JAPAN 80How Does It Move? Action and Moving Image in Modern Japan
Japanese · 5 units · Undergraduate lower division (0-99)
How is action constituted on the screen? How has modern technological media informed and transformed our experience and understanding of action? Exploration of how our experience and conception of action is mediated by technological aesthetic media by tracing history of portrayal and experience of action both in media theory and practice. Emphasis on moving image practices surrounding production and reception of popular action film genres from Japan such as chambara or samurai film and yakuza film. Consideration also of their relationship to international film cultures and genres (e.g. Hollywood Western, gangster film, Chinese martial arts cinema, and contemporary Hollywood blockbusters) in context of broader historical transformations in media practices and in modes of distribution and reception. Study of theoretical debates, institutional practices, and ethical and political questions that inform our inquiries into moving image as action, and into action as/through moving image.
P/NP or letter grading.
When it runs
Not on the schedule for any of Fall 2025 through Spring 2027. UCLA publishes only that window, so this does not mean the course is gone — check the official listing.
Requisites
UCLA lists no requisites for this course.
Requires
Everything that has to come before this course, not just the courses named in the requisite above.
Nothing — this is an entry point.
Unlocks
What this course is a requisite for, and what those courses lead to in turn.
No course in the catalog lists this as a requisite.