Evolution in the Portrayal of Chinese Forces in Chinese War Films

<a href="https://embed.stanford.edu/iframe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpurl.stanford.edu%2Fks825bh1759" class="su-underline">Show Content</a>

Abstract/Contents

Abstract: The main research questions this thesis aims to answer would be “How has the portrayal of Chinese forces evolved and changed in Chinese war films?” This question came about as stark differences can be noticed between Chinese war films produced before and after the 1980s. As the Chinese state had a large role in the Chinese film industry before the 1980s, the themes and character portrayal of war films had to align more with the state’s intention. Many pre 1980s war films centered around the glorification of Chinese victory and had a strong focus on Maoist ideology. However, Mao’s death in 1976 and China’s decision to undergo reform and opening in 1978 removed the priority for ideals such as socialism and nationalism to be propagated to the masses. Instead, there was an increased focus on the liberalization of the film industry in order for Chinese films to compete internationally and with other studios, such as Hollywood, especially in the post 1990s period. Hence, directors had a larger say in portraying the central message of the film, leading to war films being used as a backdrop for the exploration of the individual and their relationships. This thesis asserts that while pre 1980s war films were centered around Maoist ideology, portraying loyal and sacrificial soldiers, post 1980s movies were much more concerned with individual stories and the exploration of the individual’s thoughts and feelings. This argument will be laid out in 3 chapters.

Type of resource	text
Date created	August 2020

Author	Koh, Wei Ren Daryn
Degree granting institution	Stanford University, Stanford Global Studies, Center for East Asian Studies
Primary advisor	Ma, Jean

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/ks825bh1759

Use and reproduction: User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

Preferred Citation: Koh, Wei Ren Daryn. (2020). Evolution in the Portrayal of Chinese Forces in Chinese War Films. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/ks825bh1759

Stanford Center for East Asian Studies Thesis Collection

Loading usage metrics...