Bertozzi, Eddie (2014) One step forward into reality : transvergent reconfigurations of the Jishizhuyi style in contemporary Chinese cinema. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/20333 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this PhD Thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This PhD Thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this PhD Thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the PhD Thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full PhD Thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD PhD Thesis, pagination. ONE STEP FORWARD INTO REALITY Transvergent Reconfigurations of the Jishizhuyi Style in Contemporary Chinese Cinema EDDIE BERTOZZI Thesis submitted for the degree of Ph.D. 2014 Department of China and Inner Asia SOAS, University of London 1 Declaration for SOAS PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: Date: ___14 July 2014_______ 2 ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the stylistic evolution of one specific brand of film realism in contemporary Chinese cinema: the so-called jishizhuyi style (‘on-the-spot’ realism). In particular, the project focuses on the process of progressive aestheticisation that has affected this style since the turn of the twenty-first century, and the resulting development of a number of transgressive aesthetic features. In the first place, this study rethinks the assumptions of objectivity and spontaneity that conventionally characterise the practice and understanding of jishizhuyi . Hence, through the analysis of relevant case studies, the dissertation discusses the evolution of two main tendencies that show an increasingly subjective approach to the jishizhuyi style: the adoption of hyperrealist and supernatural visual elements – in films such as Suzhou River, Shanghai Panic, Welcome to Destination Shanghai, The World , and Still Life – and the purposeful interplay of fiction and non-fiction – in works such as Disorder, Oxhide, Oxhide II, 24 City , and The Ditch . The dissertation contends that, albeit challenging to conventional understandings of realism, these aesthetics do not invalidate, but rather redefine the meaning and practice of film realism in relation to the specificities of China’s contemporary historical framework. To investigate this topic, the project applies the ‘cinema of transvergence’ paradigm to Chinese film studies for the first time. This is understood as a transformative theoretical model that accounts for the evolution of film styles in a flexible manner. The discussion further combines a variety of interdisciplinary theories, ranging from magical realism to documentary performativity, in order to fulfil a formal and critical analysis of a stylistic phenomenon that has hitherto lacked a comprehensive systematisation in academic scholarship. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I want to thank my supervisor, Dr Rossella Ferrari, for her constant support and dedication. She is the one who firmly guided me through the intellectual excitements and inevitable frustrations of this doctoral journey. Her expertise, precision, and passion for knowledge have assisted and inspired me during all my years at SOAS. I also want to thank Dr Lu Xiaoning for her encouragements during the writing process: her precious suggestions helped me improve my thesis substantially. Thanks to Dr Tan Tianyuan, Prof. Bernhard Fuehrer, and the whole Department of China and Inner Asia, for granting me the opportunity to undertake my research at SOAS. My endless gratitude goes to Dr Elena Pollacchi, a mentor and a friend, who has always believed in me since the early days of my academic life. My doctoral project has been financially supported by a few institutions that I wish to thank warmly. First of all, the Dan David Foundation and the Tel Aviv University that made me a proud recipient of their Dav David Prize in 2011. SOAS generously granted me its Doctoral Scholarship from 2010 to 2013 and its Award for Fieldwork in 2012. Thanks to the Universities’ China Committee in London that sponsored my overseas fieldwork in China and Hong Kong in 2012. Huge thanks to all those people who blessed me with their love, time, and unconditional support throughout my beautiful London years. Words cannot describe the gratitude I owe to Clara Caleo Green – almost a second mother to me – Federico Spoletti and Ornella Tarantola, who really meant a new family in the UK for me. With Alessia Costa, Jacopo Gnisci, Arnhilt Hoefle, Rebecca Meneghini, Andrea Enrico Pia, Caitlin Robinson, Daria Trentini, Elena Zambelli, and Giulia Zoccatelli, I spent innumerable coffee breaks discussing academic harships, existential paranoias, and projects for a better life. But, first of all, we spent our time laughing, sharing, and understanding each other – a key life lesson that taught me that there’s always more to life than a Ph.D. A final special thanks to my family, for not asking too many questions and still trusting me throughout the whole process. