Assignment
Everyone must do numbers 1-2.
1. Explain how Big Shot's Funeral makes fun of rampant commercialism in the following two scenes: Tyler'sreincarnation as a black boy; an insane businessman defining who counts as a successful person. What is Feng Xiaogang's position on commercialism (e.g., supportive, critical, or else)?
2. Explain how 24 City perceives urban transformation in the following two scenes: workers singing in a large auditorium; Zhao Tao's character in her Volkswagen beetle car in an empty lot. What is Jia Zhangke's evaluation of socialist legacy (e.g., nostalgic, critical, or else)?
Then choose two others from numbers 3-6 that you did NOT discuss in your term paper.
3. Describe how you interpret these two details from Plunder of Peach and Plum: the child is abandoned at an orphanage; the old principal visits the imprisoned former student. What message does the film send by ending in tragedy?
4. Cite two examples from It's My Day Off to illustrate how the film emphasizes the importance of everyone helping others. What reward does the model policeman get in the end and why is it important?
5. Discuss the meanings of these two details from Ermo: Ermo repeatedly sells her blood; Ermo dozes off while the TV screen shows nothing. What is the film's judgment on Ermo's success in postsocialist China?
6. Explain your interpretation of these two examples from Suzhou River: Mada and Mudan die in an accident; the videographer refuses to look for the disappeared Meimei. What is the director's overall view of Shanghai?