Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Martial arts films'

This project is an examination of the Hong Kong film industry, focusing on the years leading up to the handover of Hong Kong to communist China. The influence of classical Chinese culture on gender representation in martial arts films is examined in order to formulate an understanding of how these films use gender issues to negotiate a sense of cultural identity in the face of unprecedented political change. In particular, the films of Hong Kong action stars Michelle Yeoh and Brigitte Lin are studied within a feminist and cultural studies framework for indications of identity formation through the highlighting of gender issues.

The participatory cyberspace, epitomized by the concept of Web 2.0, has become a key venue of Chinese stardom in the post-cinema era.Web 2.0 invites its users to contribute to the content through an architecture of participation. Fans can search, poach, edit, and post filmic and publicity materials about stars, formulating seamless, collaborative reworkings of the star image and generating a new star-fan dynamic. At the crossroads of participatory cyberspace and cinema, transnational Chinese movie stars call our attention to the critical concern of Chineseness. In recent years, a number of Chinese movie stars have attained prominent presence in the global cinematic arena. These acting talents, who are either identified as martial arts performers or known for their performances in martial arts films, won global acclaim as a result of the worldwide reception and esteem for Hong Kong action films and Fifth Generation directors’ films from mainland China. As these stars begin to engineer personae stretching beyond their ethnic identities for the global setting, their stardom engenders discourses of ethnicity and cosmopolitanism.What does it mean to call these stars “Chinese” in the global cyber setting? How do their fans interact to reshape their star personae on the Web? How can one approach and understand “Chineseness” within cyber fan discourse? All these questions point to a central problem of how to conceptualize Chineseness in participatory cyberspace. My agenda in this study is to investigate Chinese movie stardom as a web-based phenomenon by establishing a new theoretical framework for considering Chineseness in participatory cyberspace. I have created a set of four analytical matrixes, each examining a particular Chinese star through a specific fan-based practice on a specific participatory site: vidding Donnie Yen and critiquing Zhang Ziyi on YouTube; photo-sharing about Jackie Chan on Flickr; “friending” Jet Li on Facebook; and discussing Takeshi Kaneshiro on fan forums. Through close investigation of these five Chinese stars, I demonstrate that the cyber setting enables collaborative fan reworkings of star texts and multiple directionality of approaching Chineseness. Cyber fans produce intertextual, multi-faceted star personae, different from traditional film personae whose meanings are anchored in a rigid established representational framework. Through the relentless scrutiny, quotation, manipulation self-affiliation by fans enabled by cyber technology, Chineseness becomes an utterly illusive and indefinable entity, a new form of signification whose meaning is always changing. This unstable, hybrid Chineseness challenges the notion of a star’s given ethnicity, redefining the archetypal martial arts body in unpredictable, manifold and provocative terms for the cyber era. With the aim of advancing the critical theorization of Chineseness, this study unfolds and analyzes the dynamics of the vital relationship between Chinese stardom, web technologies, and fan discourse. It also serves as a timely response to the challenges posed by cyber culture for the disciplines of cinema and cultural studies, in light of the proliferating yet inadequate current efforts in this field.
published_or_final_version
Comparative Literature
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (M.A. in communication)--Washington State University, December 2008.
Title from PDF title page (viewed on Dec. 31, 2008). "Edward R. Murrow College of Communication." Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-85).

