Asian cinema
Encyclopedia
Asian cinema refers to the film industries and films produced in the continent of Asia
, and is also sometimes known as Eastern cinema. More commonly however, it is used to refer to the cinema of Eastern
, Southeastern
and Southern Asia
. West Asian cinema is sometimes classified as part of Middle East
ern cinema rather than Asian cinema, though Iran
and Afghanistan
are often included. The Cinema of Central Asia
is also usually grouped with the Middle East. North Asia
is dominated by Siberia
n Russia
, and is thus considered European cinema.
East Asian cinema
is typified by the cinema of Japan
, China
, Hong Kong
, Taiwan
and South Korea
, including the Japanese anime
industry and action films of Hong Kong
. Southeast Asian cinema
is typified by the cinema of the Philippines
, Thailand
and other Southeast Asian countries. The cinema of Central Asia
and the southern Caucasus
is typified by Iranian cinema and Tajikistan
. West Asian cinema is typified by Turkish cinema and the cinema of Israel
. Finally, South Asian cinema
is typified by the Cinema of India
, which includes Hindi
, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada
and Bengali
industries.
Critics' Poll of all-time greatest films was:
The highest-ranking Asian films in the 1992 Sight & Sound Critics' Poll of greatest films were:
The highest-ranking Asian films in the 2002 Sight & Sound Critics' Poll were:
In a 1998 critics' poll of all-time greatest films conducted by Asian film magazine Cinemaya
, the following films were ranked the highest:
In a 2000 audience poll of "Best Asian films" conducted by MovieMail, the highest-ranking films were:
Critics' Top Ten Poll were:
The highest-ranking Asian film director in the 1992 Sight & Sound Directors' Top Ten Poll was:
The highest-ranking Asian film directors in the 2002 Sight & Sound critics' and directors' poll were:
Other notable Asian film directors include:
, Iran
, has five images of a goat painted along the sides. This is believed to be an example of early animation
.
Mo-Ti, a Chinese philosopher
circa 500 BC, pondered the phenomenology
of inverted light from the outside world beaming through a small hole in the opposite wall in a darkened room. Shadow play
s first appeared during the Han Dynasty
and later gain popularity across Asia
. Around 180 AD, Ting Huan (丁緩) created an elementary zoetrope
in China.
In 1021, Alhazen, an Iraqi scientist, experimented with the same optical
principle
described by Mo-Ti, and wrote of the results in his Book of Optics
, which provided the first clear description and correct analysis of the camera obscura
. His lamp
experiment, where several different light sources are arranged across a large area, was the first to successful project an entire image from outdoors onto a screen indoors with the camera obscura.
.
The first Asian feature film
was Japan's The Life Story of Tasuke Shiobara (1912). It was followed by India's first feature-length silent film, the period piece
drama Raja Harishchandra
(1913), by Dadasaheb Phalke
, considered the father of Indian cinema
. By the next decade, the output of Indian cinema was an average of 27 films per year.
In the 1920s, the newborn Soviet cinema
was the most radically innovative. There, the craft of editing, especially, surged forward, going beyond its previous role in advancing a story. Sergei Eisenstein
perfected the technique of so-called dialectical or intellectual montage, which strove to make non-linear
, often violently clashing, images express ideas and provoke emotional and intellectual reactions in the viewer.
Unlike European cinema, the Asian film industries were not dominated by American film
distributors, and developed in relative isolation from Hollywood cinema; while Hollywood films were screened in Asian countries, they were less popular than home-grown fare with local audiences. Thus, several distinctive genres and styles developed.
s began being produced in Asia from the 1930s. Notable early talkies from the cinema of Japan
included Kenji Mizoguchi's Sisters of the Gion
(Gion no shimai, 1936), Osaka Elegy
(1936) and The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums
(1939), along with Sadao Yamanaka
's Humanity and Paper Balloons
(1937) and Mikio Naruse
's Wife, Be Like A Rose! (Tsuma Yo Bara No Yoni, 1935), which was one of the first Japanese films to gain a theatrical release in the U.S. However, with increasing censorship, the left-leaning tendency film
s of directors such as Daisuke Ito also began to come under attack. A few Japanese sound shorts were made in the 1920s and 1930s, but Japan's first feature-length talkie was Fujiwara Yoshie no furusato (1930), which used the 'Mina Talkie System'. In 1935, Yasujirō Ozu
also directed An Inn in Tokyo, considered a precursor to the neorealism
genre.
Ardeshir Irani
released Alam Ara
, the first Indian talking film, on March 14, 1931. Following the inception of 'talkies' in India some film stars were highly sought after and earned comfortable incomes through acting. As sound technology advanced the 1930s saw the rise of music in Indian cinema with musicals such as Indra Sabha and Devi Devyani marking the beginning of song-and-dance in India's films. Studios emerged across major cities such as Chennai
, Kolkata
and Mumbai
as filmmaking became an established craft by 1935, exemplified by the success of Devdas
, which had managed to enthrall audiences nationwide.
by the mid-1940s, the period from the late 1940s to the 1960s is considered the 'Golden Age' of Asian cinema. Many of the most critically acclaimed Asian films of all time were produced during this period, including Yasujirō Ozu
's Late Spring
(1949) and Tokyo Story
(1953); Akira Kurosawa
's Rashomon
(1950), Ikiru
(1952), Seven Samurai (1954) and Throne of Blood
(1957); Kenji Mizoguchi
's The Life of Oharu
(1952), Sansho the Bailiff
(1954) and Ugetsu
(1954); Satyajit Ray
's The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959), The Music Room
(1958) and Charulata
(1964); Guru Dutt
's Pyaasa
(1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool
(1959); and Fei Mu
's Spring in a Small Town
(1948), Raj Kapoor
's Awaara
(1951), Mikio Naruse
's Floating Clouds
(1955) and Ritwik Ghatak's Subarnarekha
(1962).
During Japanese cinema
's 'Golden Age' of the 1950s and 1960s, successful films included Rashomon
(1950), Seven Samurai (1954) and The Hidden Fortress
(1958) by Akira Kurosawa
, as well as Yasujirō Ozu
's Tokyo Story
(1953) and Ishirō Honda
's Godzilla
(1954). These films have had a profound influence on world cinema. In particular, Kurosawa's Seven Samurai has been remade several times as Western films
, such as The Magnificent Seven
(1960) and Battle Beyond the Stars
(1980), and has also inspired several Bollywood
films, such as Sholay
(1975) and China Gate
(1998). Rashomon was also remade as The Outrage
(1964), and inspired films with "Rashomon effect
" storytelling methods, such as Andha Naal
(1954), The Usual Suspects
(1995) and Hero
(2002). The Hidden Fortress was also the inspiration behind George Lucas
' Star Wars
(1977). The Japanese New Wave began in the late 1950s and continued into the 1960s. Other famous Japanese filmmakers from this period include Kenji Mizoguchi
, Mikio Naruse
, Hiroshi Inagaki
and Nagisa Oshima
. Japanese cinema later became one of the main inspirations behind the New Hollywood
movement of the 1960s to 1980s.
During Indian cinema
's 'Golden Age' of the 1950s and 1960s, it was producing 200 films annually, while Indian independent films
gained greater recognition through international film festival
s. One of the most famous was The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959) from critically acclaimed Bengali film
director Satyajit Ray
, whose films had a profound influence on world cinema, with directors such as Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese
, James Ivory
, Abbas Kiarostami
, Elia Kazan
, François Truffaut
, Steven Spielberg
, Carlos Saura
, Jean-Luc Godard
, Isao Takahata
, Gregory Nava
, Ira Sachs
, Wes Anderson
and Danny Boyle
being influenced by his cinematic style. According to Michael Sragow of The Atlantic Monthly, the "youthful coming-of-age
dramas
that have flooded art houses since the mid-fifties owe a tremendous debt to the Apu trilogy". Subrata Mitra
's cinematographic technique of bounce lighting also originates from The Apu Trilogy. Satyajit Ray's success led to the establishment of the 'Parallel Cinema
' movement, which was at its peak during the 1950s and 1960s. Other famous Indian filmmakers from this period include Guru Dutt
, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen
, Bimal Roy
, K. Asif
and Mehboob Khan.
The cinema of China
experienced a 'Golden Age' in the late 1940s. In 1946, Cai Chusheng returned to Shanghai to revive the Lianhua name as the "Lianhua Film Society." This in turn became Kunlun Studios which would go on to become one of the most important Chinese studios of the era, putting out the classics, Myriads of Lights (1948), The Spring River Flows East (1947), and Crows and Sparrows
(1949). Wenhua's romantic drama Spring in a Small Town
(1948), a film by director Fei Mu
shortly prior to the revolution, is often regarded by Chinese film critics as one of the most important films in the history of Chinese cinema, with it being named by the Hong Kong Film Awards
in 2004 as the greatest Chinese-language film ever made.
The cinema of Malaysia
also had its 'Golden Age' in the post-war period of the 1950s and 1960s. The period saw the introduction of the studio system of filmmaking in Malaysia and influx of influences from Hollywood
, the emerging cinema of Hong Kong
, and particularly the Indian and Japanese film industries which were themselves experiencing a Golden Age.
The cinema of South Korea also experienced a 'Golden Age' in the late 1950s and 1960s, beginning with director Lee Kyu-hwan's tremendously successful remake of Chunhyang-jon (1955). That year also saw the release of Yangsan Province
by the renowned director, Kim Ki-young
, marking the beginning of his productive career. Both the quality and quantity of filmmaking had increased rapidly by the end of the 1950s. South Korean films, such as Lee Byeong-il's 1956 comedy Sijibganeun nal (The Wedding Day), had begun winning international awards. In contrast to the beginning of the 1950s, when only 5 movies were made per year, 111 films were produced in South Korea in 1959. The year 1960 saw the production of Kim Ki-young's The Housemaid
and Yu Hyun-mok
's Aimless Bullet
, both of which have been listed among the best Korean films ever made.
The late 1950s and 1960s was also a 'Golden Age' for Philippine cinema
, with the emergence of more artistic and mature films, and significant improvement in cinematic techniques among filmmakers. The studio system produced frenetic activity in the local film industry as many films were made annually and several local talents started to earn recognition abroad. The premiere Philippine directors of the era included Gerardo de Leon
, Gregorio Fernandez
, Eddie Romero
, Lamberto Avellana, and Cirio Santiago.
