Screening

About Lost in Thailand

Year Released:

2012

Genres:

Action/Adventure, Comedy, Drama

Metadata:

Directed by Zheng Xu

LEADING SCHOLARSHIP ON CHINESE CINEMA Smashing every box office record when released, Lost in Thailand became the highest-grossing film in China’s history. Two rival businessmen must track down their boss at a Buddhist temple to secure a patent on a revolutionary new fuel additive. One catches the first plane to Bangkok, where his plans are delayed by the happy-go-lucky Wang, an unexpected travel companion who will open his eyes to life’s true priorities. In Mandarin with English subtitles. Introduction by Professor Chris Berry. (HD Presentation)

Chris Berry

Chris Berry is a professor of film studies at King’s College in London. His research interests include Chinese and East Asian cinema and screen cultures; gender, sexuality and cinema; documentary film; and theories of national and transnational cinema. He co-edits two book series for Hong Kong University Press—TransAsian Screen Cultures and Queer Asia— and has been interviewed widely on Chinese and Asian cinema and screen cultures by The New York Times, BBC, The Korea Times, NHK Japan, and others.

Lecture: The Chinese Travel Film—Mobility and its Discontents
Monday, February 27 at 3:00 p.m., Room 1060 School of Global and International Studies

The new century has witnessed the transformation of Chinese society and Chinese cinema. This talk examines these changes through the emergence of the Chinese travel film. Once, most Chinese were stuck on the farm, dreaming of saving enough to buy a bicycle. Today, the country has the second largest automobile fleet in the world and Chinese tourists travel the world. The film industry has gone from state pedagogical project to genre-driven commercial industry. The Chinese travel film and its many sub-genres from tourism romances to alternative culture road movies imagine this social metamorphosis, and they indicate increasing awareness of the price paid for success.