11.Significant Genre Films in Cinema History

In Chapter 11, we will look at a variety of different film genres and their most acclaimed works. Genre films are movies that were produced with the intent of fitting into a specific genre or catering to an existing audience. A prominent example is the crime film genre, which can be further divided into subgenres like noir, gangster films, and heist films. There’s the road movie, which is a classic genre tailor made for a car-dependent culture like America. Then there’s the survival film, where a man or woman goes up against the elements.

Genres like sci-fi and horror also have massive dedicated followings. Sci-fi films can be set in space, or deal with aliens, or explore theoretical technology like time machines. The horror genre encompasses splatter films, zombie films, and psychological thrillers, among others. Many of these types of films are low-budget B movies, and many end up as box office failures but experience longevity as cult classics.

Then there are comedies. In general, Hollywood, the Academy, and the general public tend to view comedy as a lesser art than drama; the industry’s most prestigious awards are reserved for Dramas with a capital “D”. But comedies remain one of the most popular forms of Hollywood entertainment, from heartwarming dramedies to slapstick, from black comedies to parody and satire. There are romantic comedies and action comedies. Many coming-of-age films have strong comedic elements.

Musicals are another important film genre. For much of the Golden Age of Hollywood, musicals were the industry’s bread and butter. In the second half of the 20th century, as Hollywood tastes shifted to films that were more realistic, fantastical musicals became more niche than mainstream. And the animated musicals produced by Disney have made the genre largely children-oriented.

Speaking of children, superhero films from studios like Marvel and DC have become so successful and so omnipresent in our culture that it sometimes feels like they are the main form of entertainment being churned out by the Hollywood machine today. Tim Burton’s Batman and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy have shown that superhero movies can be for adults, too.

Lastly, Hollywood has produced many films based on historical events and true stories. The majority of war films attempt to capture the horror and pointlessness of war; many historical epics and biopics tend to glorify or sugarcoat history. Then there are films like All the President’s Men and Erin Brockovich that focus on less epic but nonetheless dramatic moments and people. As an extension of these types of films we will also cover documentaries.

12.Hollywood and the British Film Industry

In Chapter 12, we will cover the intersection of Hollywood and the British Film Industry. For example, the English comedic actor Charlie Chaplin, perhaps cinema’s greatest icon, became a global star through the silent films and talkies he made in Hollywood. However, in the 40s his popularity declined rapidly for his political views and a string of affairs. In the 50s, he was accused of communist sympathies, and he was forced to leave the U.S. and settle in Switzerland.

Then there’s the English director Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense who made most of his most iconic work in Hollywood, or the American director Stanley Kubrick, whose dislike of the Hollywood industry led him to move to the U.K. and spend most of the remainder of his career there.

We will also look at the English actors who have played American icons, and the American actors who have played English icons. In recent years Welsh actor Christian Bale has played the American superhero Batman; the American legend of the screen Meryl Streep has played the Iron Lady herself, Margaret Thatcher—and even won an Oscar for her portrayal.

13.The Cinema of the U.K./France/Italy

In Chapter 13, we will look at the cinema of the U.K., France, and Italy. The British film industry has produced historical epics like Lawrence of Arabia, as well as massively popular franchises like James Bond, Monty Python, and Harry Potter.

From France, we will start with Georges Méliès, an illusionist and film director who pioneering many technical and narrative elements in the earliest days of cinema. Then we will look at the generation of French filmmakers who were influenced by the introduction of Hollywood films into Europe following the end of World War II. Young directors like Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, and Éric Rohmer were called the French New Wave for their rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation. Their work would influence filmmakers around the world and inspire similar movements such as New Hollywood and the Japanese New Wave.

From Italy, we will look at masters of cinema such as Roberto Rossellini and Frederico Fellini, who are known as part of the Italian neorealism movement. We will also look at the Spaghetti Westerns that emerged out of the work of Sergio Leone.

14.The Cinema of Europe and Latin America

In Chapter 14, we will look at the the cinema of other European countries like Germany, Poland, Russia, and Spain. From Germany, we will look at the directors of the New German Cinema movement, who were greatly influenced by the French New Wave: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, and Wim Wenders. Their low-budget films enticed art film fans from around the world.

We will also cover the cinema of Mexico, namely the “three amigos"— Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón, and Guillermo Del Toro—who would achieve both critical and box office success and move filmmaking forward with technical and narrative innovations.

From Australia we will look at the work of such filmmakers as George Miller, who is known for the Mad Max series. Mad Max: Fury Road is already considered one of the 21st century’s greatest action films.

