In the relatively young field of Chinese film studies, few books to date offer as comprehensive a survey of its relevant issues as Screening China. Author Yingjin Zhang skillfully draws connections between the films of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, proving that not only is there a Chinese cinema, but Chinese cinemas as well.
Zhang begins by tracing the development of Chinese film criticism. He points out that Western critics have studied a comparatively small number of films from a much larger body of work. The result has been that the few have influenced the many, perpetuating a cycle of film production from China that bows to the Western notion of "Chineseness." As a corrective, the author introduces readers to a larger canon of film and proposes a multidirectional model that allows for a Western reading of Chinese film, yet also recognizes Chinese cinema's own voice and role on the world cinematic stage.
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