Kung fu is a cinematic genre investing on the discourse of the “real”. From Kwan Tak Hing, Bruce Lee, Jacky Chan, Jet Li to Donnie Yen, cinematic representations of kung fu are inextricably intertwined with realism – real techniques, real fighting and real body. This paper is a theoretical reflection of “real kung fu” as a cultural imaginary and its transfiguration since the 1950s. The discussion will focus on recent developments of the genre in two major industries – digitalization of kung fu in Hollywood and recent return of kung fu masters in Hong Kong through coproduction. Through a parallel analysis of kung fu productions in a global context, this project outlines and predicts possible reinventions of the genre in the first decade of the 21st century. On the one hand, the notion of “real kung fu” is reinvented by digital technology. By applying Jean Baudrillard’s idea of “simulacra and simulation” to the context of kung fu cinema, Leon Hunt’s tripartite scheme of authenticity and Edward Said’s Orientalist discourse are (de/re)constructed in an age of digital production. Through a scrutiny of The Matrix (1999) and Kung Fu Panda (2008), I will demonstrate that the convergence of digital cinema and digital gaming creates a new spectatorship that redefines kung fu with an alternative understanding of body, time and space. On the other hand, the Ip Man trilogy (2008-2010) and Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010) show that there is a possible return of kung fu masters in local martial arts co-productions. Instead of a nostalgic return to the established genre in the 1970s, these realist kung fu films reinvent the genre by synthesizing different paradigms of realist styles and renegotiating the longstanding difficult relationship between nationalism and modernity.
published_or_final_version
Comparative Literature
Master
Master of Philosophy

This thesis argues that in order to understand the way in which films work one has to place them into a variety of contexts. As well as those of production, these include the historical and culturally specific moments of their creation and consumption. In order to explore how these contexts impact upon the textual construction of individual and groups of films, and our potential understanding of them, this study offers two contrasting case studies of critically neglected areas: Spanish horror cinema since the late-1960s; and US martial arts films since the late 1980s. The first places a range of horror films into very particular historical moments: the Spain of the Franco regime; the transition to democracy in the late 1970s and early 1980s; and the contemporary, increasingly trans-national, Spanish film industry. Each chapter in this section looks in detail at how the shifts and changes in Spanish society, the critical reception of cinema, and production trends, has impacted upon the texts that have appeared on increasingly international screens. The second case study considers the shifts and changes in the production of US martial arts films. It discusses the problem of defining an area of filmmaking that is more commonly associated with a different filmmaking tradition, in a different national cinema. Each chapter here investigates the ways in which 'martial arts movies' operate in strikingly different production contexts. In particular, it contrasts films made within the US mainstream or Hollywood cinema, and the exploitation world that functions on its fringes. Finally, these case studies suggest that a fuller understanding of these works can only be achieved by utilising a number of approaches, both textual and contextual; creating an approach which Douglas Kellner has described as 'multiperspectival'.

As the twentieth century ended with globalization and commercialization, popular culture begins to challenge the dominance of national culture. The Chinese intellectual community tries to defend national culture against the incoming global culture and local cultures. The conflicts between localism and nationalism, and also between globalism and nationalism, are clearly demonstrated in the Hero phenomenon, which basically concerns the unanimous disparagement on director Zhang Yimou's debut martial arts film Hero within the Chinese critics' circle. Through a discursive analysis of the phenomenon, we can see how the conflicts between modernism and postmodernism, between elitism and commercialism shape the landscape of contemporary Chinese culture. In this article, I first seek to understand how modernism evolved into nationalism in China during the last century and what role the intelligentsia played in the process of such evolvement. I further seek to understand why the intellectual community has distaste for popular culture and commercialism. Other research on this topic has linked nationalism to national culture, and localism and globalism to popular culture.

This thesis argues for incorporating a radically increased awareness and understanding of the experiences and opinions of people who actually watch films into any film theory or criticism genuinely concerned to analyse, evaluate or otherwise interpret films and/or those who watch them. In particular, it suggests there is a need to re-think the status of film experiencers as informants who are participant in rather than objects of study, and that an ethnographic approach should be taken to narrow the gap between film studies and film experiencers. Initially, I investigate ways in which film "viewers" and "audiences" have been and continue to be theorized, analyzed and represented, with emphases both on how film theory and criticism have treated film experiencers, and on the impact of the recent "ethnographic turn" in film and cultural studies. I then investigate pertinent ethnographic theories and methods in the context of recent debates about knowledge production and reflexivity, looking particularly at postmodern and anti-patriarchal critiques. I also consider the relationship between ethnography and cultural studies, and how both these areas impact on the study of film experiencers. Ultimately I suggest particular ways in which ethnographic theories and methods might be used in film studies to inform investigations, understandings and therefore representations of film experiencers. I outline and consider how my case study uses such approaches before setting out the case study itself. The case study sets out what sixty-seven participant-informants had to say and write about martial arts action films, and is in large part intended to "give voice" to film experiencers. But while the emphasis is on citing participant-informants' own words, I recognize that there is no description without interpretation and reflect on this in the conclusions I draw from the case study "data" and my theoretical work.

