Japanese Cinema B

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course will provide a series of deep dives into a selection of evocative films from within the Japanese cinema tradition. The films on our list are ones that simultaneously exemplify and push the boundaries of both Japanese film style and standard definitions of Japan and Japanese culture. Through full in class viewings and notetaking, discussions, contextual reading, and research, we will evaluate these films as artistic creations while also exploring how they exemplify certain approaches and tensions within the Japanese cinematic tradition, as well as how they engage with longstanding problems within Japanese society. Our dual focus on work and context will give us a fuller picture of what it means to say that a particular film is an example of Japanese cinema.