East Asian Cinema

Step 1:
Please watch BOTH these movies:
Woman, Demon, Human (Ren gui qing 人鬼情), dir. HUANG Shuqin 黄蜀芹, 1987 https://vimeo.com/401928030
The Housemaid (Hanyeo 하녀), dir. KIM Ki-young 김기영, 1960 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J_HTZFC32s

Optional step:
(you may use any of the following movies as well to study the theme more in depth and include them in the comparison)
Letter from an Unknown Woman (Yifeng mosheng nvren de laixin 一封陌生女人的来信), dir. XU Jinglei 徐静蕾, 2004
Perpetual Motion (Wuqiong dong 无穷动), dir. NING Ying 宁瀛, 2005
Kim Ki-young’s ‘Housemaid Trilogy’ and related film available on the Korean Film Archive’s Korean Classic Film Theatre:
Woman of Fire (Hwanyeo 화녀), dir. KIM Ki-young 김기영, 1971 https://youtu.be/qcV5-YDmxJ0
Woman of Fire ’82 (Hwanyeo 화녀 ‘82), dir. KIM Ki-young 김기영, 1982 https://youtu.be/ssNg3hDGH_o
Insect Woman (Chungnyeo 충녀), dir. KIM Ki-young 김기영, 1972 https://youtu.be/Mwh2Z1Q8q9o
Madame Freedom (Jayu buin 자유부인), dir. HAN Hyeong-mo 한형모, 1956 (Korean Film Archive’s Korean Classic Film Theatre: https://youtu.be/FkAbVQhfpmw
My Sassy Girl (Yeopgijeogin geunyeo 엽기적인 그녀), dir. KWAK Jae-yong 곽재용, 2001 https://youtu.be/g9kiLZpK7fA

Step 2:
Please read BOTH lecture materials titled:
Week 5 Womens Cinema in Contemporary China.pptx
Week 8 Lecture (Figurations of Gender and Agency in Korean Cinema) PPT Slides.pdf
Step 3:
Read the required readings listed as follows:
Cui, Shuqin. “Transgender Masquerading in Huang Shuqin’s Woman, Human, Demon.” In Cui, Women through the Lens: Gender and Nation in a Century of Chinese Cinema. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003, 219-37.
Lee, Haiyan. “Woman, Demon, Human: The Spectral Journey Home.” In Chris Berry, ed., Chinese Films in Focus II. Basingstoke: BFI/Palgrave MacMillan, 2008, 243-49.
Berry, Chris. “Scream and Scream Again: Korean Modernity as a House of Horrors in the Films of Kim Ki-young.” In Seoul Searching: Culture and Identity in Contemporary Korean Cinema, edited by Frances Gateward, 99-113. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2007.
Step 4
Following the themes of the movies, lectures and readings derive a research question and discuss this with me BEFORE writing the essay.
Step 5
Once we have agreed on a research question proceed with the essay instructions
Essay Instructions
Structure:
Please look at document titled Film_as_environmental_activism_a_comparison_of_Under_the_Dome_and_Plastic_China.pdf for a better idea about the structure I would like the essay to follow.
It should critically analyse and compare the two movies in relation to the chosen question under the theme of gender.

Layout:
Introduction (circa 250 words)
Introduce the theme and research question with a brief background of South Korea and China in relation to this.
Main Body: (circa 2000 words)
Compare and analyse both movies and its socio-political context as instructed in the brief outline of the assessment guidance.
Conclusion (circa 250)
In the conclusion summarise the main argument and make some closing comments in regards to their similarities and ties to the socio-political context.
Bibliography + Filmography
Please separate the bibliography and filmography
REFERENCES:
Must include ALL of the following references and 3 of your own references:
China
Cui, Shuqin. “Transgender Masquerading in Huang Shuqin’s Woman, Human, Demon.” In Cui, Women through the Lens: Gender and Nation in a Century of Chinese Cinema. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003, 219-37.
Lee, Haiyan. “Woman, Demon, Human: The Spectral Journey Home.” In Chris Berry, ed., Chinese Films in Focus II. Basingstoke: BFI/Palgrave MacMillan, 2008, 243-49.
Hershatter, Gail. Women in China’s Long Twentieth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.