American Film Research Articles

RELOADING THE DRAGON LADY: READING THE CHARACTER OF CHUN LI IN STREET FIGHTER: THE LEGEND OF CHUN LI

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li movie revolves around the journey of Chun Li, a Chinese female fighter of the Street Fighter series, and her eventual fight against Bison. This study focuses on the portrayal of Chun Li as a representative of Asian women in an American movie, and compares it to her original portrayal in the game. There are two big groups of representation of Asian women in the Western media: the submissive ‘lotus blossom baby’ and the aggressive ‘dragon lady.’ As a form of content analysis, this study analyzes both textual and visual elements of the Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li movie and Street Fighter game series which represent the portrayal of an Asian woman character named Chun Li. Result shows that Chun Li character in the movie leans more towards the ‘dragon lady’ group with her strong and seductive characteristics, while her game self exhibits a broader range of qualities.

‘Unmitigated Cad’: The Dual Stardom of George Sanders 1

This article explores the dual star image of Hollywood film star George Sanders (1906-1972), drawing on fan magazines, and other media sources and interviews with a family member. The focus is on the ambivalence of Sanders’ persona and his role in establishing the archetype of the cad. Initially, Sanders was portrayed by fan publications as a pin-up, whose attractiveness even came to briefly have a propaganda function. His association with a type of masculinity that was misogynistic, queer and attractive was paradoxical. His duality was reinforced by the roles he played on screen and by the sudden appearance in Hollywood of his older brother, Tom Conway, who acted as his shadow and his double. Sanders hated his stardom, but he made use of his star status to attempt to establish alternative careers; in writing, singing, and in a particular ill-fated business venture.

The Representation of the Scottish Accent in Hollywood Movies and TV Series

Both Scottish culture and the Scottish accent have been oft misrepresented in Hollywood movies and TV series starting in the 20th century and continuing into the 21st. The purpose of this paper is to analyse said misrepresentations, determine why characters are given Scottish accents, how that accent contributes to their characterisation and what kind of character types tend to receive the Scottish accent. The paper concludes that the Scottish accent is selected for certain characters because the previous success of Scotland-based Hollywood movies has made the accent popular among audiences, thus Hollywood, utilising what has worked before and seeing the popularity of the accent, decided to bestow the accent to more characters. It is also given to characters to make them humorous; the accent sounding foreign makes it funny for American audiences, thus many comic relief characters have got it. Tough-as-nails and masculine characters can likewise receive Scottish accents. Moreover, certain archetypes are assigned with the accent in mind by default, such as the Highlander warrior and dwarves, its usage in their case being questionable notwithstanding. Lastly, having a Scottish accent is integral to characterisation, which is exemplified by analysing Shrek, McDuck and three other hyper-stereotypical cartoon characters.

Horses, gender, and (queer) masculine desire, or how experimental found footage film recycles three Hollywood films

Abstract Although the experimental found footage film recycles Hollywood films so that the outcome may radically differ from the original story, there are no accounts on how it adapts images from mainstream cinema to represent human–animal relations, linking to gender and masculinity. To fill this gap, I discuss how experimental film Horsey recycles footage from three Hollywood productions—Reflections in a Golden Eye, The Swimmer, and The Black Stallion—to construct a new narrative, which displays a very close conformity to the prior text, shifting the focus to human–horse interactions. Raising questions about the traditional understanding, scope, and limits of adaptation in avant-garde film studies, Horsey fits in with the broader tradition of cinematic recycling of mainstream cinema as it exemplifies intertextuality as a direct form of quotation, taking quotation as appropriation through cuts, detournement, compilation and free association. Particularly, following Guy Barefoot’s understanding of adaptation as an intertextual form of recycling, Horsey is distinctive in its sole use of found footage from the three Hollywood films as it fully acknowledges the recycled material, strongly alluding to the original stories, and simultaneously re-processes them through a collage of pre-used footage, slow motion, washed-out colours, and an altered soundtrack. Despite appearing to merely extract images and sounds from Reflections, The Swimmer, and The Black Stallion, Horsey emerges as a productive site for recycling Hollywood cinema, placing it into new contexts and audio-visual configurations and offering more complex, engaging ways of looking at how humans connect to horses.

