Motion Pictures and the Image of the City: A Documentary Interpretation (Film und Bewegtbild in Kultur und Gesellschaft)

If you've ever had a special attachment to a film, and also an attachment to the city it was shot in, Xiaofei Haos book will give you a fresh eye on how the city is expressed in the film by the filmmaker. From the perspective of social science, each face of the city in a film comes from a choice - shown only on the basis of the filmmakers' selection criteria. In this process, the film becomes the cognitive map of that city. The interweaving of the city space and film language will be elaborated first from the perspective of urban studies. Then some viewpoints of tourism studies will be provided to explore the relation between the image of the city in the film and in reality. Two films about the city Taipei are looked at as case studies: A One and a Two (Yi Yi, Director Edward Yang, 2000) and Au Revoir Taipei (Director Arvin Chen, 2010). Contents Lynch's image system The language of film A One and a Two: Nostalgia upon Diaspora Au Revoir Taipei: Tourist view on the space of empathy City, Film and Destination: Comparative analysis Target groups Researchers and students of Urban Studies, Tourism Studies, Culture Sociology and Film Studies Filmmakers The Author Ph. D Xiaofei Hao is a Lecturer at the Department of Event Management, School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University, China. Her research interests include film language interpretation, film tourism, and visual culture Contents 7 List of Figures 10 List of Tables 13 Acknowledgements 14 1 Introduction 15 References 22 2 Theory, literature and methodology 26 2.1 The image of the city 26 2.1.1 Lynch’s image system 27 2.1.2 Discussion and applications of Lynch’s findings in film studies 30 2.1.3 City as a destination and its image-related research 32 2.2 The language of film 35 2.2.1 Film language as a system 35 2.2.2 Cinematic city 41 2.2.3 Film tourism 44 2.3 Introduction of two case studies 47 2.3.1 Cinema of Taiwan 47 2.3.2 Edward Yang and his films 48 2.3.3 Arvin Chen and his films 51 2.3.4 Taipei as the city 52 2.4 Methods and methodology 54 2.4.1 Picture and video interpretation in the documentary method 55 2.4.2 Film language interpretation 57 2.4.3 Interpretation method and process applied in this research 58 References 61 3 Yi Yi: Nostalgia upon diaspora 72 3.1 Narrative structure interpretation: the time-space representation 75 3.2 Pictorial interpretation of the image of the city in Yi Yi 79 3.2.1 Formulation interpretation of the sequence structure of the image of the city 79 3.2.2 Mise-en-scène interpretation of focusing metaphors 91 3.2.2.1 Path: Index of city and Symbol of the stage 91 3.2.2.2 Node: Symbol of affair and Index of communication 102 3.2.2.3 Landmark: characteristic inherent to people in the city 106 3.2.2.4 Edge: starting point to flashing back memory 109 3.2.2.5 District: blur of complexity 111 3.2.2.6 Mise-en-scène in total: the city as a protagonist 112 3.2.3 Reflective Interpretation of Montage: similarity induced nostalgia 114 3.3 Text and sound dimension of the image of the city 120 3.3.1 Text interpretation: nostalgia induced by the familiar city space 120 3.3.2 Environmental sound: nostalgia for the time passing by in the modern city 122 3.4 Overall interpretation of the image of the city 123 References 126 4 Au Revoir Taipei: Tourist view on the space of empathy 128 4.1 Narrative structure interpretation: the time-space representation in Au Revoir Taipei 129 4.2 Pictorial interpretation of the image of the city in Au Revoir Taipei 135 4.2.1 Formulation interpretation of the sequence structure of the image of the city 136 4.2.2 Mise-en-scène interpretation of focusing metaphors 150 4.2.2.1 Path: space of empathy 151 4.2.2.2 Node: immediacy of intimate space 169 4.2.2.3 Landmark: Index of scenery space 180 4.2.2.4 Edge: separation of mobility 182 4.2.2.5 District: quotidian beauty under exotic view 183 4.2.2.6 Mise-en-scène in total: the space of empathy 188 4.2.3 Reflective interpretation on Montage: swing with empathy 188 4.3 Text and sound dimensions of the image of the city 193 4.3.1 Text interpretation: the city space of empathy 193 4.3.2 Environmental and background sound: aesthetic pursuit and novel feeling for tourists 195 4.4 Overall interpretation of the image of the city in Au Revoir Taipei 196 References 197 5 City, film and destination: Comparative analysis on the image of the city between Yi Yi and Au Revoir Taipei 199 5.1. Positions of the city: protagonist or scenery 200 5.2 The image of Taipei and symbolic construction of place attachment 204 5.2.1 Symbolic image of Taipei in Yi Yi 205 5.2.1.1 Modern Path - on the way, on the stage of city life 205 5.2.1.2 Space under the viaduct - undefined youth 206 5.2.1.3 Residential neighbourhood - calmness of modernity 207 5.2.2 Symbolic image of Taipei in Au Revoir Taipei 207 5.2.2.1 Night market - gaze at the cultural tradition 207 5.2.2.2 Little diner on the corner - obsessive framing of quotidian beauty 208 5.2.2.3 Residential neighbourhood - enveloped cosy womb 209 5.2.3 Taipei as ‘Heimat’ - both in Yi Yi and in Au Revoir Taipei 209 5.3 The image of the city, tourist imaginaries, and destination image 211 5.3.1 Location: reality and the imagination 211 5.3.2 Filmmaker: attachment and viewpoint 212 5.3.3 Potential tourists: symbols of the image on the screen 214 5.3.4 Destination image in the film: a humanistic space in persuasive media 215 References 219 6 Conclusions and discussion 223 6.1 Interpretation of the image of the city in Yi Yi 224 6.2 Interpretation of the image of the city in Au Revoir Taipei 227 6.3 Comparison of the image of the city between the films and Lynch’s research 230 6.4 Turning the image of the city into the tourist imaginaries through place attachment 233 References 235 Appendix 236 Front Matter....Pages i-xvii Introduction....Pages 19-29 Theory, literature and methodology....Pages 31-76 Yi Yi: Nostalgia upon diaspora....Pages 77-132 Au Revoir Taipei: Tourist view on the space of empathy....Pages 133-203 City, film and destination: Comparative analysis on the image of the city between Yi Yi and Au Revoir Taipei ....Pages 205-228 Conclusions and discussion....Pages 229-241 Back Matter....Pages 243-244 Xiaofei Hao. Additional Material Available Online. Originally Presented As The Author's Thesis (doctoral)--freie Universität Berlin, 2014. Includes Bibliographical References.