The 1960s is often cited as being the 'golden age' of Pakistani cinema
. Many A-stars were introduced in this period in time and became legends on the silver screen
. As black-and-white became obsolete, Pakistan saw the introduction of its first colour films, the first being Munshi Dil's Azra
in early 1960s, Zahir Rehan's Sangam (first full-length coloured film) in 1964, and Mala (first coloured cinemascope film). In 1961, the political film Bombay Wallah was released, based on the city of Bombay
in neighbouring India, in the wake of the growing tension between the nations. In 1962, Shaheed (Martyr) pronounced the Palestine
issue on the silver screen and became an instant hit, leading to a changing tide in the attitude of filmmakers.
The 1960s was the "golden age" of Cambodian cinema
. Several production companies were started and more movie theaters were built throughout the country. More than 300 movies were made in Cambodia during the era. A number of Khmer language
films were well-received in its neougbouring countries at the time. Among the classic films from Cambodia
during this period were Lea Haey Duong Dara (Goodbye Duong Dara) and Pos Keng Kang
(The Snake King's Wife) by Tea Lim Kun and Sabbseth, and An Euil Srey An (Khmer After Angkor) by Ly Bun Yim.
had begun to become seriously affected by the collapse of the studio system. As Japanese cinema slipped into a period of relative low visibility, the cinema of Hong Kong entered a dramatic renaissance of its own, largely a side effect of the development of the wuxia blending of action, history, and spiritual concerns. Several major figures emerged in Hong Kong at this time - perhaps most famously, King Hu
, whose 1966 Come Drink With Me
was a key influence upon many subsequent Hong Kong cinematic developments. Shortly thereafter, the American-born Bruce Lee
became a global icon in the 1970s.
From 1969 onwards, the Iranian New Wave led to the growth of Iranian cinema
, which would later go on to achieve international acclaim in the 1980s and 1990s. The most notable figures of the Iranian New Wave are Abbas Kiarostami
, Jafar Panahi
, Majid Majidi
, Bahram Beizai, Darius Mehrjui
, Mohsen Makhmalbaf
, Masoud Kimiay, Sohrab Shahid-Saless
, Parviz Kimiavi
, Samira Makhmalbaf
, Amir Naderi
, and Abolfazl Jalili
. Features of New Wave Iranian film, in particular the works of legendary Abbas Kiarostami, have been classified by some as postmodern.
The 1970s also saw the establishment of Bangladeshi cinema
following the country's independence
in 1971. One of the first films produced in Bangladesh
after independence was Titash Ekti Nadir Naam
(A River Called Titas) in 1973 by acclaimed director Ritwik Ghatak, whose stature in Bengali cinema
is comparable to that of Satyajit Ray
and Mrinal Sen
.
In the cinema of India
, the 1970s saw a decline in 'Parallel Cinema
' and the rise of commercial Hindi cinema
in the form of enduring masala films
, such as the Mumbai underworld film Deewaar (1975) and "Curry Western" movie Sholay
(1975), which solidified Amitabh Bachchan
's position as a lead actor. Commercial cinema further grew throughout the 1980s and the 1990s with the release of films such as Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak
(1988), Tezaab
(1988), Maine Pyar Kiya
(1989), Baazigar
(1993), Darr
(1993) and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995).
During the 1980s, Japanese cinema - aided by the rise of independent filmmaking and the spectacular success of anime
- began to make something of an international comeback. Simultaneously, a new post-MaoZedong generation of Chinese filmakers began to gain global attention. Another group of filmmakers, centered around Edward Yang
and Hou Hsiao-hsien
launched what has become known as the "Taiwanese New Wave".
The 1980s is also considered the Golden Age of Hong Kong action cinema
. Jackie Chan
reinvented the martial arts film
genre with a new emphasis on elaborate dangerous stunts and slapstick humour, beginning with Project A
(1983). John Woo
began the heroic bloodshed
genre based on triads, beginning with A Better Tomorrow
(1986). The Hong Kong New Wave
also occurred during this period, led by filmmakers such as Tsui Hark
.
With the post-1980 rise in popularity of East Asian cinema in the West, Western audiences are again becoming familiar with many of the industry's film-makers and stars. A number of these key players, such as Chow Yun-fat
and Zhang Ziyi
have "crossed over", working in Western films. Others have gained exposure through the international success of their films, though many more retain more of a "cult
" appeal, finding a degree of Western success through DVD sales rather than cinema releases.
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, and is also sometimes known as Eastern cinema. More commonly however, it is used to refer to the cinema of Eastern
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
, Southeastern
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
and Southern Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
. West Asian cinema is sometimes classified as part of Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
ern cinema rather than Asian cinema, though Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
are often included. The Cinema of Central Asia
Cinema of Central Asia
The Cinema of Central Asia refers to the cinema of the five Central Asian countries...
is also usually grouped with the Middle East. North Asia
North Asia
North Asia or Northern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the Asian portion of Russia.The Phillips Illustrated Atlas of the World 1988 defines it as being most of the former USSR, the part that is to the east of the Ural Mountains...
is dominated by Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
n Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and is thus considered European cinema.
East Asian cinema
East Asian cinema
East Asian cinema is a term used to refer to the film industry and films produced in and/or by natives of East Asia. It can be seen as a sub-section of Asian cinema, which in turn is a sub-section of world cinema, a catchall term used in the English-speaking world to refer to all foreign language...
is typified by the cinema of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, including the Japanese anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
industry and action films of Hong Kong
Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. It combines elements from the action film, as codified by Hollywood, with Chinese storytelling and aesthetic traditions, to create a culturally distinctive form that nevertheless has a wide transcultural...
. Southeast Asian cinema
Southeast Asian cinema
Southeast Asian cinema refers to the film industry and films produced in, and/or by natives of, Southeast Asia. By definition, it describes any films produced in Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.Southeast Asian cinema...
is typified by the cinema of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and other Southeast Asian countries. The cinema of Central Asia
Cinema of Central Asia
The Cinema of Central Asia refers to the cinema of the five Central Asian countries...
and the southern Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
is typified by Iranian cinema and Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
. West Asian cinema is typified by Turkish cinema and the cinema of Israel
Cinema of Israel
Cinema of Israel refers to movie production in Israel since its founding in 1948. Most Israeli films are produced in Hebrew. Israel has been nominated for more Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film than any other country in the Middle East....
. Finally, South Asian cinema
South Asian cinema
South Asian cinema refers to the cinema of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.The terms Asian cinema, Eastern cinema and Oriental cinema in common usage often encompass South Asia as well as East Asia and South East Asia...
is typified by the Cinema of India
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
, which includes Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada
Cinema of Karnataka
The cinema of Karnataka , sometimes colloquially referred to as Sandalwood and as Chandanavana in Kannada, encompasses movies made in the Indian state of Karnataka based in Bangalore. Most of the movies are made in Kannada, with a handful of them in Konkani or Tulu. Today more than 100 films are...
and Bengali
Cinema of West Bengal
The cinema of West Bengal refers to the Tollygunge-based Bengali film industry in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The origins of the nickname Tollywood, a portmanteau of the words Tollygunge and Hollywood, dates back to 1932...
industries.
Asian films
The highest-ranking Asian film in the 1982 Sight & SoundSight & Sound
Sight & Sound is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute .Sight & Sound was first published in 1932 and in 1934 management of the magazine was handed to the nascent BFI, which still publishes the magazine today...
Critics' Poll of all-time greatest films was:
- Seven Samurai (1954, Akira KurosawaAkira Kurosawawas a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
, Japan)
The highest-ranking Asian films in the 1992 Sight & Sound Critics' Poll of greatest films were:
- 1. Tokyo StoryTokyo Storyis a 1953 Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu. It tells the story of an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. The film contrasts the behavior of their biological children, who are too busy to pay them much attention, and their daughter-in-law, who treats them with...
(1953, Yasujirō OzuYasujiro Ozuwas a prominent Japanese film director and script writer. He is known for his distinctive technical style, developed during the silent era. Marriage and family, especially the relationships between the generations, are among the most persistent themes in his body of work...
, Japan) - 2. Pather Panchali (1955, Satyajit RaySatyajit RaySatyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
, India) - 3. Seven Samurai (1954, Akira Kurosawa, Japan)
- 4. UgetsuUgetsuUgetsu is a 1953 Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Set in 16th century Japan, it stars Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō, and is inspired by short stories by Ueda Akinari and Guy de Maupassant...
(1954, Kenji MizoguchiKenji MizoguchiKenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His film Ugetsu won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and appeared in the Sight & Sound Critics' Top Ten Poll in 1962 and 1972. Mizoguchi is renowned for his mastery of the long take and mise-en-scène...
, Japan) - 5. The Music RoomJalsagharJalsaghar is the fourth feature film directed by Satyajit Ray. Jalsaghar is a narration of the end days of a Zamindar in Bengal. The landlord, Roy , is a just but other-worldly man who loves to spend time listening to music and putting up spectacles rather than managing his fields ravaged by...
(1958, Satyajit Ray, India) - 6. CharulataCharulataCharulata is a 1964 film by Bengali director Satyajit Ray, based upon the novella Nastanirh by Rabindranath Tagore...
(1964, Satyajit Ray, India) - 6. IkiruIkiruis a 1952 Japanese film co-written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film examines the struggles of a minor Tokyo bureaucrat and his final quest for meaning. The film stars Takashi Shimura as Kanji Watanabe.-Plot:...
(1952, Akira Kurosawa, Japan) - 8. Sansho the BailiffSansho the Bailiff-External links:* at the Japanese Movie Database* * and QuickTime trailer* essay by Mark Le Fanu...
(1954, Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan) - 8. Yellow EarthYellow EarthYellow Earth is a 1984 Chinese drama film. It was the directorial debut for Chen Kaige. The film's notable cinematography is by Zhang Yimou. At the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony on 27 March 2005, a list of 100 Best Chinese Motion Pictures was tallied, and Yellow Earth came in...
(1984, Chen KaigeChen KaigeChen Kaige is a Chinese film director and a leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema. His films are known for their visual flair and epic storytelling.-Early life:...
, China) - 10. The Life of OharuThe Life of Oharuis a 1952 historical fiction black-and-white film by director Kenji Mizoguchi starring Kinuyo Tanaka as Oharu, a one-time concubine of a daimyō who struggles to escape the stigma of having been sold into prostitution by her father...
(1952, Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan) - 10. RashomonRashomon (film)The bandit's storyTajōmaru, a notorious brigand , claims that he tricked the samurai to step off the mountain trail with him and look at a cache of ancient swords he discovered. In the grove he tied the samurai to a tree, then brought the woman there. She initially tried to defend herself with a...
(1950, Akira Kurosawa, Japan) - 12. AparajitoAparajitoAparajito is a 1956 Bengali film directed by Satyajit Ray, and is the second part of The Apu Trilogy. It is adapted from the last one-fifth of Bibhutibhushan Bannerjee's novel Pather Panchali and the first one-third of its sequel Aparajito. It focuses on the life of Apu from childhood to college...