Notre démarche vise à éclairer notre question de recherche principale : comment se structure l’imaginaire des arts martiaux dans le cinéma? Autrement dit, nous avons étudié les différentes dimensions des représentations cinématographiques des arts martiaux à l’intérieur de scènes préalablement sélectionnées. Nous avons usé du concept de représentations sociales comme prolongement de l’imaginaire pour procéder à une analyse qualitative de contenu (chapitre 4). Cette méthode nous a permis d’interroger plusieurs scènes d’un corpus se composant de 16 films du genre « arts martiaux » et 4 films du genre « action ». Les trois premiers chapitres (l’imaginaire et la culture populaire – chapitre 1, le cinéma –chapitre 2, les arts martiaux au cinéma – chapitre 3) posent le socle des concepts et des notions nécessaires pour appréhender cet imaginaire des arts martiaux. Le premier chapitre de l’analyse met au travail une approche globale du corpus selon un classement thématique (chapitre 5). Les chapitres subséquents présentent successivement les dimensions observables des représentations sociales de l’imaginaire des arts martiaux au cinéma : – les agencements matériels et spatiaux (chapitre 6), – la conduite ou l’attitude des personnages (chapitre 7), – l’objectif poursuivi ou la finalité de l’action (chapitre 8), – le contenu des discours (chapitre 9). Les œuvres cinématographiques qui montrent les arts martiaux ne sont possibles que parce qu’il existe un ordre établi dans la manière de comprendre et de transmettre les représentations de l’imaginaire des arts martiaux. Cela constitue, en fait, le propre de son caractère social. C’est-à-dire que les divers éléments des représentations des arts martiaux s’organisent à partir d’un schéma sémantique précis qui permet de comprendre la dynamique sous-jacente de son existence dans plusieurs univers filmiques simultanés. Autrement dit, nous avons découvert le squelette des éléments essentiels (système structurant ou noyau central) autour duquel viennent se comprendre et se construire les images cinématographiques des arts martiaux. Ce squelette dicte le canevas fondamental d’un récit porteur de l’imaginaire des arts martiaux. Premièrement, un personnage réalise un cheminement, sans qu’il s’agisse nécessairement de la trame principale du récit, où il atteint une compréhension morale supérieure redevable à une progression physique et psychique grâce aux arts martiaux. Deuxièmement, ceci le mène à se concevoir comme un instrument pour influencer et agir. Troisièmement, on observe souvent une part fantastique dans le récit, ce qui se traduit par l’usage de la magie.
This study intends to depict how the “social imaginary” of martial arts is structured within the field of cinematography. In order to do so, different martial arts cinematographic representations were analyzed based on a list of several previously-selected movie scenes. In order to produce a qualitative analysis of the scenes’ content (chapter 4), the concept of social representation was used, portrayed and considered a direct continuation to the notion of “social imaginary”. This methodology allows the questioning of several scenes of a corpus made out of 16 martial arts movies as well as 4 action movies. The first three chapters, the social imaginary and popular culture (chapter 1), the film-making industry (chapter 2) and martial arts as they are portrayed by the film-making industry (chapter 3), are the roots which set the basis for the necessary concepts and notions needed to get a better grasp of what the “social imaginary” of martial arts is. The first chapter of the analysis puts a global approach of the corpus at work through a thematic classification presented in the fifth chapter. The following chapters successively depict the observable dimensions of the social representations of the martial arts’ imaginary within the film-making industry: spatial and material layouts (chapter 6), characters’ attitude and actions (chapter 7), the purpose of the action (chapter 8) and the content of the characters’ speeches (chapter 9). Martial arts cinematographic works are only possible, because of the existence of a pre-established and pre-conceived order of actions, thus allowing a better understanding and transmission of the social imaginary representations of martial arts. In fact, it is at the core basis of its social character. The different elements of the social representation of martial arts are being organized, within a specific semantic scheme, which allows for a better understanding of the underlying dynamic structures and of its existence in several simultaneous cinematographic universes. In other words, it was found out that there is a “sequential skeleton” or a “structuring system” which contains the essential intertwined elements that form the cinematographic images of martial arts. This skeleton dictates the fundamentals patterns of the martial arts’ imaginary discourse. First, and without necessarily being the movie’s main intrigue, a character undergoes a journey that makes him achieve a deeper and superior moral understanding; he achieves a new level of comprehension that is directly linked to a physical and psychical progression through martial arts’ training. Then, this journey allows him to see himself as an influential and active agent of change. Finally, the story usually contains elements of the “fantasy” genre, mainly through the presence or the use of magic.

