National cinema
National cinema is a term sometimes used in film theory and film criticism to describe the films associated with a specific nation-state. Although there is little relatively written on theories of national cinema it has an irrefutably important role in globalization. Film provides a unique window to other cultures, particularly where the output of a nation or region is high.
Definition
Like other film theory or film criticism terms (e.g., "art film"), the term "national cinema" is hard to define, and its meaning is debated by film scholars and critics. A film may be considered to be part of a "national cinema" based on a number of factors. Simply put, a "nation's cinema" can be attributed to the country that provided the financing for the film, the language spoken in the film, the nationalities or dress of the characters, and the setting, music, or cultural elements present in the film.[1] To define a national cinema, some scholars emphasize the structure of the film industry and the roles played by "...market forces, government support, and cultural transfers..."[2] More theoretically, national cinema can refer to a large group of films, or "a body of textuality... given historical weight through common intertextual 'symptoms', or coherencies".[3] In Theorising National Cinema, Philip Rosen suggests national cinema is a conceptualization of: (1) Selected 'national' films/texts themselves, the relationship between them, which be connected by a shared (general) symptom. (2) an understanding of the 'nation' as an entity in synchronicity with its 'symptom'. And (3) an understanding of past or traditional 'symptoms', also known as history or historiography, which contribute to current systems and 'symptoms'.[3] These symptoms of intertextuality could refer to style, medium, content, narrative, narrative structure, costume, Mise-en-scène, character, background, cinematography. It could refer to cultural background of those who make the movie and cultural background of those in the movie, of spectatorship, of spectacle.
Canada
Canadian cultural and film critics have long debated how Canadian national cinema can be defined, or whether there is a Canadian national cinema. Most of the films shown on Canadian movie screens are US imports. If "Canadian national cinema" is defined as the films made in Canada, then the canon of Canadian cinema would have to include lightweight teen-oriented fare such as
Scott MacKenzie argues that by the late 1990s, if Canada did have a popular cinema with both avant-garde and experimental elements, that was influenced by European filmmakers such as Jean-Luc Godard and Wim Wenders. MacKenzie argues that Canadian cinema has a "...self-conscious concern with the incorporation of cinematic and televisual images", and as examples, he cites films such as David Cronenberg's Videodrome (1983), Atom Egoyan's Family Viewing (1987), Robert Lepage's The Confessional (Le Confessionnal) (1995) and Srinivas Krishna's Masala (1991).[4]
France
- See cinema du look
France's national cinema includes both popular cinema and "avant-garde" films. French national cinema is associated with the
Germany
- See German New Wave
During the German
During the
The New German Cinema of the 1970s and 1980s included films by directors such as
Poland
After World War II, the Lódz Film School was founded in 1948. During the 1950s and 1960s, a "
Mexico
Although it is difficult to determine and define a 'national cinema', much of what many consider Mexican national cinema, but not limited to, is
Later narrativized dramas, such as
Although of European heritage, Luis Buñuel's work in Mexico is another example that presents 'symptoms' of Mexican national identity. Although less well received by lower classes, and more admired by upper classes, Buñuel's Los Olvidados (1950) stands as an example that a director's national heritage doesn't always have to contribute to the conceptualization of a nation's cinema. Rather than building the nation through celebration, the film presents problem, which contribute to a global identity and context of the nation state. Buñuel, however, is less interested in presenting some 'identity' of message, national or international, and remarked that "to ask whether the film is Mexican or not, is to resist, to seek, to disperse, the very mystery this film articulates for us".
Modern genres embraced and nurtured as 'Mexican national cinema' are often those of the social and family melodrama genre (the
In other countries
Countries like South Korea and Iran have over the years produced a large body of critically acclaimed and award-winning films by the likes of Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho and the late Abbas Kiarostami.[11][12]
References
- ^ Jimmy Choi. Is National Cinema Mr. MacGuffin? International Films. The Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds, UK.
- ^ Tom O' Regan Australian National Cinema, cited in Jimmy Choi. Is National Cinema Mr. MacGuffin? International Films/ The Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds, UK.
- ^ a b Vitali, V., & Willemen, P. (2006). Theorising national cinema. London: Bfi (British Film Institute) Publishing.
- ^ Scott MacKenzie, University of Glasgow. National Identity, Canadian Cinema, and Multiculturalism.
- ^ Susan Hayward. French National Cinema
- ^ ISBN 0-415-08902-6. Reviewed by Robert von Dassanowsky.
- ^ Shelia Skaff. The cinema that is Marek Haltof's Polish National Cinema. Review of Marek Haltof's book Polish National Cinema.
- ISBN 082236963XPublication Date: June 2017. History: Reviews of New Books. 46. 71-72. 10.1080/03612759.2018.1436314.
- ^ Like Water for Chocolate|Golden Globes
- ^ Torres San Martin, Patricia. “The Guadalajarans’ Amores Perros.” Comunicación y Sociedad, núm. 37 , June 2000, pp. 179–202., doi:10.15417/1881.
- ^ Observations on film art: National cinemas: South Korea
- ^ Observations on film art: National cinemas: Iran
Further reading
- Theorising National Cinema. Edited by Valentina Vitali and Paul Willemen. June 2006.
- Barton, Ruth. Irish National Cinema. London and New York: Routledge, 2005.
- Hake, Sabine. German National Cinema. London and New York: Routledge, 2002.
- Haltof, Marek. Polish National Cinema. New York: Berghahn Books, 2002.
- Hayward, Susan. French National Cinema. London and New York: Routledge, 2005.
- Higson, Andrew. The Concept of National Cinema. Volume 30, Screen, Volume 30, Issue 4, 1 October 1989, Pages 36–47.
- Maingard, Jacqueline. South African National Cinema. London and New York: Routledge, 2008.
- Noble, Andrea. Mexican National Cinema. London and New York: Routledge, 2010.
- O'Regan, Tom. Australian National Cinema. London and New York: Routledge, 2005.
- Renfre, Alistair. Russian and Soviet National Cinema. London and New York: Routledge, 2009.
- Sorlin, Pierre. Italian National Cinema. London and New York: Routledge, 2009.
- Street, Sarah. British National Cinema. London and New York: Routledge, 2009.
- Summers, Howard. The Guide To Movie Lists: Filmographies of the World. Borehamwood: Howcom Services, 2018 ISBN 978-1-5499-4022-4401p.
- Triana-Toribio, Núria. Spanish National Cinema. London and New York: Routledge, 2003.
- Zhang, Yingjin. Chinese National Cinema. London and New York: Routledge, 2010.