(1956, Satyajit Ray, India) - 12. Late SpringLate Springis a critically acclaimed black-and-white Japanese film drama, directed by Yasujirō Ozu , first released in Japan in September 1949. Based on the novel Father and Daughter by Kazuo Hirotsu, the story concerns a young woman who lives happily in Kamakura with her kindly professor father, a widower...
(1949, Yasujirō Ozu, Japan) - 12. The World of Apu (1959, Satyajit Ray, India)
The highest-ranking Asian films in the 2002 Sight & Sound Critics' Poll were:
- Tokyo StoryTokyo Storyis a 1953 Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu. It tells the story of an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. The film contrasts the behavior of their biological children, who are too busy to pay them much attention, and their daughter-in-law, who treats them with...
(1953, Yasujirō Ozu, Japan) - Seven Samurai (1954, Akira Kurosawa, Japan)
- RashomonRashomon (film)The bandit's storyTajōmaru, a notorious brigand , claims that he tricked the samurai to step off the mountain trail with him and look at a cache of ancient swords he discovered. In the grove he tied the samurai to a tree, then brought the woman there. She initially tried to defend herself with a...
(1950, Akira Kurosawa, Japan) - Pather Panchali (1955, Satyajit Ray, India)
- The Story of the Last ChrysanthemumsThe Story of the Last Chrysanthemums, 1939) is a Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi.The film is regarded as one of Mizoguchi's greatest pre-war achievements. Especially notable is Mizoguchi's now mature mise-en-scène compositions and extreme long takes.-Synopsis:...
(1939, Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan) - UgetsuUgetsuUgetsu is a 1953 Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Set in 16th century Japan, it stars Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō, and is inspired by short stories by Ueda Akinari and Guy de Maupassant...
(1954, Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan) - Sansho the BailiffSansho the Bailiff-External links:* at the Japanese Movie Database* * and QuickTime trailer* essay by Mark Le Fanu...
(1954, Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan)
In a 1998 critics' poll of all-time greatest films conducted by Asian film magazine Cinemaya
Cinemaya
Cinemaya is an influential film magazine established in 1988 devoted exclusively to coverage of Asian film. It is published in New Delhi, India and distributed internationally. The present editor-in-chief of Cinemaya is Aruna Vasudev, noted film journalist...
, the following films were ranked the highest:
- 1. Tokyo StoryTokyo Storyis a 1953 Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu. It tells the story of an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. The film contrasts the behavior of their biological children, who are too busy to pay them much attention, and their daughter-in-law, who treats them with...
(1953, Yasujirō Ozu, Japan) - 2. Pather Panchali (1955, Satyajit Ray, India)
- 2. UgetsuUgetsuUgetsu is a 1953 Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Set in 16th century Japan, it stars Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō, and is inspired by short stories by Ueda Akinari and Guy de Maupassant...
(1954, Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan) - 4. IkiruIkiruis a 1952 Japanese film co-written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film examines the struggles of a minor Tokyo bureaucrat and his final quest for meaning. The film stars Takashi Shimura as Kanji Watanabe.-Plot:...
(1952, Akira Kurosawa, Japan) - 4. Seven Samurai (1954, Akira Kurosawa, Japan)
- 6. Where Is the Friend's Home?Where Is the Friend's Home?Where Is the Friend's Home? is a 1987 Iranian film directed and written by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami. The title of the film was derived from a poem by Sohrab Sepehri...
(1987, Abbas KiarostamiAbbas KiarostamiAbbas Kiarostami is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer. An active filmmaker since 1970, Kiarostami has been involved in over forty films, including shorts and documentaries...
, Iran) - 7. The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959, Satyajit Ray, India)
- 7. Yellow EarthYellow EarthYellow Earth is a 1984 Chinese drama film. It was the directorial debut for Chen Kaige. The film's notable cinematography is by Zhang Yimou. At the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony on 27 March 2005, a list of 100 Best Chinese Motion Pictures was tallied, and Yellow Earth came in...
(1984, Chen Kaige, China) - 9. The Time to Live and the Time to DieThe Time to Live and the Time to DieThe Time to Live and the Time to Die is a 1985 film directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien. This film is inspired by screenwriter-turned-director Hou's own coming-of-age story....
(1986, Hou Hsiao-HsienHou Hsiao-HsienHou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
, Taiwan) - 9. A City of SadnessA City of SadnessA City of Sadness is a 1989 Taiwanese historical drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. It tells the story of a family embroiled in the tragic "White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government after their arrival from mainland China in the late 1940s, during...
(1989, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Taiwan) - 11. CharulataCharulataCharulata is a 1964 film by Bengali director Satyajit Ray, based upon the novella Nastanirh by Rabindranath Tagore...
(1964, Satyajit Ray, India) - 11. Floating CloudsFloating Cloudsis a 1955 black-and-white Japanese film drama directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on the novel of the same name by Japanese author and poet Fumiko Hayashi....
(1955, Mikio NaruseMikio Narusewas a Japanese filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer who directed some 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967.Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook...
, Japan) - 11. MandalaMandalaMaṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...
(1981, Im Kwon-TaekIm Kwon-taekIm Kwon-taek is one of South Korea's most renowned film directors. In an active and prolific career, his films have won many domestic and international film festival awards as well as considerable box-office success, and helped bring international attention to the Korean film industry.- Early life...
, South Korea) - 11. The Music RoomJalsagharJalsaghar is the fourth feature film directed by Satyajit Ray. Jalsaghar is a narration of the end days of a Zamindar in Bengal. The landlord, Roy , is a just but other-worldly man who loves to spend time listening to music and putting up spectacles rather than managing his fields ravaged by...
(1958, Satyajit Ray, India) - 11. Spring in a Small TownSpring in a Small TownSpring in a Small Town is a Chinese film released in 1948 and directed by Fei Mu . The film was based on a short story by Li Tianji , and was produced by the Wenhua Film Company....
(1948, Fei MuFei MuFei Mu was a major Chinese film director from the pre-Communist era.-Biography:Born in Shanghai, China, Fei Mu is considered by many to be one of the major film directors prior to the communist revolution in 1949...
, China) - 11. SubarnarekhaSubarnarekha (film)Subarnarekha is an Indian Bengali film directed by Ritwik Ghatak. It was produced in 1962 but was not released until 1965. It was part of the trilogy, Meghe Dhaka Tara , Komal Gandhar , and Subarnarekha , all dealing with the aftermath of the Partition of India in 1947 and the refugees coping with...
(1962/1965, Ritwik Ghatak, India)
In a 2000 audience poll of "Best Asian films" conducted by MovieMail, the highest-ranking films were:
- 1. Raise the Red LanternRaise the Red LanternRaise the Red Lantern is a 1991 film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li. It is an adaption by Ni Zhen of the 1990 novel Wives and Concubines by Su Tong...
(1991, Zhang YimouZhang YimouZhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum....
, China) - 2. The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959, Satyajit Ray, India)
- 3. Seven Samurai (1954, Akira Kurosawa, Japan)
- 4. Sansho the BailiffSansho the Bailiff-External links:* at the Japanese Movie Database* * and QuickTime trailer* essay by Mark Le Fanu...
(1954, Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan) - 5. Tokyo StoryTokyo Storyis a 1953 Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu. It tells the story of an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. The film contrasts the behavior of their biological children, who are too busy to pay them much attention, and their daughter-in-law, who treats them with...
(Yasujirō Ozu, 1953, Japan) - 6. UgetsuUgetsuUgetsu is a 1953 Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Set in 16th century Japan, it stars Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō, and is inspired by short stories by Ueda Akinari and Guy de Maupassant...
(1953, Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan) - 7. In the Mood for LoveIn the Mood for LoveIn the Mood for Love is a 2000 Hong Kong film directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung...
(2000, Wong Kar-waiWong Kar-waiWong Kar-wai BBS is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylized, emotionally resonant work, including Days of Being Wild , Ashes of Time , Chungking Express , Fallen Angels , Happy Together and 2046...
, Hong Kong) - 8. Chungking ExpressChungking ExpressChungking Express is a 1994 Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. The film consists of two stories told in sequence, each about a lovesick Hong Kong policeman mulling over his relationship with a woman...
(1994, Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong) - 9. Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonCrouching Tiger, Hidden DragonCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 wuxia film. An American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen...
(2000, Ang LeeAng LeeAng Lee is a Taiwanese film director. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Eat Drink Man Woman , Sense and Sensibility , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , Hulk , and Brokeback Mountain , for which he won an Academy...
, China / Hong Kong / Taiwan) - 10. MaborosiMaborosiMaborosi, known in Japan as Maboroshi no Hikari is a 1995 Japanese film by director Hirokazu Koreeda starring Makiko Esumi, Tadanobu Asano and Takashi Naitō...
(1995, Hirokazu KoreedaHirokazu Koreedais a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. His films explore themes of memory, death, and coming to terms with loss.Koreeda originally planned to be a novelist, but after graduating from Waseda University instead worked as an assistant director on documentaries for TV Man Union...
, Japan) - 10. Yellow EarthYellow EarthYellow Earth is a 1984 Chinese drama film. It was the directorial debut for Chen Kaige. The film's notable cinematography is by Zhang Yimou. At the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony on 27 March 2005, a list of 100 Best Chinese Motion Pictures was tallied, and Yellow Earth came in...
(1984, Chen Kaige, China)
Notable Asian film directors
The highest-ranking Asian film directors in the 1992 Sight & SoundSight & Sound
Sight & Sound is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute .Sight & Sound was first published in 1932 and in 1934 management of the magazine was handed to the nascent BFI, which still publishes the magazine today...
Critics' Top Ten Poll were:
- Satyajit RaySatyajit RaySatyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
(India) - Yasujirō OzuYasujiro Ozuwas a prominent Japanese film director and script writer. He is known for his distinctive technical style, developed during the silent era. Marriage and family, especially the relationships between the generations, are among the most persistent themes in his body of work...
(Japan)
The highest-ranking Asian film director in the 1992 Sight & Sound Directors' Top Ten Poll was:
- Akira KurosawaAkira Kurosawawas a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
(Japan)
The highest-ranking Asian film directors in the 2002 Sight & Sound critics' and directors' poll were:
- 1. Akira KurosawaAkira Kurosawawas a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
(Japan) - 2. Yasujirō OzuYasujiro Ozuwas a prominent Japanese film director and script writer. He is known for his distinctive technical style, developed during the silent era. Marriage and family, especially the relationships between the generations, are among the most persistent themes in his body of work...