Orientador: Fernão Vitor Pessoa de Almeida Ramos
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Artes
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T15:38:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maues_JulianaPinheiro_M.pdf: 9529207 bytes, checksum: f09dbf4511fe2a248642488c600339ef (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013
Resumo: O presente trabalho é resultado de pesquisa sobre o diretor chinês Chang Cheh, atuante no cinema de artes marciais de Hong Kong dos anos 1960 aos 1990. A proposta é traçar um perfil estilístico da obra deste cineasta, tendo como fio da meada a categoria que Noël Burch denomina "tema", ou seja, a matriz da forma cinematográfica. Para isso, foram selecionados dez filmes, de modo a compreender ao menos um de cada uma das fases da carreira do cineasta, sobre os quais foi realizada extensiva análise estilística, segundo parâmetros estabelecidos por David Bordwell. Desse modo, foi possível a identificação de um tema maior, que confere unidade à obra de Chang e cujos desdobramentos permitiram a sua identificação com o conceito de Força, conforme desenvolvido por Simone Weil. Logo, o cerne deste trabalho está no modo como Chang expressa estilisticamente à problemática da Força, com especial atenção para os seus pontos de contato com aspectos como o heroísmo, a violência e o trágico. Este trabalho pretende, ainda, ser uma apresentação do cinema de Chang, o qual, apesar da sua larga influência no cinema de Hong Kong e no filme de ação de modo geral, é pouco presente nos meios acadêmicos e na cinefilia canônica
Abstract: This work is presented as a result of a research on the Chinese director Chang Cheh, a filmmaker who worked in the martial arts cinema made in Hong Kong from the 1960s until the 1990s. The purpose is to trace a stylistic profile of his work, taking as conduction the category Noël Burch called "theme", in other words, the generator of cinematographic form. With this intention, it was selected ten movies, chosen in a way to content at least one representant of each one of the phases of the director's career. It was made extensive stylistic analyse over these movies, following parameters established by David Bordwell. Thus it was possible to identify a major theme that gives unity to Chang's work and whose deployment allowed its identification with the concept of Force, in the way it was developed by Simone Weil. The core of this work is in perceive the way Chang expresses in a stylistic mode the problematic of Force, with special attention to aspects such as heroism, violence and tragic. This work intends to be also a presentation of Chang's cinema. Although his large influence in the Hong Kong cinema and in the action movie altogether, Chang is still a filmmaker not very present in academic circles and in canonic cinephilia
Mestrado
Multimeios
Mestra em Multimeios

