Introductory description

Action cinema has been closely associated with post-classical Hollywood cinema and the rise of the blockbuster in the 1980s. Aesthetic strategies of action and spectacle are increasingly prominent in contemporary cinema, a shift often linked to the need for large scale films to perform well in a multinational, multilingual marketplace.
Action and spectacle, unlike narrative, are assumed to be universally legible and universally appealing. This apparent subordination of narrative to spectacle means that action cinema is often framed in opposition to canons of good taste and artistic merit. Nevertheless, there are well established traditions of action cinema that exist outside the dominant image. While typically approached through the lens of authorship or national cinema, these films are equally invested in ‘persistent and detailed attention to the exerting body’ (Purse, 2011: 02)
This module approaches action cinema through a transnational lens; exploring the ways in action cinema functions as a discursive category and broadly defined cinematic mode. Adopting an inclusive definition of action cinema, this module engages with films from a variety of historical, national, and industrial contexts; paying equal attention to both their similarities as part of a transnational mode and their particular characteristics as individual texts and commodities.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

This module is equally concerned with exploring both the concept of transnational cinema in general and the properties of specific action cinemas.
This dual focus is reflected in the module design, which is split between several weeks introducing key concepts in both the study of action cinema and transnational cinema followed by case studies of specific (national) action cinemas.
The case studies reflect the research interests and expertise of the module convenor, but the module will always include foundational weeks on conceptualizing the transnational, defining action cinema, and issues of representation. Typical case studies might include the Hollywood Western, Wuxia/武侠, Chanbara/チャンバラ, or Indian action cinema

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Explain how the category of "action cinema" has been conceptualised in a range of historical, industrial, and cultural contexts
• Assess the usefulness of key approaches to the study of transnational cinemas when applied to specific modes, genres, and industrial contexts
• Explain and apply a variety of theoretical and philosophical approaches to the study of action cinema, such as phenomenology, affect theory, ethics, and issues of representation
• Evaluate the validity or persuasiveness of existing scholarly arguments
• Write a logically structured argument supported by textual evidence
• Apply skills of close analysis of audio-visual texts to a range of historical, industrial, and cultural contexts

Indicative reading list

This reading list is indicative and not exhaustive. While some texts will be included every year, others will be removed or added in accordance with the research focus of the module convenor and the developments in the field. This indicative list focuses on single authored books and edited collections, but weekly readings will focus on specific chapters; journal articles; or other short pieces of scholarship and criticism as appropriate

Bordwell, David (2000) Planet Hong Kong : popular cinema and the art of entertainment
(2006) The Way Hollywood Tells it: Story and Style in Modern Movies
Ezra, Elizabeth and Rowden, Terry (2006) Transnational Cinema: The Film Reader
Costanza, William V (2014) World Cinema Through Global Genres
King, Geoff, (2000) Spectacular narratives : Hollywood in the age of the blockbuster
(2001) New Hollywood Cinema: An Introduction
Goplan, Lalitha (2002) The Cinema of Interruptions: Action Genres in Contemporary Indian Cinemas
Hunt, Leon & Leung, Wing Fai (2008) East Asian cinemas : Exploring Transnational Connections on Film
Lim, Song Hwee and Ward, Julian (2020) The Chinese Cinema Book (2nd edition)
Purse, Lisa (2011) Contemporary Action Cinema
Schneider, Steven Jay (2004) New Hollywood Violence
Steimer, Lauren (2020) Experts in Action : Transnational Hong Kong-Style Stunt Work and Performance
Tasker, Yvonne (2002) Spectacular Bodies: Gender Genre and the Action Cinema
Wright, Neelam Sidhar (2015) Bollywood and Postmodernism: Popular Indian Cinema in the 21st Century

Subject specific skills

subject knowledge related to:
concepts in transnational cinema studies
action cinema in various national and historical contexts
areas of film-theory directly related to key debates in the study of action cinema (including but not limited to aesthetics, representation, and ethics)

Transferable skills

written and verbal communication, critical thinking and analysis, audio-visual literacy, research skills, navigation of library/database systems, independent study and self-led learning