(Japan) - 3. Kenji MizoguchiKenji MizoguchiKenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His film Ugetsu won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and appeared in the Sight & Sound Critics' Top Ten Poll in 1962 and 1972. Mizoguchi is renowned for his mastery of the long take and mise-en-scène...
(Japan) - 4. Satyajit RaySatyajit RaySatyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
(India) - 5. Abbas KiarostamiAbbas KiarostamiAbbas Kiarostami is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer. An active filmmaker since 1970, Kiarostami has been involved in over forty films, including shorts and documentaries...
(Iran) - 6. Hou Hsiao-HsienHou Hsiao-HsienHou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
(Taiwan) - 7. Wong Kar-WaiWong Kar-waiWong Kar-wai BBS is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylized, emotionally resonant work, including Days of Being Wild , Ashes of Time , Chungking Express , Fallen Angels , Happy Together and 2046...
(Hong Kong) - 8. Guru DuttGuru DuttVasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone , popularly known as Guru Dutt, was an Indian film director, producer and actor. He is often credited with ushering in the golden era of Hindi cinema...
(India) - 8. Mikio NaruseMikio Narusewas a Japanese filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer who directed some 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967.Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook...
(Japan) - 8. Edward YangEdward YangEdward Yang , along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming Liang, was one of the leading filmmakers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese Cinema. He won the Best Director Award at Cannes for his 2000 film Yi Yi .-Biography:...
(Taiwan) - 11. Hayao MiyazakiHayao Miyazakiis a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
(Japan) - 12. Zhang YimouZhang YimouZhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum....
(China) - 12. Nagisa OshimaNagisa Oshimais a Japanese film director and screenwriter. After graduating from Kyoto University he was hired by Shochiku Ltd. and quickly progressed to directing his own movies, making his debut feature A Town of Love and Hope in 1959....
(Japan)
Other notable Asian film directors include:
- Tareque MasudTareque MasudTareque Masud was an award-winning Bangladeshi independent film director. He was known for directing the films Muktir Gaan and Matir Moina , for which he won a number of international awards, including the International Critics' Prize and FIPRESCI Prize for Directors' Fortnight at the 2002 Cannes...
(Bangladesh) - Chen KaigeChen KaigeChen Kaige is a Chinese film director and a leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema. His films are known for their visual flair and epic storytelling.-Early life:...
(China) - Fei MuFei MuFei Mu was a major Chinese film director from the pre-Communist era.-Biography:Born in Shanghai, China, Fei Mu is considered by many to be one of the major film directors prior to the communist revolution in 1949...
(China) - Johnnie ToJohnnie ToJohnnie To Kei-Fung, born 22 April 1955, is a Hong Kong film director and producer. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas...
(Hong Kong) - Tsui HarkTsui HarkTsui Hark , born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong New Wave film director and producer. He is viewed as a major figure in the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema .-Early life:...
(Hong Kong) - John WooJohn WooJohn Woo Yu-Sen SBS is a Hong Kong-based film director and producer. Recognized for his stylised films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard...
(Hong Kong) - Ritwik Ghatak (India)
- Adoor GopalakrishnanAdoor GopalakrishnanMoutatthu "Adoor" Gopalakrishnan Unnithan is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer. Adoor Gopalakrishnan had a major role in revolutionizing Malayalam cinema and is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of India.. Adoor's first film Swayamvaram pioneered the new wave cinema...
(India) - K.Balachander (India)
- Mani RatnamMani RatnamMani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi starring Anil Kapoor in 1983...
(India) - Riri RizaRiri RizaRiri Riza is an Indonesian film director, film producer and screenwriter.-Education, early career:Riri graduated in 1993 from the Jakarta Arts Institute, where he majored in film directing. His final film project, Sonata Kampung Bata , won third place in the 1994 Oberhausen short film festival...
(Indonesia) - Bahman GhobadiBahman GhobadiBahman Ghobadi is an Iranian film director of Kurdish ethnicity. He was born on February 1, 1969 in Baneh, Kurdistan Province. Ghobadi belongs to the so called "new wave" of Iranian cinema.-Biography:...
(Iran) - Yam LaranasYam LaranasWilliam Laranas is a Filipino director and cinematographer.-Early life:He took up Medical Technology at Immaculate Conception College, but dropped out after his second year....
(Philippines) - Mohsen MakhmalbafMohsen MakhmalbafMohsen Makhmalbaf is an Iranian film director, writer, editor, and producer. During 2007 he was the president of Asian Film Academy.Makhmalbaf's films have been widely presented in international film festivals in the past ten years. The multi-award-winning director, belongs to the new wave...
(Iran) - Samira MakhmalbafSamira MakhmalbafSamira Makhmalbaf is an internationally acclaimed Iranian filmmaker and script writer. She is the daughter of Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the film director and writer. Samira Makhmalbaf belongs to the New Wave movement within Iranian cinema...
(Iran) - Ephraim KishonEphraim Kishon' was an Israeli author, dramatist, screenwriter, and film director. He is one of the most widely-read contemporary satirists in the world.- Early life and World War II :...
(Israel) - Yasmin AhmadYasmin AhmadYasmin Ahmad was a film director, writer and scriptwriter from Malaysia and was also the executive creative director at Leo Burnett Kuala Lumpur. Her television commercials and films are well-known in Malaysia for their humour, heart and love that crosses cross-cultural barriers, in particular her...
(Malaysia) - Shoaib MansoorShoaib MansoorShoaib Mansoor , PP, SI, is an acclaimed Pakistani film and television producer, director, writer, lyricist and composer.-Career:...
(Pakistan) - Sergei BodrovSergei BodrovSergei Vladimirovich Bodrov is a two-time Academy Award-nominated Russian-American film director, screenwriter, and producer.Bodrov was born in Khabarovsk, Russian SFSR, USSR . In the post-Soviet period he emigrated to the United States. His son, actor Sergei Bodrov, Jr...
(Russia) - Brillante MendozaBrillante MendozaBrillante Mendoza is a Filipino film director. He has directed nine films since 2005. He won the award for Best Director for his film Kinatay at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival...
(Philippines) - Im Kwon-TaekIm Kwon-taekIm Kwon-taek is one of South Korea's most renowned film directors. In an active and prolific career, his films have won many domestic and international film festival awards as well as considerable box-office success, and helped bring international attention to the Korean film industry.- Early life...
(South Korea) - Nuri Bilge CeylanNuri Bilge CeylanNuri Bilge Ceylan is a Turkish photographer and film director. He is married to the filmmaker, photographer, and actress Ebru Ceylan, his co-star in İklimler .-Life:Ceylan learned photography at age 15, and developed an interest in film at 22....
(Turkey) - Park Chan-wookPark Chan-wookPark Chan-wook is a South Korean film director, screenwriter, producer, and former film critic. One of the most acclaimed and popular filmmakers in his native country, Park is most known for his films Joint Security Area, Thirst and what has become known as The Vengeance Trilogy, consisting of...
(South Korea) - Lino BrockaLino BrockaCatalino Ortiz Brocka is known as one of the greatest film directors of the Philippines. Brocka was openly homosexual and many of his films incorporated LGBT themes into their often dramatic storylines....
(Philippines) - Mike de LeonMike de LeonMiguel Pamintuan de Leon is a noted Filipino film director, cinematographer, scripwriter and film producer. His is also known as Mike de Leon. He was born in Manila on May 24, 1947 to Manuel de Leon and Imelda Pamintuan...
(Philippines) - Ishmael BernalIshmael BernalIshmael Bernal was an acclaimed Filipino film, stage and television director. He was also an actor and screenwriter...
(Philippines)
Precursors of film
A 5,200 year-old earthen bowl found in Shahr-i SokhtaShahr-i Sokhta
Shahr-e Sūkhté , also spelled as Shahr-e Sukhteh and Shahr-i Shōkhta, is an archaeological site of a sizable Bronze Age urban settlement, associated with the Jiroft culture. It is located in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, the southeastern part of Iran, on the bank of the Helmand River, near the...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, has five images of a goat painted along the sides. This is believed to be an example of early animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
.
Mo-Ti, a Chinese philosopher
Chinese philosophy
Chinese philosophy is philosophy written in the Chinese tradition of thought. The majority of traditional Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States era, during a period known as the "Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and...
circa 500 BC, pondered the phenomenology
Phenomenology (science)
The term phenomenology in science is used to describe a body of knowledge that relates empirical observations of phenomena to each other, in a way that is consistent with fundamental theory, but is not directly derived from theory. For example, we find the following definition in the Concise...
of inverted light from the outside world beaming through a small hole in the opposite wall in a darkened room. Shadow play
Shadow play
Shadow play or shadow puppetry Shadow puppets have a long history in China, India, Turkey and Java, and as a popular form of entertainment for both children and adults in many countries around the world. A shadow puppet is a cut-out figure held between a source of light and a translucent screen...
s first appeared during the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
and later gain popularity across Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. Around 180 AD, Ting Huan (丁緩) created an elementary zoetrope
Zoetrope
A zoetrope is a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures. The term zoetrope is from the Greek words "ζωή – zoe", "life" and τρόπος – tropos, "turn". It may be taken to mean "wheel of life"....
in China.
In 1021, Alhazen, an Iraqi scientist, experimented with the same optical
Optics
Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...
principle
Principle
A principle is a law or rule that has to be, or usually is to be followed, or can be desirably followed, or is an inevitable consequence of something, such as the laws observed in nature or the way that a system is constructed...
described by Mo-Ti, and wrote of the results in his Book of Optics
Book of Optics
The Book of Optics ; ; Latin: De Aspectibus or Opticae Thesaurus: Alhazeni Arabis; Italian: Deli Aspecti) is a seven-volume treatise on optics and other fields of study composed by the medieval Muslim scholar Alhazen .-See also:* Science in medieval Islam...
, which provided the first clear description and correct analysis of the camera obscura
Camera obscura
The camera obscura is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. It is used in drawing and for entertainment, and was one of the inventions that led to photography. The device consists of a box or room with a hole in one side...
. His lamp
Oil lamp
An oil lamp is an object used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and is continued to this day....
experiment, where several different light sources are arranged across a large area, was the first to successful project an entire image from outdoors onto a screen indoors with the camera obscura.
Silent film era
The first short films from Asia were produced during the 1890s. The first short films produced in Japan were Bake Jizo (Jizo the Spook) and Shinin no Sosei (Resurrection of a Corpse), both from 1898. The first Indian short film was also produced in 1898, The Flower of Persia, directed by Hiralal SenHiralal Sen
Hiralal Sen was an Indian photographer generally considered one of India's first filmmakers. He is also credited with creating India's first advertising films and quite possibly India's first political film...