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..7 CHAPTER 1 – LOOKING FOR TRANSVERGENCE ……………………………………………………………………….17 1. PARADIGMS FOR A CHINESE (POST-)NATIONAL CINEMA 1.1 National Cinema of Chineseness…………………………………………………………………….18 1.2 Phantoms of the Transnational……………………………………………………………………...23 2. THE IMPERATIVE OF TRANSVERGENCE 2.1 The Comparative Option………………………………………………………………………………..29 2.2 Cinema of Transvergence……………………………………………………………………… .………33 2.3 Allogenesis: Transvergent Chinese Cinema…………………………………………………….40 CHAPTER 2 – TOWARDS THE IMPOSSIBLE ………………………………………………………………………………46 1. CHINESE REALISMS: SYNTHESIS OF CHANGES 1.1 Observation and Imagination…………………………………………………………………………47 1.2 Melodramatic Realism…………………………………………………………………………………..51 1.3 The Disappearance of Truth…………………………………………………………………………..53 1.4 A New Period…………………………………………………………………………………………..…….56 2. CHINESE POSTSOCIALISM: AN ALIEN ARCHIPELAGO 2.1 Post-New Period as Postmodernity………………………………………………………………..60 2.2 From Fragmentation to Pluralisation……………………………………………………….…….64 2.3 Unfinished Postsocialism……………………………………………………………………………….68 2.4 Impossible Realism………………………………………………………………………………….…….76 CHAPTER 3 – FOSTERING THE ALIEN ……………………………………………………………………………………….79 1. JISHIZHUYI : AN ALREADY-ALIEN REALISM 1.1 Jishizhuyi and Realist Filmmaking in Contemporary China………………………………80 1.2 Xianchang and Aesthetic Practice……………………………………………………………….…84 1.3 Jishizhuyi in Transvergent Reading………………………………………………………………...95 2. JISHIZHUYI AND ALLOGENETIC MODIFICATIONS 2.1 A Feeling of the Real……………………………………………………………………………………108 2.2 A Process of Supernaturalisation……………………………………………………….………..112 CHAPTER 4 – THE WILDEST THINGS ………………………………………………………………………………………121 1. MAGIC(AL) JISHIZHUYI 1.1 Theories of Magic(al) Realism……………………………………………………………………...122 1.2 Magic(al) Realism in China……………………………………………………………………………128 5 1.3 Magic(al) Realism in Chinese Film……………………………………………………………..…131 2. CASE STUDIES 2.1 Suzhou River …………………………………………………………………………………………….….135 2.2 Shanghai Panic and Welcome to Destination Shanghai ………………………………..142 2.3 The World …………………………………………………………………………………………………….147 2.4 Still Life ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. .. 155 CHAPTER 5 – IMPURE TRUTH ………………………………………………………………………………………………..162 1. PERFORMATIVE JISHIZHUYI 1.1 A Truth of the Text……………………………………………………………………………………….163 1.2 Mediated Xianchang ……………………………………………………………………………………170 2. CASE STUDIES 2.1 Disorder ………………………………………………………………………………………………… .……175 2.2 24 City ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….182 2.3 Oxhide and Oxhide II ………………………………………………………………………………..…..193 2.4 The Ditch ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..200 CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..210 REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………220 FILMOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..247 6 INTRODUCTION Realism in contemporary mainland Chinese film is the main object of enquiry of the present dissertation. As a major stylistic category in the history of Chinese cinema, realism has been variously theorised and diversely expressed to adapt to an unstable cultural and ideological environment that has been subject to constant redefinition throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. More precisely, this project focuses on the evolution of one specific brand of Chinese film realism, namely, the so-called jishizhuyi (generally translated as ‘on-the-spot realism’). My purpose is to investigate the progressive development of this style, from its inception in the early 1990s to its latest derivations in the early 2010s. In particular, by arguing that realism in contemporary Chinese film has been undergoing a