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Cinemas  of  Late  and  Post-­‐Socialism:  China  and  Russia  
(aka  Chinese  &  Russian  Cinema  After  Socialism;  Post  Socialist  China  &  Russia)  
Instructor:  John  MacKay  
M  3:30-­‐5:20  
Room:  81  Wall  St.,  room  301  
Office  hours:  TBA  
Email:  john.mackay@yale.edu;  johnmackay65@gmail.com  
 
Close,  contextualized,  comparative  analysis  of  major  Russian  and  Mainland  Chinese  
films,  fiction  and  non-­‐fiction,  from  the  mid-­‐1980s  to  the  present.  We  will  examine  
the  films  in  terms  of  their  formal  structures  and  their  reception,  in  relation  to  the  
revolutionary  political  and  cultural  legacies  of  both  countries,  and  in  light  of  the  
epochal  social  and  economic  changes  occurring  in  China  and  Russia  during  this  
period.  Filmmakers  to  be  studied  include  Zhang  Yimou,  Sergei  Dvortsevoy,  Alexei  
German,  Chen  Kaige,  Alexander  Sokurov,  and  Jia  Zhangke.  Open  to  both  
undergraduate  and  graduate  students;  no  knowledge  of  Russian  or  Chinese  
required.  
 
 
Seminars  will  take  place  Monday  afternoons  from  3:30-­‐5:20;  screenings  on  
Thursday  evenings  at  7  pm,  in  the  screening  room  at  212  York  St..  
 
Syllabus  
 
Included  at  the  beginning  of  the  syllabus  are  four  additional  files  containing  useful  
information:  brief  bios  of  major  Chinese  directors;  a  timeline  of  Chinese  social,  
political  and  film  history  from  1894;  another  chronology  of  Chinese  history,  
beginning  in  1978;  and  a  chronology  of  Russo-­‐Soviet  history  during  (mainly)  the  
20th  century.  
 
Week  1  
 
Seminar,  September  5:  Introduction  
 
Week  2  
 
Screening(s),  September  5  (7  pm  in  212  York)  and  September  8  (7  pm  at  212  York):  
Little  Vera  (Vasily  Pichul’,  USSR  1988,  35mm;  September  5  only);  Yellow  Earth  
(Chen  Kaige,  PRC  1984,  VHS;  September  8  only)  
 
Seminar,  September  12:  
Readings:  Frank  Beardow,  excerpts  from  Little  Vera;  Isaac  Deutscher,  “Maoism:  Its  
Origins  and  Outlook”;  Rey  Chow,  “Silent  is  the  Ancient  Plain:  Music,  Filmmaking,  and  
the  Concept  of  Social  Change  in  the  New  Chinese  Cinema”;  Michael  Berry,  “Chen  
Kaige:  Historical  Revolution  and  Cinematic  Rebellion  [interview]”  
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Week  3  
 
Screening,  September  15:    
My  Friend  Ivan  Lapshin  (Aleksei  German,  USSR  1984,  35mm)  
 
Seminar,  September  19:  
Readings:  Perry  Anderson,  “Two  Revolutions:  Rough  Notes”;  Tony  Wood,  “Time  
Unfrozen:  The  Films  of  Alexei  German”  
 
Week  4  
 
Screening,  September  22:  
The  Story  of  Qiu  Ju  (Zhang  Yimou,  PRC  1992,  35mm)  
 
Seminar,  September  26:  
Reading:  Chris  Berry  and  Mary  Farquhar,  “How  should  Chinese  Men  Act?  Ordering  
the  Nation”;  Michael  Berry,  “Zhang  Yimou:  Flying  Colors  [interview]”  
 
Week  5  
 
Screening,  September  29:  
Second  Circle  (Alexander  Sokurov,  USSR  1990,  35mm)  
 
Seminar,  October  3:  
Readings:  Mikhail  Iampolsky,  “Death  in  Cinema”;  Kirill  Galetski,  “The  Foundations  
of  Film  Art:  An  Interview  with  Alexander  Sokurov”  
(http://sokurov.info/?id=1225965671)  
 
Week  6  
 
Screening,  October  6:  
Suzhou  River  (Lou  Ye,  PRC  2000,  35mm)  
 
Seminar,  October  10:  
Readings:  Xudong  Zhang,  “Shanghai  Image:  Critical  Iconography,  Minor  Literature,  
and  the  Un-­‐making  of  a  Modern  Chinese  Mythology”  
 
Week  7  
 
Screening,  October  13:  
Brother  (Aleksei  Balabanov,  Russia  1997,  35mm)  
 
Seminar,  October  17:  
Readings:  Nancy  Condee,  “Aleksei  Balabanov:  The  Metropole’s  Death  Drive”  
 