The Magnified Reflection: Art, Sincerity, and Identity in Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York

The American cultural thought of the 1990s appeared to withdraw from the previous postmodern paradigm. New Sincerity and post-postmodernism advocated for a change that, in contrast to the external attitude of irony, was rooted in a sense of sincerity and compassion for the drama of the human condition. The American cinema of the late 1990s was also affected by this trend, best represented by the films of Sofia Coppola, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, and Charlie Kaufman. This essay examines the ways Synecdoche, New York—Kaufman’s 2008 auteur film—explores the duties and challenges of the post-postmodern artist through the character of Caden Cotard. Although the film’s conclusion states that the ideal of the magnum opus and complete cognizability is illusory, only that can lead the artist to the sincerity of human connections—the sole reality of the contemporary simulated world.

Bomb Voyage: The USS Indianapolis disaster in American Cinema, National Memory, and Jaws (1975)

Bomb Voyage: The USS Indianapolis disaster in American Cinema, National Memory, and Jaws (1975)

Archiving, Curating and Teaching Afro-Latin American Film

Abstract: Working at the intersections of Latin American film studies, Afro-Latin American studies, digital humanities (DH), and decolonial pedagogical praxes, this article aims to engage with educators interested in teaching about Afro-descendant representation, antiracist audiovisual productions, the legacy of the African diaspora in Latin America, and the diverse perspectives of Afro-descendants in the region—through the lens of Latin American film and media. In dialogue with calls to decolonize traditional film and media studies curricula, this article critically analyzes the scholarly, archival and digital landscapes of resources focused on Black representation in Latin American cinemas and Afro-Latin American media makers. I identify some of the archival and curatorial exclusionary practices that affect the visibilization of Afro-descendant representation and productions within national cinematecas from the region. Finally, I share a digital humanities project designed to amplify Afro-descendant representation and filmmakers in Latin American cinemas through the curation and creation of resources that center Black voices, experiences, and communities.

New Materialist Freedom in Chloé Zhao's Nomadland

In Chloé Zhao's 2020 film Nomadland, Fern's commitment to eschewing a geolocalizable “home” uproots her from conventional patterns of domesticity and transforms her into an inhabitant of planet earth as a whole, enabling a new way of thinking about identity, environment, and the nature of human freedom. The kind of freedom that Fern's narrative evokes stands in deliberate contrast to the masculinized, heroic style of freedom that American films have done so much to promulgate. In contrast to this conventional representation of freedom, new materialist criticism has examined the many ways that human agency emerges from within a dense web of interconnections that bind together human beings with one another, with other life forms, with inanimate matter, and with the cosmic expanses of time and space. Nomadland can be understood as a film that picks up the iconography of conventional American cinematic freedom in order to redirect this iconography into a new materialist worldview.

Stories, Frames, and Objects: Pulp Fiction as a Transitional Work

Abstract: This paper considers the bygone American independent film media landscape, of which Pulp Fiction (1994) was an essential part, and explores how the film has aged in light of the present media environment and the trajectory of Tarantino's career. I compare Pulp Fiction with the Coen brothers' Barton Fink (1991), another American independent film that preceded it by a few years. Then, I illustrate how Pulp Fiction synthesized classical and post-classical filmmaking styles and operated according to a visual minimalism that is one of the film's strengths. The primary outcome of revisiting Pulp Fiction as a product of both its time and its filmmaker's penchant for excavating material from older movies and stories is to conclude that the groundbreaking Pulp Fiction is, in many ways, a transitional work that often reduces its human characters to objects. I argue that later features from the filmmaker are more substantial in their human characters and a concern for social reality and consequences beyond the immediate frame.

