NCHU Course Outline
Course Name (中) 臺灣電影專題(8004)
(Eng.) Seminar on Taiwan Cinema
Offering Dept International Doctoral Program in Taiwan and Transcultural Studies
Course Type Elective Credits 3 Teacher LIAO,YING-CHIH ect.
Department International Doctoral Program in Taiwan and Transcultural StudiesPh.D Language English Semester 2025-SPRING
Course Description Week1-10週: Dominique Liao / Week 11-16: Wah Guan Lim

The 2025 iteration of this graduate seminar is co-taught by Dominique Liao and Wah Guan Lim. Cinema is an exclusive art composed by many different artistic forms and elements, and understanding its own language, style, and aesthetics is essential for film analyses of any kind. Therefore, we will devote the first 10 weeks to focus on building a solid foundation of cinematic analyses before delving into specific examples from and about Taiwan. The first two-thirds of this course will train you to analyze the mise-en-scène, shot-sequence, narrative, cinematic structure, aesthetics, and narratology. We will encourage you to apply these ways of viewing on works by Hou Hsiao Hsien, Edward Yang, Tsai Ming-liang, Ko Yi-cheng, Chen Yu-hsun, Chang Tso-Chi, and Huang Hsin-yao, among other filmmakers
Prerequisites
self-directed learning in the course Y
Relevance of Course Objectives and Core Learning Outcomes(%) Teaching and Assessment Methods for Course Objectives
Course Objectives Competency Indicators Ratio(%) Teaching Methods Assessment Methods
1. Laying the foundation for cinematic image and narratology analyses
2. Understanding Taiwan cinema through film language and aesthetics
topic Discussion/Production
Exercises
Lecturing
Attendance
Oral Presentation
Assignment
Course Content and Homework/Schedule/Tests Schedule
Week Course Content
Week 1 Course Introduction
Week 2 Narrative Analyses: Plots, Concepts, Issues and Theme 2/25
Films:
The Great Beauty (La grande bellezza) (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013)
Youth (Paolo Sorrentino, 2015)
Week 3 Cinematic Image Analyses I: mise-en-scène analyses 3/4
Films:
The Great Beauty (La grande bellezza) (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013)
Youth (Paolo Sorrentino, 2015)
Week 4 Cinematic Image Analyses II: shot-sequence analyses 3/11
Films:
The Great Beauty (La grande bellezza) (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013)
Youth (Paolo Sorrentino, 2015)
Week 5 Narrative Structure: Shot Sequences and Film Structure 3/18
Films:
The Great Beauty (La grande bellezza) (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013)
Youth (Paolo Sorrentino, 2015)
Week 6 Style and Aesthetics 3/25
Required Reading:
Hennessey, Brendan. 2017. ”Real Simulations: CGI and Special Effects in Two Films by Paolo Sorrentino,” in The Italianist 37(3): 449–463.
Week 7 Holiday
Week 8 Narratology Analyses I 4/8
Required Readings:
Bordwell, David. (1985). Narration in the Fiction Film. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Verstraten, Peter. (2009). Film Narratology. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Films:
Thanatos, Drunk (Chang Tso-Chi, 2015)
The Great Buddha+ (Huang Hsin-yao, 2017)
Week 9 Narratology Analyses II 4/15
Required Readings:
Bordwell, David. (1985). Narration in the Fiction Film. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Verstraten, Peter. (2009). Film Narratology. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Films:
Thanatos, Drunk (Chang Tso-Chi, 2015)
The Great Buddha+ (Huang Hsin-yao, 2017)
Week 10 Various Approaches for Film Studies 4/22
Reading: Stam, Robert. 2000. Film Theory: An Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Week 11 Contested Histories 4/29
Required Reading
Hong, Guo-Juin. “Island of No Return: Cinematic Narration as Retrospection in Wang Tong’s Taiwan Trilogy and Beyond.” Taiwan Cinema: A Contested Nation on Screen. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. 139–158.