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Week  8  
 
Screening,  October  20:  
24  City  (Jia  Zhangke,  PRC  2008,  35mm)  
 
Seminar,  NOT  October  26  (need  to  reschedule):  
Readings:  Xudong  Zhang,  “Poetics  of  Vanishing:  The  Films  of  Jia  Zhangke”;  Dudley  
Andrew,  “Interview  with  Jia  Zhangke”;  James  Naremore,  “Films  of  the  Year,  2008”  
 
Week  9  
 
Screening,  October  27:  
Outskirts  (Petr  Lutsik,  Russia  1998,  DVD)  
 
Seminar,  October  31:  
Readings:  Richard  Phillips,  “An  Interview  with  Petr  Lutsik”  
(http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/jul1999/sff5-­‐j17.shtml);  Xudong  Zhang,  
“Postmodernism  and  Post-­‐Socialist  Society:  Cultural  Politics  in  China  after  the  ‘New  
Era’”  
 
Week  10  
 
Screening,  November  3:  
Petition  (Zhao  Liang,  PRC  2009,  DVD);  (at  home)  Epic  of  Central  Plains,  part  1  (Ai  
Xiaoming,  PRC  2006,  video)  
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcW1YnXMfec&feature=related)  
 
Seminar,  November  7:  
Readings:  Lu  Xinyu,  “Rethinking  China’s  New  Documentary  Movement:  Engagement  
with  the  Social”;  Edward  Wong,  “Chinese  Director’s  Path  from  Rebel  to  Insider”  
(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/world/asia/14filmmaker.html?pagewante
d=1&_r=1)  
 
Week  11  
 
Screening,  November  10:  
The  Belovs  (Victor  Kossakovsky,  Russia  1994,  DVD);  Bread  Day  (Sergei  Dvortsevoy,  
Russia/Kazakhstan,  1999,  DVD);  (at  home)  Alexei  Dymovsky,  Russian  Police  Officer  
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4vB2a15dOU);  Voina  Group,  Voina  
humiliates  cops  in  their  own  domain,  parts  one  and  two  
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=796-­‐g_NQobA&feature=related)  
 
Seminar,  November  28:  
Andrea  Slovakova,  Bara  Stefanova,  “’The  documentary  has  morally  exhausted  me:  
An  interview  with  Sergei  Dvortsevoy”  (http://www.dokweb.net/en/documentary-­‐
network/articles/the-­‐documentary-­‐has-­‐morally-­‐exhausted-­‐me-­‐an-­‐interview-­‐with-­‐
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sergei-­‐dvortsevoy-­‐85/?off=750);  Perry  Anderson,  “Russia’s  Managed  Democracy”  


(http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n02/perry-­‐anderson/russias-­‐managed-­‐democracy);  
Danila  Rozanov,  “Voina:  artists  at  war”  (http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-­‐
russia/danila-­‐rozanov/voina-­‐artists-­‐at-­‐
war?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzEmail&utm_content=201210&u
tm_campaign=Nightly_2011-­‐02-­‐19%2005:30)  
 
 
 
Week  12  
 
Screening,  December  1:  
Oxhide  II  (Liu  Jiayin,  PRC  2009,  DVD)  
 
No  seminar  (post-­‐film  discussion):    
Readings:  Shelly  Kraicer,  “Oxhide”  (http://www.cinema-­‐
scope.com/cs25/spot_jiayin_oxhide.htm);  Yuqian  Yan,  “Cinema  Talk:  Interview  with  
Liu  Jiayin,  director  of  Oxhide  and  Oxhide  II,”  
(http://dgeneratefilms.com/academia/cinematalk-­‐conversation-­‐with-­‐liu-­‐jiayin-­‐
director-­‐of-­‐oxhide-­‐and-­‐oxhide-­‐ii/);  David  Bordwell,  “Wantons  and  Wontons”  
(http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2009/10/12/wantons-­‐and-­‐wontons/).  
 
 
 
Requirements:    
 
For  all  students:  regular  attendance  and  weekly  contribution  to  the  online  forum  
(classesv2)  
 
Undergraduates:  midterm  paper  (8-­‐10  pp.),  due;  final  paper  (10-­‐15  pp.),  due  at  the  
end  of  Reading  Week.  
 
Graduate  students:  brief  (15-­‐20  min.)  in-­‐class  report  on  a  film;  final  paper  (25-­‐30  
pp.)  
 
Readings:  will  all  be  available  in  pdf  form  on  classesv2.  
 
In  addition:  two  or  three  clips  from  the  film/films  for  the  week  will  be  uploaded  
each  week  onto  classesv2,  as  objects  of  close  analysis  to  be  looked  at  carefully  
before  the  seminar.  
 
 
 

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