Cette thèse est consacrée aux échanges entre le cinéma hongkongais et Hollywood. Depuis le début des années 90, un certain nombre de réalisateurs, d’acteurs et de chorégraphes de scènes de combat originaires de Hong Kong sont effectivement venus travailler aux États-Unis. Les films tournés à Hollywood par ces artistes hongkongais ne représentent cependant que la part la plus manifeste des transferts entre les deux industries cinématographiques. Ces transferts n’ont en fait cessé de prendre de l’ampleur depuis l’émergence, en 1979, de ce que l’on a appelé la « Nouvelle Vague » hongkongaise (un mouvement de jeunes réalisateurs ayant pour la plupart étudié dans des pays anglo-saxons). Dans cette thèse sont analysés les tentatives d’hybridation (notamment sur un plan générique), les remakes et les différentes formes d’emprunts narratifs et stylistiques qui ont contribué à cette circulation des formes entre les deux cinématographies
This thesis examines the exchanges between Hong Kong cinema and Hollywood. Since the beginning of the 1990s, several Hong Kong directors, actors and fight scenes choreographers have indeed emigrated to the United States. But the movies made in Hollywood by these filmmakers and stars from Hong Kong only represent the most obvious part of the transfers between the two film industries. These transfers have actually constantly increased since the emergence, in 1979, of what have been called the “New Wave” of Hong Kong (a movement of young directors, mostly educated in North America and England). In this thesis are studied the attempts to create hybrid works (especially on a generic level), the remakes and the different kinds of narrative and stylistic borrowings which contributed to the circulation of forms between the two film industries

Denna uppsats fokuserar på King Hus actionestetik och den montagekonstruerade rörelsen, enligt en konkret syftesformulering som lyder: Att öka förståelsen för King Hus estetiska val genom att belysa vissa rytmiska rörelsetendenser, såsom en konstruktion av filmens montage, och dess relation till två vitt skilda konstyttringar, med dessa avses Pekingoperan och cinéma pur. Ledande tes genom uppsatsen är att Hus visuella stil visserligen är starkt präglad av ett personligt intresse och en djup förståelse för estetiska normer i Pekingoperan, men att han samtidigt genom ett skickligt utnyttjande av cinematiska tekniker skapar en alldeles unik version av kinesisk estetik, som måste förstås som specifik för filmmediet. Sammantaget är förhoppningen att resultatet skall bidra till avmarginaliseringen av Hu som förvaltare till en förment essens av traditionell kinesisk kultur. Metoden består i en jämförande analys av rörligt bildmaterial i två steg, som illustrativ modell och teoretisk ingång till rörelsebegreppet tillämpas Heinrich von Kleists marionett och i dess förlängning även Sergei Eisensteins biomekaniska rakurs.

Min analys leder mig till slutsatsen att den rytmiska rörelsen i Hus actionscener har starka likheter med såväl Pekingoperan som cinéma pur, och jag vill på grundval av detta föreslå att Hu snarare bör förstås som en nyskapare av kinesisk estetik, då han positionerar sig någonstans mellan traditionalism och modernism genom att skapa en estetisk jämvikt mellan teater och film där ingenderas legat går förlorad.

Wu Huaiting.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-130).
Abstracts in English and Chinese.
Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction and Analytical Framework --- p.1
Chapter Chapter 2 --- Local Agents and Global Alliance --- p.28
Chapter Chapter 3 --- Particularization and Universalization --- p.51
Chapter Chapter 4 --- "Distribution, Marketing and Exhibition" --- p.75
Chapter Chapter 5 --- The Globalization of a Local Culture --- p.94
"Appendix 1 Awards for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" --- p.104
"Appendix 2 Credits for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" --- p.106
Appendix 3 Ang Lee's Features --- p.108
Appendix 4 Source List for Database --- p.110
"Appendix 5 The Story of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" --- p.113
"Appendix 6 Release dates for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" --- p.119
Bibliography --- p.122

