Fall 2007 Asian Film Classes

HST 310: Film as History: End of the Shogunate (1853-1868)

Professor: Sybil Thornton
SLN# (86334)
Tuesdays, 6:40pm-9:30, Coor 184
Public Film Screenings 7:45 - 9:30 PM

This course examines the way the history of the end of the shogunate in Japan has been written in film. During this period, Japan faced the related problems of opening Japan to the West and restoring the emperor to rule. As a period characterized by its violence, it has been used as a convenient platform for fight choreography, nostalgia for the past, and criticism of the present. Films include The Last Samurai, Sword of Doom, Assassination, and The Twilight Samurai. All Japanese films have subtitles. Grades are based on two exams and two papers of five to eight pages.

Films -

8/21 The Barbarian and the Geisha

9/4 The Last Samurai (part one)

9/11 The Last Samurai (part two)

10/2 Tsukigata Hanpeita

10/9 Okita Soji

10/16 Assassination

10/23 Brutal Story of the Tokugawa Shogunate

10/30 Samurai Assassin

11/6 Red Lion

11/13 When the Last Blade is Drawn

11/20 The Twilight Samurai

11/27 The Hidden Blade

For more information, please contact Professor Sybil Thornton via email SYBIL.THORNTON@asu.edu.