From Zurishaddai to Menachem Mendel: The Shlemiel’s Journey from Ancient to Modern Israel

Abstract This essay explores the evolution and resilience of the shlemiel, a central figure in two millennia of Jewish culture. Rooted in biblical narratives, the shlemiel transitions eventually into a symbol of Yiddish and Eastern European diasporic life, embodying both comedic and tragic elements. Tracing his journey through cultural history, from German to Yiddish and modern Hebrew and American literature, theater, and film, the essay delves into the complexities of his character, rooted in folklore and revolving around mistaken identity. Themes of gender and sexuality, along with interpretative acrobatics add layers of ambiguity and complexity, shaping the shlemiel’s narrative in various literary and cultural contexts. Through a detailed analysis of works by authors ranging from Heinrich Heine through Sholem Aleichem, Franz Kafka, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, to Sammy Gronemann, the essay demonstrates the shlemiel’s versatility and enduring presence in Jewish comedy. Moreover, it examines his role as both a pariah and an agent for social change, reflecting on his significance in different cultural landscapes, as he lands eventually in America and Palestine/Israel in the 20th century. By exploring adaptations and interpretations across time and place, this essay highlights the shlemiel’s resilience amidst shifting societal norms across the globe, offering insights into the enduring relevance of this iconic figure in Jewish literature and culture.

From Zurishaddai to Menachem Mendel: The Shlemiel’s Journey from Ancient to Modern Israel

Abstract This essay explores the evolution and resilience of the shlemiel, a central figure in two millennia of Jewish culture. Rooted in biblical narratives, the shlemiel transitions eventually into a symbol of Yiddish and Eastern European diasporic life, embodying both comedic and tragic elements. Tracing his journey through cultural history, from German to Yiddish and modern Hebrew and American literature, theater, and film, the essay delves into the complexities of his character, rooted in folklore and revolving around mistaken identity. Themes of gender and sexuality, along with interpretative acrobatics add layers of ambiguity and complexity, shaping the shlemiel’s narrative in various literary and cultural contexts. Through a detailed analysis of works by authors ranging from Heinrich Heine through Sholem Aleichem, Franz Kafka, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, to Sammy Gronemann, the essay demonstrates the shlemiel’s versatility and enduring presence in Jewish comedy. Moreover, it examines his role as both a pariah and an agent for social change, reflecting on his significance in different cultural landscapes, as he lands eventually in America and Palestine/Israel in the 20th century. By exploring adaptations and interpretations across time and place, this essay highlights the shlemiel’s resilience amidst shifting societal norms across the globe, offering insights into the enduring relevance of this iconic figure in Jewish literature and culture.

Disasters and gender in Japanese anime films: Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name and Weathering with You

PurposeThis article focuses on the representations of natural hazards, disasters, gender roles and norms in Makoto Shinkai’s disaster-themed anime films Your Name (2016) and Weathering with You (2019).Design/methodology/approachThis article commences with a literature review on disasters, disaster films, gender in disasters and gender in disaster films; then, this article thoroughly investigates the portrayal of disasters and gender in the two films, drawing data from their narratives and plots.FindingsThis article finds that the two films’ depictions of disasters and gender adhere to the traditional patterns observed in Hollywood and Japanese disaster films. The natural hazards and disasters in the two films reflect real-world disasters that occurred in Japan’s recent decades, especially the 3.11 Tohoku earthquake in 2011. Traditional gender figures and prevalent heterosexual expectations in Japanese culture and society deeply influence the two films’ portrayal of gender roles and norms.Originality/valueNumerous academic works explored Hollywood disaster films, their representations of gender roles and norms in disaster themes. However, few focus on recent Japanese anime films such as Your Name and Weathering with You. This article aims to fill this gap.

Subtitling the f-word into Arabic in Hollywood films: a corpus-based study

This study investigates the prevailing strategies used by Arab translators when translating the f-word in subtitles. The study also determines whether these strategies are source-language-oriented or target-language-oriented. To address these research questions, a corpus of 90 Hollywood films released between 2000 and 2018 is analysed quantitatively and qualitatively, with a particular focus on their subtitles. Insights from descriptive translation studies (henceforth DTS), particularly Toury (2012), are also incorporated. The findings indicate that the functions of the f-word significantly influence the choice of subtitling strategies. Also, the use of Modern Standard Arabic in Arabic subtitles restricts the subtitlers’ linguistic options. Additionally, the nature of audiovisual translation plays a role in subtitler choices since the meaning of a word can be conveyed through gestures, images, or sounds on screen. In addition, the f-word is often translated into religious expressions, and omission is commonly used for certain functions as, for instance, an emphatic intensifier or idiomatic ‘set phrase’.