碩士
國立臺北大學
社會學系
101
In this study, four types of masculinity classified by Connell are used as research framework to analyze the male and female roles in eight Chinese martial arts films which were directed from 1966 to 2011 by famous directors like King Hu. It is found,in the texts created under the gaze of male directors, the leading male knight/swordsman role has a trend towards complicit masculinity. This trend points to a patriarchal system which actually not only oppresses female but also male. Female roles are often presented as objects being enlighten or sacrificed in the exchange for bodily autonomy, to assume a more negative role image and often directly show uneasiness on marriage and love emotion. Compared to male knight/swordsman roles, female roles are more motivated to discuss emotional issues and deal with growth setbacks. The eunuch roles are even more positive to resolve castration anxiety/penis envy. Under the mask of hegemonic masculinity, male roles are able to conceal these growing frustration and anxiety. The matters masculine male roles can not do (exchange male body in sexuality for authority and advantage), and can not say (anxiety of love, marriage and sex) are rendered by female / eunuch roles. On the other hand, it is found a phenomenon of loose in masculine image of the male knight/swordsman roles in modern martial arts films.

Thesis (M. A.)--Florida State University, 2005.
Advisor: Neil Jumonville, Florida State Universsity, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of History. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Jan. 27, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 93 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

碩士
國立政治大學
傳播學院傳播碩士學位學程
107
As one of the most representative types of Chinese movies, martial arts films are currently facing the development of satisfaction. Xu Haofeng's martial arts film is a rethinking of martial arts. This study selected three films from Xu Haofeng's martial arts film named "Judge Archer", "The Grandmaster" and "Master". Through the "author strategy", "narrative analysis" and "structuralism - semiotics", this paper explores how Xu Haofeng filmed martial arts movies of the Republic of China. Through his three works, I found that he would like to repeatedly recount the theme of films. The role setting and function are similar. Under the influence of realism, He reproduced "martial arts", "professional martial arts" and "different cultures ".

碩士
國立成功大學
藝術研究所
105
SUMMARY This article will introduce the sound image of Jingquan Hu’s three films. The Chinese martial arts film, as the world’s unique type of film, conveys the dramatic effect through the shape of the image. The film is the reality of the reproduction as well as the combination of sound and image use, which can generate a dramatic effect and present a plot of ideals or associations. The film makes use of the traditional martial arts action. After shooting, Jinquan Hu firstly makes a fast-paced action and then creates a new martial arts film. By using the action and voice, the film expresses the vivid image and highlights the personal style. Jinquan Hu’s success not only builds up his status in the film field but also triggers a martial arts boom. These three martial arts films strengthen the image and plot in the sound effect of the characters and virtually convey the consciousness of the film to the audiences.

Trás-os-Montes, a primeira das longas-metragens realizadas por António Reis e Margarida Martins Cordeiro, é obra prima do cinema português. Polémico na estreia, foi contestado, tanto na forma como no conteúdo, por determinadas camadas da população portuguesa que não compreenderam o intuito deste trabalho. Uma mais justa leitura deste filme exige que o enquadremos no seu contexto bem como na linhagem do cinema em geral e, em particular, do cinema português. Trás-os-Montes bebe da cumplicidade do conhecimento etnográfico de uma região, recriando a sua história e gerando uma obra poética “documental ficcionada” que ilustra a história, os saberes e costumes de uma das mais recônditas regiões de Portugal. Mistura as duas correntes do cinema, o documentário e a ficção, numa obra cuja classificação, à actualidade, é redutora da verdadeira tipologia do filme.
Trás-os-Montes, the first feature film directed by António Reis and Margarida Martins Cordeiro, is a Portuguese cinema masterpiece. With a controversial premiere, the film was contested both in form and in content by certain groups of the Portuguese population who did not understand the purpose of this work. A fairer reading of this film requires framing in its context as well as in the lineage of cinema in general and in particular of the Portuguese cinema. Trás-os-Montes takes advantage of the ethnographic knowledge of a region, recreating its history and generating a poetic work "fictionally documented". It illustrates the history, knowledge and customs of one of the most unknown regions of Portugal. It mixes the two types of cinema, documentary and fiction film, in a work whose classification nowadays do not represent fully the true typology of the film.