.
The first Asian feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
was Japan's The Life Story of Tasuke Shiobara (1912). It was followed by India's first feature-length silent film, the period piece
Period piece
-Setting:In the performing arts, a period piece is a work set in a particular era. This informal term covers all countries, all periods and all genres...
drama Raja Harishchandra
Raja Harishchandra
Raja Harishchandra , is a 1913 silent Indian film directed and produced by Dadasaheb Phalke, and is the first full-length Indian feature film...
(1913), by Dadasaheb Phalke
Dadasaheb Phalke
Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke was an Indian producer-director-screenwriter, known as the father of Indian cinema...
, considered the father of Indian cinema
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
. By the next decade, the output of Indian cinema was an average of 27 films per year.
In the 1920s, the newborn Soviet cinema
Cinema of the Soviet Union
The cinema of the Soviet Union, not to be confused with "Cinema of Russia" despite Russian language films being predominant in both genres, includes several film contributions of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union reflecting elements of their pre-Soviet culture, language and history,...
was the most radically innovative. There, the craft of editing, especially, surged forward, going beyond its previous role in advancing a story. Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
perfected the technique of so-called dialectical or intellectual montage, which strove to make non-linear
Nonlinear (arts)
Nonlinear narrative, disjointed narrative or disrupted narrative is a narrative technique, sometimes used in literature, film, hypertext websites and other narratives, wherein events are portrayed out of chronological order...
, often violently clashing, images express ideas and provoke emotional and intellectual reactions in the viewer.
Unlike European cinema, the Asian film industries were not dominated by American film
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
distributors, and developed in relative isolation from Hollywood cinema; while Hollywood films were screened in Asian countries, they were less popular than home-grown fare with local audiences. Thus, several distinctive genres and styles developed.
Early sound era
Sound filmSound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
s began being produced in Asia from the 1930s. Notable early talkies from the cinema of Japan
Cinema of Japan
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world – as of 2009 the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. Movies have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived...
included Kenji Mizoguchi's Sisters of the Gion
Sisters of the Gion
is a 1936 black and white Japanese film drama directed by Kenji Mizoguchi.The film is based on the novel Yama by Aleksandr Kuprin....
(Gion no shimai, 1936), Osaka Elegy
Osaka Elegy
is a 1936 Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Mizoguchi considered the film his first serious effort as a director, and it was also his first commercial and critical success in Japan...
(1936) and The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums
, 1939) is a Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi.The film is regarded as one of Mizoguchi's greatest pre-war achievements. Especially notable is Mizoguchi's now mature mise-en-scène compositions and extreme long takes.-Synopsis:...
(1939), along with Sadao Yamanaka
Sadao Yamanaka
was a Japanese film director and writer who directed 24 films during a seven-year period in the 1930s. He was a contemporary of Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi and one of the primary figures in the development of the jidaigeki, or historical film. Yamanaka died of dysentary in...
's Humanity and Paper Balloons
Humanity and Paper Balloons
is 1937 black-and-white film directed by Sadao Yamanaka. It is his last film. Largely unknown outside of Japan until recent years, the film has been hailed by critics , and a number of other Japanese filmmakers as one of the most influential examples of jidaigeki, or Japanese period films...
(1937) and Mikio Naruse
Mikio Naruse
was a Japanese filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer who directed some 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967.Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook...
's Wife, Be Like A Rose! (Tsuma Yo Bara No Yoni, 1935), which was one of the first Japanese films to gain a theatrical release in the U.S. However, with increasing censorship, the left-leaning tendency film
Tendency film
A is a name given to the socially conscious, left-leaning films produced in Japan during the 1920s and 1930s. These were in general produced by the commercial studios, in contrast to the politically radical independent films of the Proletarian Film League of Japan...
s of directors such as Daisuke Ito also began to come under attack. A few Japanese sound shorts were made in the 1920s and 1930s, but Japan's first feature-length talkie was Fujiwara Yoshie no furusato (1930), which used the 'Mina Talkie System'. In 1935, Yasujirō Ozu
Yasujiro Ozu
was a prominent Japanese film director and script writer. He is known for his distinctive technical style, developed during the silent era. Marriage and family, especially the relationships between the generations, are among the most persistent themes in his body of work...
also directed An Inn in Tokyo, considered a precursor to the neorealism
Neorealism (art)
In art, neorealism was established by the ex-Camden Town Group painters Charles Ginner and Harold Gilman at the beginning of World War I. They set out to explore the spirit of their age through the shapes and colours of daily life...
genre.
Ardeshir Irani
Ardeshir Irani
Khan Bahadur Ardeshir Irani ; popularly known as Ardeshir Irani, was a writer, director, producer, actor, film distributor, film showman and cinematographer in the silent and sound eras of early Indian cinema. He was renowned for making films in Hindi, Telugu, English, German, Indonesian, Persian,...
released Alam Ara
Alam Ara
Alam Ara is a 1931 film directed by Ardeshir Irani. It was the first Indian sound film.Irani recognized the importance that sound would have on the cinema, and raced to complete Alam Ara before several contemporary sound films. Alam Ara debuted at the Majestic Cinema in Mumbai on March 14, 1931...
, the first Indian talking film, on March 14, 1931. Following the inception of 'talkies' in India some film stars were highly sought after and earned comfortable incomes through acting. As sound technology advanced the 1930s saw the rise of music in Indian cinema with musicals such as Indra Sabha and Devi Devyani marking the beginning of song-and-dance in India's films. Studios emerged across major cities such as Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
and Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
as filmmaking became an established craft by 1935, exemplified by the success of Devdas
Devdas (1935 film)
Devdas is a 1935 Bengali film based on the Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novella, Devdas. It stars P.C. Barua as Devdas and Jamuna Barua as Parvati and Chandrabati Devi as Chandramuki.Sharat Chandra Chatterjee's classic novel Devadas is about two lovers - Debdas and Parbati - who can never unite...
, which had managed to enthrall audiences nationwide.
Golden Age
Following the end of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
by the mid-1940s, the period from the late 1940s to the 1960s is considered the 'Golden Age' of Asian cinema. Many of the most critically acclaimed Asian films of all time were produced during this period, including Yasujirō Ozu
Yasujiro Ozu
was a prominent Japanese film director and script writer. He is known for his distinctive technical style, developed during the silent era. Marriage and family, especially the relationships between the generations, are among the most persistent themes in his body of work...
's Late Spring
Late Spring
is a critically acclaimed black-and-white Japanese film drama, directed by Yasujirō Ozu , first released in Japan in September 1949. Based on the novel Father and Daughter by Kazuo Hirotsu, the story concerns a young woman who lives happily in Kamakura with her kindly professor father, a widower...
(1949) and Tokyo Story
Tokyo Story
is a 1953 Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu. It tells the story of an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. The film contrasts the behavior of their biological children, who are too busy to pay them much attention, and their daughter-in-law, who treats them with...
(1953); Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
's Rashomon
Rashomon (film)
The bandit's storyTajōmaru, a notorious brigand , claims that he tricked the samurai to step off the mountain trail with him and look at a cache of ancient swords he discovered. In the grove he tied the samurai to a tree, then brought the woman there. She initially tried to defend herself with a...
(1950), Ikiru
Ikiru
is a 1952 Japanese film co-written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film examines the struggles of a minor Tokyo bureaucrat and his final quest for meaning. The film stars Takashi Shimura as Kanji Watanabe.-Plot:...
(1952), Seven Samurai (1954) and Throne of Blood
Throne of Blood
Throne of Blood is a 1957 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa. Its original Japanese title is Kumonosu-jō , which means "Spider Web Castle". The film transposes the plot of William Shakespeare's play Macbeth to feudal Japan.-Plot:...
(1957); Kenji Mizoguchi
Kenji Mizoguchi
Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His film Ugetsu won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and appeared in the Sight & Sound Critics' Top Ten Poll in 1962 and 1972. Mizoguchi is renowned for his mastery of the long take and mise-en-scène...
's The Life of Oharu
The Life of Oharu
is a 1952 historical fiction black-and-white film by director Kenji Mizoguchi starring Kinuyo Tanaka as Oharu, a one-time concubine of a daimyō who struggles to escape the stigma of having been sold into prostitution by her father...
(1952), Sansho the Bailiff
Sansho the Bailiff
-External links:* at the Japanese Movie Database* * and QuickTime trailer* essay by Mark Le Fanu...
(1954) and Ugetsu
Ugetsu
Ugetsu is a 1953 Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Set in 16th century Japan, it stars Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō, and is inspired by short stories by Ueda Akinari and Guy de Maupassant...
(1954); Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
's The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959), The Music Room
Jalsaghar
Jalsaghar is the fourth feature film directed by Satyajit Ray. Jalsaghar is a narration of the end days of a Zamindar in Bengal. The landlord, Roy , is a just but other-worldly man who loves to spend time listening to music and putting up spectacles rather than managing his fields ravaged by...
(1958) and Charulata
Charulata
Charulata is a 1964 film by Bengali director Satyajit Ray, based upon the novella Nastanirh by Rabindranath Tagore...
(1964); Guru Dutt
Guru Dutt
Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone , popularly known as Guru Dutt, was an Indian film director, producer and actor. He is often credited with ushering in the golden era of Hindi cinema...
's Pyaasa
Pyaasa
Pyaasa is a 1957 Indian film produced and directed by Guru Dutt. The film tells the story of struggling poet, Vijay , trying to make his works known in post-independence India...
(1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool
Kaagaz Ke Phool
Kaagaz Ke Phool, , is a 1959 Hindi film produced and directed by Guru Dutt, who also played the lead role in the film .The film was a box office disaster of its time but was later resurrected as a world cinema cult classic in the 1980s. The film's music was composed by S. D...
(1959); and Fei Mu
Fei Mu
Fei Mu was a major Chinese film director from the pre-Communist era.-Biography:Born in Shanghai, China, Fei Mu is considered by many to be one of the major film directors prior to the communist revolution in 1949...
's Spring in a Small Town
Spring in a Small Town
Spring in a Small Town is a Chinese film released in 1948 and directed by Fei Mu . The film was based on a short story by Li Tianji , and was produced by the Wenhua Film Company....
(1948), Raj Kapoor
Raj Kapoor
Known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor Rāj Kapūr, 14 December 1924 – 2 June 1988), also known as The Show-Man, was an Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi cinema. He was the winner of nine Filmfare Awards, while his films Awaara and Boot Polish were nominated for the Palme d'Or at the...