Film: Banana Paradise 香蕉天堂 (Wang Toon 王童, 1989)
Documentary: Our Time, Our Story: 20 Years’ New Taiwan Cinema (2002)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLESjGCu0_U
Week 12 The Epic Everyday 5/6
Required Reading
Yeh, Emilie Yueh-yu and Darrell William Davis. “The House of Yang.” Taiwan Film Directors: A Treasure Island. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. 91–131.
Film: A One and a Two 一一 (Edward Yang 楊德昌, 2000)
Week 13 Exilic Taiwan or Global Taiwan? 5/13
Required Reading
Lim, Song Hwee. “Speaking in Tongues: Ang Lee, Accented Cinema, Hollywood.”
Theorizing World Cinema. Eds. Lúcia Nagib, Chris Perriam, and Rajinder Dudrah London: I.B. Tauris, 2012. 129–144.
Film: The Wedding Banquet 喜宴 (Ang Lee 李安, 1993)
Week 14 Taiwan Cinema as Soft Power 5/20
Required Reading
Lim, Song Hwee. “Introduction: Cinema as Soft Power, Soft Power as Method.” Taiwan Cinema as Soft Power: Authorship, Transnationality, Historiography. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022. 1–23.
Film: Zone Pro Site: The Moveable Feast 總舖師 (Chen Yu-hsun 陳玉勳, 2013)
Week 15 Class Presentation 5/27
Provide a 10-min in-class oral presentation of your final essay topic.
Week 16 Essay Workshop 6/3
Bring 3 hard copies of your final paper drafts (double-spaced, type-written) to class
Week 17 Self-directed learning 6/10
Week 18 Essay Due
Evaluation
1. i-Learning Posts 10%
2. Research paper (approx. 3000 words, due Week 18, June 17) 40%
3. Attendance & participation 20%
4. In-class analyses 30%
Textbook & other References
[Week 1-10]
Required Readings:
Bordwell, David. (1985). Narration in the Fiction Film. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Hennessey, Brendan. 2017. ”Real Simulations: CGI and Special Effects in Two Films by Paolo Sorrentino,” in The Italianist 37(3): 449-463. [Library online recource]
Stam, Robert. 2000. Film Theory: An Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Verstraten, Peter. (2009). Film Narratology. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Films:
The Great Beauty (La Grande bellezza) (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013)
Youth (Paolo Sorrentino, 2015)
Thanatos, Drunk (Chang Tso-Chi, 2015)
The Great Buddha+ (Huang Hsin-yao, 2017)

[Week 11-16]
Required Reading
Hong, Guo-Juin. “Island of No Return: Cinematic Narration as Retrospection in Wang Tong’s Taiwan Trilogy and Beyond.” Taiwan Cinema: A Contested Nation on Screen. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. 139–158.
Yeh, Emilie Yueh-yu and Darrell William Davis. “The House of Yang.” Taiwan Film Directors: A Treasure Island. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. 91–131.
Lim, Song Hwee. “Speaking in Tongues: Ang Lee, Accented Cinema, Hollywood.”
Theorizing World Cinema. Eds. Lúcia Nagib, Chris Perriam, and Rajinder Dudrah London: I.B. Tauris, 2012. 129–144.
Lim, Song Hwee. “Introduction: Cinema as Soft Power, Soft Power as Method.” Taiwan Cinema as Soft Power: Authorship, Transnationality, Historiography. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022. 1–23.
Film & Documentary:
Our Time, Our Story: 20 Years’ New Taiwan Cinema (2002)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLESjGCu0_U
Banana Paradise 香蕉天堂 (Wang Toon 王童, 1989)
A One and a Two 一一 (Edward Yang 楊德昌, 2000)
The Wedding Banquet 喜宴 (Ang Lee 李安, 1993)
Zone Pro Site: The Moveable Feast 總舖師 (Chen Yu-hsun 陳玉勳, 2013)
Teaching Aids & Teacher's Website
i-Learning
Office Hours
Thu. 17:00-18:00
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