Exploiting East Asian Cinemas: Genre, Circulation, Reception(Global Exploitation Cinemas)

From the 1970s onward, “exploitation cinema” as a concept has circulated inside and outside of East Asian nations and cultures in terms of aesthetics and marketing. However, crucial questions about how global networks of production and circulation alter the identity of an East Asian film as “mainstream” or as “exploitation” have yet to be addressed in a comprehensive way. Exploiting East Asian Cinemas serves as the first authoritative guide to the various ways in which contemporary cinema from and about East Asia has trafficked across the somewhat-elusive line between mainstream and exploitation. Focusing on networks of circulation, distribution, and reception, this collection treats the exploitation cinemas of East Asia as mobile texts produced, consumed, and in many ways re-appropriated across national (and hemispheric) boundaries. As the processes of globalization have decoupled products from their nations of origin, transnational taste cultures have declared certain works as “art” or “trash,” regardless of how those works are received within their native locales. By charting the routes of circulation of notable films from Japan, China, and South Korea, this anthology contributes to transnationally-accepted formulations of what constitutes “East Asian exploitation cinema.”

Table of Contents:
Illustrations Acknowledgments Foreword Julian Stringer (University of Nottingham, UK) Notes on Text Editors' IntroductionKen Provencher (Josai International University, Japan) and Mike Dillon (California State University at Fullerton, USA) Part I: Genres Without Borders 1. Steampunked Kung Fu: Technologized Modernity in Stephen Fung's Tai Chi Films Kenneth Chan (University of Northern Colorado, USA) 2. Oru kaiju dai shingeki (All monsters attack!): The regional and transnational exploitation of the kaiju eiga Steven Rawle (York St. John University, UK) 3. Blood and Blades: Transnational Heroic Violence in Twilight Samurai and The Last Samurai Ken Provencher (Josai International University, Japan) Part II: The Exploitation Marketplace 4. Dragons, Ninjas, and Kickboxers: The Minor Transnational Action Films of IFD Man-Fung Yip (University of Oklahoma, USA) 5. Asia Restrained: J-Horror's Poor Beginnings and the Mismarketing of Excess Tom Mes (The Midnight Eye) 6. Gifting Beauty: The Exploitations of Fan Bingbing Mila Zuo (Oregon State University, USA) Part III: Exploitation, Art, and Politics 7. Kitano's Outrageous Exploitation Cinema: Yakuza Nobility and the Biopolitics of Crime Elena del Río (University of Alberta, Canada) 8. A Cinematic Half-Twist: Art, Exploitation, and the Subversion of Sexual Norms in Kim Ki-duk's Moebius Hye Seung Chung and David Scott Diffrient (Colorado State University, USA) 9. Hara Kazuo and Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974 (1974) Jun Okada (State University of New York at Geneseo, USA) 10. Don't Bother to Dispatch the FBI: Representations of Serial Killers in New Korean Cinema Kyu Hyun Kim (University of California Davis, USA) Select Bibliography Notes on Contributors Index

About the Author :
Ken Provencher has taught film and media studies at Josai International University in Tokyo, Japan, and Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. His work focuses on the transnational Hollywood industry, especially its relation to East Asian media industries and popular cultures. He has contributed to The Companion to Wong Kar-wai, The Quarterly Review of Film and Video, and The Velvet Light Trap, among others. Mike Dillon teaches film and media studies at California State University, Fullerton. His research focuses on the relationship between media cultures and transnational human mobility. His publications include essays in Journal of South Asian Film and Media Studies, Mediascape, and Reconstruction, among other; and chapters in the anthologies Negative Cosmopolitanisms and Transnational Horror Cinema.

Review :
This anthology is an excellent contribution to the growing area of transnational and trans-cultural studies in this area. Expertly written by contributors who are well known authorities in this area and well-documented, this proves to be one of the most important anthologies in developing work in this area. Highly recommended. Warning! Handle this book carefully. It contains giant monsters, robot kickboxers and dragons. The world of this book is a sanctuary for the exploitation lover, where the samurai respects critical debates on art vs trash; the serial killer deconstructs the boundaries of East Asian Cinema; and clones of Bruce Lee interrogates stardom. In short, while highly dangerous to the mere mortal, this book is serious (and smart) fun. From steampunk Kung Fu to transnational samurais to Mainland mega star to Asia 'extreme' auteurs and to South Korean serial killers, this collection explores the varied ways in which certain East Asian films and filmmakers have been appropriating and appropriated in the globalized networks of production, circulation, and reception. Such an engaging and entertaining read, this definitive collection details the mix of theory, history and practices of East Asian 'exploitation' cinema across a range of national and generic backgrounds, and offers new and insightful ways of understanding 'East Asian exploitation cinema.'