's Awaara
Awaara
Awaara is a 1951 Hindi film directed and produced by Raj Kapoor who also plays the leading role. His real-life father Prithviraj Kapoor stars as his on-screen father Judge Raghunath. Kapoor's youngest real-life brother Shashi Kapoor plays the younger version of his character...
(1951), Mikio Naruse
Mikio Naruse
was a Japanese filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer who directed some 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967.Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook...
's Floating Clouds
Floating Clouds
is a 1955 black-and-white Japanese film drama directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on the novel of the same name by Japanese author and poet Fumiko Hayashi....
(1955) and Ritwik Ghatak's Subarnarekha
Subarnarekha (film)
Subarnarekha is an Indian Bengali film directed by Ritwik Ghatak. It was produced in 1962 but was not released until 1965. It was part of the trilogy, Meghe Dhaka Tara , Komal Gandhar , and Subarnarekha , all dealing with the aftermath of the Partition of India in 1947 and the refugees coping with...
(1962).
During Japanese cinema
Cinema of Japan
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world – as of 2009 the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. Movies have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived...
's 'Golden Age' of the 1950s and 1960s, successful films included Rashomon
Rashomon (film)
The bandit's storyTajōmaru, a notorious brigand , claims that he tricked the samurai to step off the mountain trail with him and look at a cache of ancient swords he discovered. In the grove he tied the samurai to a tree, then brought the woman there. She initially tried to defend herself with a...
(1950), Seven Samurai (1954) and The Hidden Fortress
The Hidden Fortress
is a 1958 jidai-geki film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshirō Mifune as General and Misa Uehara as Princess Yuki. A literal translation of the Japanese title is The Three Villains of the Hidden Fortress.-Plot:...
(1958) by Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
, as well as Yasujirō Ozu
Yasujiro Ozu
was a prominent Japanese film director and script writer. He is known for his distinctive technical style, developed during the silent era. Marriage and family, especially the relationships between the generations, are among the most persistent themes in his body of work...
's Tokyo Story
Tokyo Story
is a 1953 Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu. It tells the story of an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. The film contrasts the behavior of their biological children, who are too busy to pay them much attention, and their daughter-in-law, who treats them with...
(1953) and Ishirō Honda
Ishiro Honda
Ishirō Honda , sometimes miscredited in foreign releases as "Inoshiro Honda", was a Japanese film director...
's Godzilla
Godzilla (1954 film)
is a 1954 Japanese science fiction film directed by Ishirō Honda and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka. The film stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata and Takashi Shimura. The film tells the story of Godzilla, a giant monster mutated by nuclear radiation, who ravages Japan, bringing back the...
(1954). These films have had a profound influence on world cinema. In particular, Kurosawa's Seven Samurai has been remade several times as Western films
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
, such as The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven is an American Western film directed by John Sturges, and released in 1960. It is a fictional tale of a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding Mexican bandits...
(1960) and Battle Beyond the Stars
Battle Beyond the Stars
Battle Beyond the Stars is a Roger Corman-produced science fiction film, directed by Jimmy T. Murakami and released in 1980. The film, intended as a "Magnificent Seven in outer space," is a pastiche of The Magnificent Seven, the Western remake of Akira Kurosawa's film Seven Samurai...
(1980), and has also inspired several Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
films, such as Sholay
Sholay
Sholay is a 1975 Indian action-adventure film produced by G.P. Sippy and directed by his son Ramesh Sippy. It is considered among the greatest films in the history of Indian cinema. Released on 15 August 1975, it stars Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Sanjeev Kumar, Jaya Bhaduri and...
(1975) and China Gate
China Gate (1998 film)
China Gate is a 1998 Hindi film directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. The film is a "humble tribute to the late Akira Kurosawa", crediting Seven Samurai as its inspiration...
(1998). Rashomon was also remade as The Outrage
The Outrage
The Outrage is a remake of the 1950 Japanese film Rashomon, reformulated as a Western. Like the original Akira Kurosawa film, four people give contradictory accounts of a rape and murder. Kurosawa is credited with the screenplay. It was directed by Martin Ritt and is based on stories by Ryūnosuke...
(1964), and inspired films with "Rashomon effect
Rashomon effect
The Rashomon effect is the effect of the subjectivity of perception on recollection, by which observers of an event are able to produce substantially different but equally plausible accounts of it. A useful demonstration of this principle in scientific understanding can be found in an article by...
" storytelling methods, such as Andha Naal
Andha Naal
Andha Naal is a 1954 Tamil crime mystery film directed by Veenai S. Balachander. It is arguably the first film-noir in Tamil cinema and is the first Tamil film to be made without songs. The film was inspired by the 1950 Akira Kurosawa film Rashômon...
(1954), The Usual Suspects
The Usual Suspects
The Usual Suspects is a 1995 American neo-noir film written by Christopher McQuarrie and directed by Bryan Singer. It stars Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey and Pete Postlethwaite....
(1995) and Hero
Hero (2002 film)
Hero is a 2002 wuxia film directed by Zhang Yimou. Starring Jet Li as the nameless protagonist, the film is based on the story of Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin in 227 BC....
(2002). The Hidden Fortress was also the inspiration behind George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
' Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
(1977). The Japanese New Wave began in the late 1950s and continued into the 1960s. Other famous Japanese filmmakers from this period include Kenji Mizoguchi
Kenji Mizoguchi
Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His film Ugetsu won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and appeared in the Sight & Sound Critics' Top Ten Poll in 1962 and 1972. Mizoguchi is renowned for his mastery of the long take and mise-en-scène...
, Mikio Naruse
Mikio Naruse
was a Japanese filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer who directed some 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967.Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook...
, Hiroshi Inagaki
Hiroshi Inagaki
was a Japanese filmmaker most known for the Academy Award-winning Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto, which he directed in 1954.-Career:Born in Tokyo as the son of a shinpa actor, Inagaki appeared on stage in his childhood before joining the Nikkatsu studio as an actor in 1922...
and Nagisa Oshima
Nagisa Oshima
is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. After graduating from Kyoto University he was hired by Shochiku Ltd. and quickly progressed to directing his own movies, making his debut feature A Town of Love and Hope in 1959....
. Japanese cinema later became one of the main inspirations behind the New Hollywood
New Hollywood
New Hollywood or post-classical Hollywood, sometimes referred to as the "American New Wave", refers to the time from roughly the late-1960s to the early 1980s when a new generation of young filmmakers came to prominence in America, influencing the types of films produced, their production and...
movement of the 1960s to 1980s.
During Indian cinema
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
's 'Golden Age' of the 1950s and 1960s, it was producing 200 films annually, while Indian independent films
Parallel Cinema
The Indian New Wave, commonly known in India as Art Cinema or Parallel Cinema as an alternative to the mainstream commercial cinema, is a specific movement in Indian cinema, known for its serious content, realism and naturalism, with a keen eye on the sociopolitical climate of the times...
gained greater recognition through international film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
s. One of the most famous was The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959) from critically acclaimed Bengali film
Bengali cinema
Bengali cinema refers to the Bengali language filmmaking industries in the Bengal region of South Asia. There are two major film-making hubs in the region: one in Kolkata, West Bengal, India and the other in Dhaka, Bangladesh .The history of cinema in Bengal dates back to the 1890s, when the first...
director Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
, whose films had a profound influence on world cinema, with directors such as Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, James Ivory
James Ivory (director)
James Francis Ivory is an American film director, best known for the results of his long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, which included both Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala...
, Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer. An active filmmaker since 1970, Kiarostami has been involved in over forty films, including shorts and documentaries...
, Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...
, François Truffaut
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five...
, Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, Carlos Saura
Carlos Saura
Carlos Saura Atarés is a Spanish film director and photographer.-Early life:Born into a family of artists , he developed his artistic sense in childhood as a photography enthusiast.He obtained his directing diploma in Madrid in 1957 at the Institute of Cinema Research and Studies...
, Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
, Isao Takahata
Isao Takahata
is a Japanese anime filmmaker that have earned critical international acclaim for his work as a director. Takahata is co-founder of Studio Ghibli with long-time collaborative partner Hayao Miyazaki. He has directed films such as the war-themed Grave of the Fireflies, the romantic-drama Only...
, Gregory Nava
Gregory Nava
Gregory Nava is a film director, producer and screenplay writer, of Mexican and Basque heritage.-Education:...
, Ira Sachs
Ira Sachs
Ira Sachs is an American filmmaker. His first film was the acclaimed short Lady .He directed Sundance Film Festival selection The Delta and directed Sundance Film Festival Grand Prize winning Forty Shades of Blue...
, Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson
Wesley Wales Anderson is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer of features, short films and commercials....
and Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle
Daniel "Danny" Boyle is an English filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Trainspotting. For Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle won numerous awards in 2008, including the Academy Award for Best Director...
being influenced by his cinematic style. According to Michael Sragow of The Atlantic Monthly, the "youthful coming-of-age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
dramas
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
that have flooded art houses since the mid-fifties owe a tremendous debt to the Apu trilogy". Subrata Mitra
Subrata Mitra
Subrata Mitra was an Indian cinematographer. Acclaimed for his work in The Apu Trilogy , Mitra is often considered one of the greatest of Indian cinematographers....
's cinematographic technique of bounce lighting also originates from The Apu Trilogy. Satyajit Ray's success led to the establishment of the 'Parallel Cinema
Parallel Cinema
The Indian New Wave, commonly known in India as Art Cinema or Parallel Cinema as an alternative to the mainstream commercial cinema, is a specific movement in Indian cinema, known for its serious content, realism and naturalism, with a keen eye on the sociopolitical climate of the times...
' movement, which was at its peak during the 1950s and 1960s. Other famous Indian filmmakers from this period include Guru Dutt
Guru Dutt
Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone , popularly known as Guru Dutt, was an Indian film director, producer and actor. He is often credited with ushering in the golden era of Hindi cinema...
, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen
Mrinal Sen
Mrinal Sen is a Bengali Indian filmmaker. He was born on 14 May 1923, in the town of Faridpur, now in Bangladesh in a Hindu family. After finishing his high school there, he left home to come to Calcutta as a student and studied physics at the well-known Scottish Church College and at the...
, Bimal Roy
Bimal Roy
Bimal Roy was one of the most acclaimed Indian film directors of all time. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films like Do Bigha Zamin, Parineeta, Biraj Bahu, Madhumati, Sujata, and Bandini, making him an important director of Hindi cinema...
, K. Asif
K. Asif
K. Asif was a film director, film producer and screenwriter who was famous for his work for the Hindi epic motion picture, Mughal-e-Azam .-Early life:...
and Mehboob Khan.