15.The Cinema of Japan

We’ve published a number of pieces about Japanese filmmakers in CINEMA & THEATRE so far, but in this series we will take a bird’s eye view of Japanese cinema as a whole, looking at its relationship with Hollywood and the cinema of Europe, as well as highlighting the innovations that are unique to Japanese cinema culture.

No overview of the cinema of Japan would be complete without a look at how directors like Kurosawa Akira and Ozu Yasujiro became globally renown. We will also look at how a film production company called Art Theatre Guild championed Japan’s New Wave.

Then there are directors like Imamura Shohei, Kitano Takeshi, and Koreda Hirokazu, who have received acclaim and accolades at the world’s most prestigious film festivals. Meanwhile, films like the Tora-san series are quintessentially Japanese but little known outside of the country.

Finally, we will look at how the Japanese film industry has become increasingly insular and inward-looking, with most of its releases today being adaptations of anime properties and TV dramas.

16.The Japanese Film Industry

In Chapter 16, we will look at the directors, producers, screenwriters, and actors and actresses that have shaped the cinema of Japan. We will consider what Japan’s box office rankings reveal about the current state of the domestic industry. And we will also reflect on the work of Japanese film critics like Yodogawa Nagaharu and Machiyama Tomohiro.

17.The Cinema of Asia/India/Middle East

In Chapter 17, we will look at the cinema of Asia, India, and the Middle East. China is known for historical martial arts epics like Hero and the Red Cliff series, while Hong Kong is known for actions films like Police Story. Actors and stunt performers like Jackie Chan and Jet Li, as well as directors like John Woo have achieved global fame and completely changed the face of Hollywood action films.


From Korea, we will look at directors like Park Chan-wook, who is known for revenge films like Oldboy, and Bong Joon-ho, whose latest film Parasite became the first foreign language film to win Best Picture at the Oscars.

No survey of world cinema would be complete without a look at Bollywood, the film industry based in Mumbai, India. Although Bollywood films are not widely viewed by American and European audiences, the industry is one of the largest in the world, with ticket sales comparable to Hollywood. The English director Danny Boyle scored a worldwide hit with his 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire, which has been described as “Hollywood meets Bollywood", although the movie’s gritty aesthetic bears no resemblance to traditional Bollywood films.

18.Film Awards and Film Festivals

In Chapter 18, we will cover film awards and film festivals from around the world. That includes the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes, as well as various prestigious critics awards. Then there are the British Academy Film Awards (or the BAFTAs), which are internationally respected, and the Japanese Academy Film Prizes, which are pretty much irrelevant outside of Japan.

In terms of film festivals, we will cover international film festivals like Berlin, Cannes, and Venice, as well as the Toronto International Film Festival, Sitges Film Festival in Spain, and Tribeca and Sundance in the U.S.

19.The Dawn of the Streaming Age

In Chapter 19, we will look at how video streaming services have changed the industry landscape—and the way we consume movies. Today, Netflix has grown so big that it releases a new feature-length film or TV series seemingly every week. Films like Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, which was distributed by Netflix, have even won critical accolades. The movie theater industry had already been hurting as a result of the spread of these services, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only made things bleaker. Major movie studios have been releasing some of their films online while continuing to push back the theatrical debut of their tentpole films for the year. With film festivals canceled around the world, independent filmmakers are especially struggling with finding ways to get their movies out there.

20.DIG TOKYO Editors’ Movie Recommendations

For the final installment of our series on world cinema, DIG TOKYO’s editorial team will put together its top movie lists.

Epilogue

Compared to the Hollywood films we will look at in the first half of this series, the films coming out of Europe an Asia are generally smaller in terms of both scope and budget. Many of them are challenging art films fueled by a filmmaker’s clear vision, rather than commercial releases catering to the lowest common denominator. That's partly the result of Europe’s long tradition of arts and culture.

Countries like China, South Korea, and Japan have each fostered a distinct cinema culture. While the Japanese film industry is content to twiddle its thumbs and cater to the domestic market, South Korea cinema has made international inroads. Meanwhile, China has a market so big that it’s Hollywood that has come knocking on their door. The influence of Chinese money in Hollywood is only growing.

Here it’s important to draw a distinction between the movies that Hollywood makes and the cinema that comes out of Europe. Movies are commercial entertainment; cinema is an art form. Americans go to the movies, Europeans go to the cinema. Indeed, the word cinema comes from the French word cinématographe—the device invented by the Lumière brothers—which, in turn, comes from the Greek word “kinema", or movement.

In that sense, Kinema Junpo—the long-running Japanese magazine specializing on the film industry—is a venerable institution. But the movies coming out of the Japanese film industry today are neither kinema nor cinema. Throughout this series on world cinema, we will also consider the place of Japanese cinema, and what its future holds.