The Application of Psychoanalytic Theory in Films, Based on the Movie Fanfan

The relationship between psychoanalytic theory and film is very close, open and integrated with each other. The psychoanalytic study of film is an important part of the study of contemporary western film theory. Through the mastery of psychoanalytic theory and the analysis of the film Fanfan starring Sophie Marceau, this paper proves the application and role of psychoanalysis in film.

Diachronic differences and cultural universals as an elements of discussing movies: Selected reviews in pragmalinguistic perspective

The material basis of the text is Zygmunt Kałużyński’s reviews anthology called Royal Cannon. His 50 Favourite Movies, which consists texts that were published by the critic in Polityka weekly, from 1957, when it was established, until 2001. Reviews were therefore created throughout 44 years, full of changes in culture, worldwide and domestic cinematography, and film genology. Because of the political and social reality of those days, Polish premieres of western film productions were often significantly belated in comparison to Western Europe countries.The direct matter of interest are lexical determinants of two antonymous semantic categories. These are: 1. Diachronic differences in the scope of the same culture group or between different groups motivated by chronology.2. Cultural–social universals.In case of both distinguished groups, the movie critic may play an important role as an intermediary role in the movies’ reception.

Wang Bing's Filmmaking of the China Dream

This volume offers an organic discussion of Wang Bing's filmmaking across China's marginal spaces and against the backdrop of the state-sanctioned 'China Dream'. Wang's work has contemporary China as its focus and testifies to the country's contradictions, not dissimilar to those of contemporary societies dealing with issues of inequality, labour, and migration. Without being an activist, Wang Bing gives voice to the subaltern. His internationally awarded documentaries are recognized as world masterpieces. His unique aesthetics bears references to film masters, therefore this investigation goes beyond the divide between Western and non-Western film traditions. Each chapter takes a different articulation of space (spaces of labour, spaces of history, spaces of memory) as its entry point bringing together film and documentary studies, Chinese studies, and studies in globalization issues. This volume benefits from the author's extensive conversation with Wang Bing and from insider's observations of film production and the film festival circuit.

Men in boots: on spectacular masculinity and its desublimation

The proposed essay focuses on a piece of costume that is often both dirty and worn out: the man’s leather boot. The boot has been a constant in cinema, appearing first in Westerns films made at the beginning of the 20th century. As an iconic piece of male costume, the boot has populated male-oriented genres, signaling either masculinity en masse (as in war films), or a kind of masculinity closer to nature and to animals than to civilization (as in the Western film). Departing from earlier scholarship on masculinity as spectacle (e.g. Tasker; Holmlund), and engaging in textual analysis, this essay investigates how the boot, as a hyper male piece of costume, can be read as a masquerading prop, and as a tool for hiding (what is not there). Films to be analyzed include Lives of A Bengal Lancer (Henry Hathaway, 1935); Picnic (Joshua Logan, 1955); Midnight Cowboy (Johan Schlesinger, 1969); and Blaze (Ron Shelton, 1989).

Eastern Approaches to Western Film: Asian Reception and Aesthetics in Cinema, Stephen Teo (2019)

Review of: Eastern Approaches to Western Film: Asian Reception and Aesthetics in Cinema, Stephen Teo (2019) London: Bloomsbury Academic, 285pp., ISBN: 9781784539825 (hbk), $115.00, ISBN: 9781350113312 (epdf), $35.95, ISBN: 9781350113305 (ebk), $35.95

Intermedial Translation as Circulation

We generally believe that literature first circulates nationally and then scales up through translation and reception at an international level. In contrast, I argue that Taiwan literature first attained international acclaim through intermedial translation during the New Cinema period (1982–90) and was only then subsequently recognized nationally. These intermedial translations included not only adaptations of literature for film, but also collaborations between authors who acted as screenwriters and filmmakers. The films resulting from these collaborations repositioned Taiwan as a multilingual, multicultural and democratic nation. These shifts in media facilitated the circulation of these new narratives. Filmmakers could circumvent censorship at home and reach international audiences at Western film festivals. The international success ensured the wide circulation of these narratives in Taiwan.