Adaptation is Survival: Current Trends in American Film Criticism

Adaptation is Survival: Current Trends in American Film Criticism

Transcultural Appropriation and Aesthetic Breakthrough of Hollywood Film Noir in Contemporary Taiwan Suspense Thriller Films: A Case Study of Who Killed Cock Robin (2017)

The production of suspense thriller films has recently surged in Taiwan. These films adopt narrative techniques and visual aesthetics reminiscent of classic and neo-noir Hollywood cinema but also address social issues in Taiwan and represent transcultural aesthetic appropriation of film noir. This article employs a case study approach to examine the narrative and visual style of the Taiwanese suspense thriller Who Killed Cock Robin (2017), using film narratology as a textual analytical framework. This study considers themes, characters, visual style, and narrative structures, focusing on fundamental characteristics of classic film noir and neo-noir. This study reveals that the selected film both appropriates and deviates from the aesthetics of Hollywood film noir. It effectively incorporates aesthetic elements from classic Hollywood film noir and neo-noir, enriching the intricacies of storytelling and character depiction, while also localizing them through complex narrative strategies and nuanced Taiwanese cultural and social elements. The film brings attention to several prevalent issues in Taiwan’s media landscape, including truth manipulation, sensationalism, tabloidization, and conglomerate and political control. The film portrays Yi-Chi as a morally compromised character embodying the detective archetype with classic noir traits, while also reflecting the “Eastern mentality” in Taiwan journalism. Despite his moral compromises, Yi-Chi partly retains traditional virtues, presenting a nuanced view of human nature that blends pessimism and optimism in Taiwan. This approach creates a distinct cross-cultural narrative that resonates emotionally with Taiwanese audiences, while also contributing to the broader global cinematic discourse on film noir.

The Frame of Asian Movement in Hollywood Films

The Frame of Asian Movement in Hollywood Films

Liberating Minds: The Intellectual Legacy of Angela Davis and Its Images in Film

We propose thinking of Angela Davis's intellectual legacy from a decolonial perspective. We point out that just as the fight for civil rights and the end of racial segregation in the United States helped to consolidate the Black movement in Brazil, the circulation of anti-colonial ideas during the struggles for the decolonization of African countries in the 1950s and 60s was crucial to the circulation of abolitionist ideas and anti-racist movements in the United States and abroad. We will analyze interchanges capable of pointing out "the recognition of multiple and heterogeneous colonial differences, as well as the multiple and heterogeneous reactions of populations and subjects subordinated to the coloniality of power" (Bernardino-Costa & Grosfoguel, 2016, p. 21). Our contribution seeks to analyze Davis as a public and militant intellectual through her images in film. Beyond considering Angela Davis's image in cinema as representation, we also analyze how her intellectual and political activities were involved with the flourishing of a new Black cinema in the United States. This paper analyzes films such as Child of Resistance (1973), Free Angela and All Political Prisoners (2015), and 13th (2016).

Spatial Narrative and Critique of Reality in The American Film “Breaking”

The American film and television production “Breaking” (originally titled 892) is an independent film of a documentary nature. Through the experience of a veteran, the film reveals the tragedy under the illusion of so-called fairness and justice in American society. The stark social realism is the biggest highlight of this film. Through interpreting the multiple spatial narratives in the film, the paper analyses the elements of reality criticism in the events, and unearths the profound social criticism and cultural reflection contained in the film.

Milton Fernando Gonzalez Rodriguez, Indigeneity in Latin American Cinema Bloomsbury, 2022, pp. x + 326

Milton Fernando Gonzalez Rodriguez, Indigeneity in Latin American Cinema Bloomsbury, 2022, pp. x + 326

A Study of Humorous Subtitle Translation of the Big Bang Theory From the Perspective of the Translation Variation Theory

Under the background of economic globalization, British and American movies and TV series have become one of the important ways of cultural exchange and communication between China and the west, and subtitle translation also plays an increasingly important role in cross-cultural communication. Taking the American sitcom "the Big Bang Theory" as an example, its language is characterized by humor and personality. This paper first summarizes the characteristics of subtitle translation of sitcoms, then analyzes the types of humor translation from three aspects: general humor, cultural humor and linguistic humor, and then analyzes the specific examples of "addition, subtraction, compilation and modification" to investigate the guiding role of translation variation theory in subtitle translation.