention. * Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews *



Book Information
ISBN 9780742509467
Author Laikwan Pang
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield
Weight(grams) 490g
Dimensions(mm) 230mm * 146mm * 20mm