China's Cinema of Class

China's commercial film industry can be used as a map to understand how class is interwoven into the imaginations that inform and influence social change in Chinese society. Film consumption is important in this process, particularly for young adult urbanites that are China's primary commercial cinema patrons. This book investigates the web between the representation of class themes in Chinese film narratives, local audience reception to these films, and the socialisation of China's contemporary class society.

Nicole Talmacs is a Lecturer in Media and Communication at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China.

1 China's audiences and the cinema of class 2 Class on screen and in reality: Pre-conditioning audiences 3 Let the Bullets Fly: The socialisation of assumptions 4 Lost on Journey: Prejudice in class relations 5 Go Lala Go!: Secretaries, shopping and spinsterhood 6 House Mania: Homeownership, marriageability and masculinity 7 The Piano in a Factory: Suzhi, industrial heroes, and the spectacle of poverty 8 Conclusion: Class, the film, and the filmmaker