The cinema of China
Cinema of China
The Chinese-language cinema has three distinct historical threads: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. Since 1949 the cinema of mainland China has operated under restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television and...
experienced a 'Golden Age' in the late 1940s. In 1946, Cai Chusheng returned to Shanghai to revive the Lianhua name as the "Lianhua Film Society." This in turn became Kunlun Studios which would go on to become one of the most important Chinese studios of the era, putting out the classics, Myriads of Lights (1948), The Spring River Flows East (1947), and Crows and Sparrows
Crows and Sparrows
Crows and Sparrows was a 1949 Chinese film made by Kunlun Studios on the eve of the Communist victory and directed by Zheng Junli. Notable for its extremely critical view of corrupt Nationalist bureaucrats, the film was made as Chiang Kai-shek's Nanjing-based government was on the verge of...
(1949). Wenhua's romantic drama Spring in a Small Town
Spring in a Small Town
Spring in a Small Town is a Chinese film released in 1948 and directed by Fei Mu . The film was based on a short story by Li Tianji , and was produced by the Wenhua Film Company....
(1948), a film by director Fei Mu
Fei Mu
Fei Mu was a major Chinese film director from the pre-Communist era.-Biography:Born in Shanghai, China, Fei Mu is considered by many to be one of the major film directors prior to the communist revolution in 1949...
shortly prior to the revolution, is often regarded by Chinese film critics as one of the most important films in the history of Chinese cinema, with it being named by the Hong Kong Film Awards
Hong Kong Film Awards
The Hong Kong Film Awards , founded in 1982, are the most prestigious film awards in Hong Kong and among the most respected in mainland China and Taiwan. Award ceremonies are held annually, typically in April. The Awards recognize achievement in all aspects of filmmaking, such as directing,...
in 2004 as the greatest Chinese-language film ever made.
The cinema of Malaysia
Cinema of Malaysia
The cinema of Malaysia revolves around a small film industry that dates back to the 1930s. At present, Malaysia produces about 20 feature films annually, and between 300–400 television dramas and serials a year apart from the in-house productions by the individual television stations. Malaysia also...
also had its 'Golden Age' in the post-war period of the 1950s and 1960s. The period saw the introduction of the studio system of filmmaking in Malaysia and influx of influences from Hollywood
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
, the emerging cinema of Hong Kong
Cinema of Hong Kong
The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan...
, and particularly the Indian and Japanese film industries which were themselves experiencing a Golden Age.
The cinema of South Korea also experienced a 'Golden Age' in the late 1950s and 1960s, beginning with director Lee Kyu-hwan's tremendously successful remake of Chunhyang-jon (1955). That year also saw the release of Yangsan Province
Yangsan Province (film)
Yangsan Province aka The Sunlit Path is a 1955 South Korean film directed by Kim Ki-young.-Synopsis:The film is a historical melodrama about a high government official who wants to marry a woman who is engaged to marry another man.-Cast:* Kim Sam-hwa... Ok-rang* Cho Yong-soo... Su-dong* Kim...
by the renowned director, Kim Ki-young
Kim Ki-young
Kim Ki-young was a South Korean film director, known for his intensely psychosexual and melodramatic horror films, often focusing on the psychology of their female characters. Kim was born in Seoul during the Japanese occupation, raised in Pyongyang and spent time in Japan, where he became...
, marking the beginning of his productive career. Both the quality and quantity of filmmaking had increased rapidly by the end of the 1950s. South Korean films, such as Lee Byeong-il's 1956 comedy Sijibganeun nal (The Wedding Day), had begun winning international awards. In contrast to the beginning of the 1950s, when only 5 movies were made per year, 111 films were produced in South Korea in 1959. The year 1960 saw the production of Kim Ki-young's The Housemaid
The Housemaid
The Housemaid is a 1960 black-and-white Korean film. It was directed by Kim Ki-young and starred Lee Eun-shim, Ju Jeung-nyeo and Kim Jin Kyu. It has been described in Koreanfilm.org as a "consensus pick as one of the top three Korean films of all time". This was the first film in Kim's Housemaid...
and Yu Hyun-mok
Yu Hyun-mok
Yu Hyun-mok was a South Korean film director. Born in Sariwon, North Hwanghae, Korea , he made his film debut in 1956 with Gyocharo...
's Aimless Bullet
Obaltan
Obaltan , also known as The Aimless Bullet and Stray Bullet, is a 1960 Korean film directed by Yu Hyun-mok. The plot is based on the same titled short novel written by Yi Beomseon. It has often been called the best Korean movie ever made.-Plot:...
, both of which have been listed among the best Korean films ever made.
The late 1950s and 1960s was also a 'Golden Age' for Philippine cinema
Cinema of the Philippines
Cinema of the Philippines started with the introduction of the first moving pictures to the country on January 1, 1897 at the Salón de Pertierra in Manila. The following year, local scenes were shot on film for the first time by a Spaniard, Antonio Ramos, using the Lumiere Cinematograph...
, with the emergence of more artistic and mature films, and significant improvement in cinematic techniques among filmmakers. The studio system produced frenetic activity in the local film industry as many films were made annually and several local talents started to earn recognition abroad. The premiere Philippine directors of the era included Gerardo de Leon
Gerardo de León
Gerardo de León was a Filipino actor turned film director, who made his acting debut in the 1934 film Ang Dangal....
, Gregorio Fernandez
Gregorio Fernández
Gregorio Fernández was a Spanish Baroque sculptor. He belongs to the Castilian school of sculpture, following the style of other great artists like Alonso Berruguete, Juan de Juni, Pompeyo Leoni and Juan de Arfe.-Biography:...
, Eddie Romero
Eddie Romero
Eddie Romero is an acclaimed and influential Filipino film director, film producer and screenwriter, considered one of the finest in the Cinema of the Philippines.Romero was named National Artist of the Philippines in 2003....
, Lamberto Avellana, and Cirio Santiago.
The 1960s is often cited as being the 'golden age' of Pakistani cinema
Cinema of Pakistan
The cinema of Pakistan refers to Pakistan's film industry. Most of the feature films shot in Pakistan are in Urdu language but may also include films in English, Punjabi, Pashto, Balochi or Sindhi languages....
. Many A-stars were introduced in this period in time and became legends on the silver screen
Silver screen
A silver screen, also known as a silver lenticular screen, is a type of projection screen that was popular in the early years of the motion picture industry and passed into popular usage as a metonym for the cinema industry...
. As black-and-white became obsolete, Pakistan saw the introduction of its first colour films, the first being Munshi Dil's Azra
Azra
Azra was a rock band from Zagreb that was popular across Yugoslavia in the 1980s. Azra was formed in 1977 by its frontman Branimir "Johnny" Štulić. The other two members of the original line-up were Mišo Hrnjak and Boris Leiner . The band is named after a verse from "Der Asra" by Heinrich Heine...
in early 1960s, Zahir Rehan's Sangam (first full-length coloured film) in 1964, and Mala (first coloured cinemascope film). In 1961, the political film Bombay Wallah was released, based on the city of Bombay
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
in neighbouring India, in the wake of the growing tension between the nations. In 1962, Shaheed (Martyr) pronounced the Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
issue on the silver screen and became an instant hit, leading to a changing tide in the attitude of filmmakers.
The 1960s was the "golden age" of Cambodian cinema
Cinema of Cambodia
Cinema in Cambodia began in the 1950s, and many films were being screened in theaters throughout the country by the 1960s, which are regarded as the "golden age"...
. Several production companies were started and more movie theaters were built throughout the country. More than 300 movies were made in Cambodia during the era. A number of Khmer language
Khmer language
Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...
films were well-received in its neougbouring countries at the time. Among the classic films from Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
during this period were Lea Haey Duong Dara (Goodbye Duong Dara) and Pos Keng Kang
The Snake King's Wife
The Snake Man is a 1970 Cambodian drama horror film based on a Cambodian myth about a snake goddess, starring Khmer famous actress at era, Dy Saveth and Chea Yuthorn who was hugely popular in Thailand after the film release...
(The Snake King's Wife) by Tea Lim Kun and Sabbseth, and An Euil Srey An (Khmer After Angkor) by Ly Bun Yim.
Modern era
By the late 60s and early 70s, Japanese cinemaCinema of Japan
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world – as of 2009 the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. Movies have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived...
had begun to become seriously affected by the collapse of the studio system. As Japanese cinema slipped into a period of relative low visibility, the cinema of Hong Kong entered a dramatic renaissance of its own, largely a side effect of the development of the wuxia blending of action, history, and spiritual concerns. Several major figures emerged in Hong Kong at this time - perhaps most famously, King Hu
King Hu
King Hu was a Hong Kong- and Taiwan-based Chinese film director whose Wuxia films brought Chinese cinema to new technical and artistic heights. His films Come Drink with Me , Dragon Gate Inn and A Touch of Zen inaugurated a new generation of wuxia films in the late 1960s...
, whose 1966 Come Drink With Me
Come Drink with Me
Come Drink with Me is a 1966 Hong Kong wuxia film directed by King Hu. Set during the Ming Dynasty, it stars Cheng Pei-pei and Yueh Hua as warriors with Chan Hung-lit as the villain, and features action choreography by Han Ying-chieh. It is widely considered one of the best Hong Kong films ever made...
was a key influence upon many subsequent Hong Kong cinematic developments. Shortly thereafter, the American-born Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
became a global icon in the 1970s.
From 1969 onwards, the Iranian New Wave led to the growth of Iranian cinema
Cinema of Iran
The cinema of Iran is a flourishing film industry with a long history. Many popular commercial films are annually made in Iran, and Iranian art films win praise around the world....
, which would later go on to achieve international acclaim in the 1980s and 1990s. The most notable figures of the Iranian New Wave are Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer. An active filmmaker since 1970, Kiarostami has been involved in over forty films, including shorts and documentaries...
, Jafar Panahi
Jafar Panahi
Jafar Panahi is an Iranian filmmaker and is one of the most influential filmmakers in the Iranian New Wave movement. He has gained recognition from film theorists and critics worldwide and received numerous awards including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and the Silver Bear at the...
, Majid Majidi
Majid Majidi
Majid Majidi is an internationally and critically acclaimed Iranian film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Majidi's films have touched on many themes and genres and he has won many international awards.-Biography:...
, Bahram Beizai, Darius Mehrjui
Darius Mehrjui
Dariush Mehrju'i , also spelled as Mehrjui, Mehrjoui, and Mehrjuyi, is an Iranian director, screenwriter, producer, and film editor....
, Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Mohsen Makhmalbaf is an Iranian film director, writer, editor, and producer. During 2007 he was the president of Asian Film Academy.Makhmalbaf's films have been widely presented in international film festivals in the past ten years. The multi-award-winning director, belongs to the new wave...
, Masoud Kimiay, Sohrab Shahid-Saless
Sohrab Shahid-Saless
Sohrab Shahid-Saless 28 June 1944, Tehran – 2 July 1998, Chicago, Illinois) was an Iranian film director and screenwriter and one of the most celebrated figures in Iranian cinema in the 20th century...
, Parviz Kimiavi
Parviz Kimiavi
Parviz Kimiavi is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director, screenwriter, editor and one of the most prominent figures of Persian cinema of the 20th century....
, Samira Makhmalbaf
Samira Makhmalbaf
Samira Makhmalbaf is an internationally acclaimed Iranian filmmaker and script writer. She is the daughter of Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the film director and writer. Samira Makhmalbaf belongs to the New Wave movement within Iranian cinema...
, Amir Naderi
Amir Naderi
Amir Naderi is a notable Iranian film director, screenwriter and one of the most influential figures of 20th-century Persian cinema. Mr Naderi is currently in Japan working on CUT, his new feature film, starring Hidetoshi Nishijima and Takako Tokiwa, due to be released in 2011.Naderi developed his...
, and Abolfazl Jalili
Abolfazl Jalili
Abolfazl Jalili is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director. He belongs to Iranian new wave movement.Jalili studied directing at the Iranian College of Dramatic Arts, then worked for national television where he produced several children's films. His 'Det' Means Girl won prizes in...
. Features of New Wave Iranian film, in particular the works of legendary Abbas Kiarostami, have been classified by some as postmodern.
The 1970s also saw the establishment of Bangladeshi cinema
Cinema of Bangladesh
The Bangladeshi film industry has been based in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, since 1956. As of 2004, it produced approximately 100 movies a year, with an average movie budget of about 20,000,000 Bangladeshi taka...
following the country's independence
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....
in 1971. One of the first films produced in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
after independence was Titash Ekti Nadir Naam
Titash Ekti Nadir Naam
Titash Ekti Nadir Naam is a 1973 Bengali film directed by Ritwik Ghatak. The movie was based on a novel by the same name, written by Advaita Malla Burman. The movie explores the life of the fishermen on the bank of the Titash River in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh.Rosy Samad, Golam Mostafa, Kabori,...
(A River Called Titas) in 1973 by acclaimed director Ritwik Ghatak, whose stature in Bengali cinema
Bengali cinema
Bengali cinema refers to the Bengali language filmmaking industries in the Bengal region of South Asia. There are two major film-making hubs in the region: one in Kolkata, West Bengal, India and the other in Dhaka, Bangladesh .The history of cinema in Bengal dates back to the 1890s, when the first...
is comparable to that of Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
and Mrinal Sen
Mrinal Sen
Mrinal Sen is a Bengali Indian filmmaker. He was born on 14 May 1923, in the town of Faridpur, now in Bangladesh in a Hindu family. After finishing his high school there, he left home to come to Calcutta as a student and studied physics at the well-known Scottish Church College and at the...
.
In the cinema of India
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
, the 1970s saw a decline in 'Parallel Cinema
Parallel Cinema
The Indian New Wave, commonly known in India as Art Cinema or Parallel Cinema as an alternative to the mainstream commercial cinema, is a specific movement in Indian cinema, known for its serious content, realism and naturalism, with a keen eye on the sociopolitical climate of the times...
' and the rise of commercial Hindi cinema
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
in the form of enduring masala films
Masala (film genre)
Masala is a term given to films of Indian cinema that mix various genres in one film. Typically these films freely mix action, comedy, romance, and drama or melodrama. These films tend to be musicals that include songs filmed in picturesque locations...
, such as the Mumbai underworld film Deewaar (1975) and "Curry Western" movie Sholay
Sholay
Sholay is a 1975 Indian action-adventure film produced by G.P. Sippy and directed by his son Ramesh Sippy. It is considered among the greatest films in the history of Indian cinema. Released on 15 August 1975, it stars Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Sanjeev Kumar, Jaya Bhaduri and...
(1975), which solidified Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
's position as a lead actor. Commercial cinema further grew throughout the 1980s and the 1990s with the release of films such as Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak
Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak
Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak or QSQT is a 1988 Indian Bollywood film written by Nasir Hussain and directed by his son Mansoor Khan. The film starred Hussain's nephew, Aamir Khan, along with Juhi Chawla in their first major roles. Upon release, the film became a box office hit and shot its leading stars...
(1988), Tezaab
Tezaab
Tezaab , released on 11 November 1988, is an Indian Hindi movie. This was the movie that gave actress Madhuri Dixit her first big break and reaffirmed Anil Kapoor's status, after a successful Mr India .The film was directed by N. Chandra. The music is by Laxmikant-Pyarelal...
(1988), Maine Pyar Kiya
Maine Pyar Kiya
Maine Pyar Kiya , English: I Fell in Love) is an Indian Bollywood film directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya, starring Salman Khan and Bhagyashree...
(1989), Baazigar
Baazigar
Baazigar is a 1993 Indian Hindi film directed by Abbas-Mustan. Inspired by the novel A Kiss Before Dying, it is a contemporary thriller about a young man who stops at nothing to get what he wants. The film shocked its Indian audience with an unexpected violation of the standard Bollywood formula,...
(1993), Darr
Darr
Darr: A Violent Love Story is a 1993 Bollywood psychological thriller film directed by Yash Chopra. It is the story of an obsessed lover and the lengths he goes to get his girl who is already happily married to Sunil Malhotra . It is the second film in which Shahrukh Khan played the role of a...
(1993) and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995).
During the 1980s, Japanese cinema - aided by the rise of independent filmmaking and the spectacular success of anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
- began to make something of an international comeback. Simultaneously, a new post-MaoZedong generation of Chinese filmakers began to gain global attention. Another group of filmmakers, centered around Edward Yang
Edward Yang
Edward Yang , along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming Liang, was one of the leading filmmakers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese Cinema. He won the Best Director Award at Cannes for his 2000 film Yi Yi .-Biography:...
and Hou Hsiao-hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
launched what has become known as the "Taiwanese New Wave".
The 1980s is also considered the Golden Age of Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. It combines elements from the action film, as codified by Hollywood, with Chinese storytelling and aesthetic traditions, to create a culturally distinctive form that nevertheless has a wide transcultural...
. Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...
reinvented the martial arts film
Martial arts film
Martial arts film is a film genre. A sub-genre of the action film, martial arts films contain numerous fights between characters, usually as the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often as a method of storytelling and character expression and development. Martial arts are frequently...
genre with a new emphasis on elaborate dangerous stunts and slapstick humour, beginning with Project A
Project A
Project A is a 1983 Hong Kong martial arts action comedy film written and directed by Jackie Chan, and starring Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao....
(1983). John Woo
John Woo
John Woo Yu-Sen SBS is a Hong Kong-based film director and producer. Recognized for his stylised films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard...
began the heroic bloodshed
Heroic bloodshed
Heroic Bloodshed is a genre of Hong Kong action cinema revolving around stylized action sequences and dramatic themes such as brotherhood, duty, honour, redemption and violence. The term heroic bloodshed was coined by editor Rick Baker in the magazine Eastern Heroes in the late 1980s, specifically...
genre based on triads, beginning with A Better Tomorrow
A Better Tomorrow
A Better Tomorrow is a 1986 Hong Kong action film which had a profound influence on the Hong Kong film-making industry, and later on an international scale.Directed by John Woo, it stars Chow Yun-fat, Ti Lung and Leslie Cheung...
(1986). The Hong Kong New Wave
Hong Kong New Wave
The Hong Kong New Wave was a blanket term applied to a number of young, groundbreaking Hong Kong filmmakers of the late 1970s and 1980s, many trained in overseas film programs and with experience in the territory's thriving television drama scene...
also occurred during this period, led by filmmakers such as Tsui Hark
Tsui Hark
Tsui Hark , born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong New Wave film director and producer. He is viewed as a major figure in the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema .-Early life:...
.
With the post-1980 rise in popularity of East Asian cinema in the West, Western audiences are again becoming familiar with many of the industry's film-makers and stars. A number of these key players, such as Chow Yun-fat
Chow Yun-Fat
Chow Yun-fat, SBS is an actor from Hong Kong. He is best known in Asia for his collaboration with filmmaker John Woo in heroic bloodshed genre films A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled; and to the West for his role as Li Mu-bai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...
and Zhang Ziyi
Zhang Ziyi
Zhang Ziyi is a Chinese film actress. Zhang is coined by the media as one of the Four Young Dan actresses in the Film Industry in China, along with Zhao Wei, Xu Jinglei, and Zhou Xun...
have "crossed over", working in Western films. Others have gained exposure through the international success of their films, though many more retain more of a "cult
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
" appeal, finding a degree of Western success through DVD sales rather than cinema releases.
See also
- Cinema of the world
- World cinemaWorld cinemaWorld cinema is a term used primarily in English language speaking countries to refer to the films and film industries of non-English speaking countries. It is therefore often used interchangeably with the term foreign film...
- Sandeep Marwah producer of 1000 short films
- World Fastest Asian Movie
- Central Asian and Southern Caucasus Film Festivals ConfederationCentral Asian and Southern Caucasus Film Festivals Confederation-Member states:*Afghanistan*Armenia*Iran*Kazakhstan*Kyrgyzstan*Tajikistan-Goals:* Mutual assistance given to festivals organized in member countries.* Member nations will establish offices to aid in film production.-External links:*...
- The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema
External links
- Asian Cinema Directory - Asian cinema link directory
- Asian Academy Of Film & TelevisionAsian Academy of Film & TelevisionThe Asian Academy of Film & Television is a film school located in India's Noida Film City in India's Capital region, NCR. It is affiliated with the International Film & Television Research Center and the Marwah Films & Video Studios....
[www.aaft.com] - Asia Society: The Cinema Scene - regular podcast program containing news, reviews and interviews related to Asian Film
- Asian Cinema Drifter - Website dedicated to Asian cinema reviews
- Article: Iranian director to head Asian Film Academy at Press TV
- Asian Cinema Search at Google Co-op
- LoveAsianFilm.com - LoveAsianFilm.com - Celebrating Asian Cinema
- Film Asia - Film Asia - The Latest Asian Movies Synopsis
- BTasia.org - Asian bittorrent community - Asian movies, TV series and more.
- AboutAllMovies.com - About All Movies - All about Asian movies, films, cinema.
- VCinemashow.com - VCinema is a podcast and blog dedicated to Asian cinema from all regions.