Asian Cinema, a Changing Concept

This section will address the term's usage and implications within the French academic and critical discourse. Both aspects have undergone a transformation over time, from an initial usage in 1935 in the book Histoire du cinéma (Bardèche & Brasillach) to its contemporary application to cinemas originating from Asia. The objective of this presentation is to examine the evolution of the notion of "Asian Cinema" through a series of key stages. Initially, there was a clear implication of Orientalism (Saïd) in the conception of cinema. At this time, Asian cinema was a consideration for cinemas made in East Asia (Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan), which were identified as "differential cinema" under the influence of Chinese traditional culture. Another significant conceptualization was articulated by Jean-Luc Godard during an interview with Serge Daney, in which he discussed his film Histoire(s) du cinéma. He stated, " The history of cinema is interesting to do as the last chapter of the history of art, which is itself the last chapter of a certain type of Indo-European civilization. Other civilizations had no art. […] the idea of art is European". In stating this, Godard establishes a clear connection with Gombrich's Story of Art, which views the history of art as a continuum of evolving ideas and requirements. This illustrates a crucial aspect of the Western conceptualization of Asian cinema: the process of exclusion assumes that non-Western films do not contribute to the evolution of its practice. A similar idea is presented by Burch (La Lucarne de l'infini), who asserts that cinema is inherently Western in origin. Consequently, non-Western films can only emulate Western representation or resist it but cannot offer an objective representation.
Finally, it should be stressed that the territory covered by the notion changes over time, integrating or excluding certain cinematographies that clearly define a relationship of otherness that varies according to the period and the use.