Survey of Chinese Film
Survey of Chinese film covering a historical narrative of Chinese-language film from the turn of the century to contemporary China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
Summary
Past student reviews · Anatoly Detwyler
Lectures were long, and the professor pushed students to engage deeply with the course material.
What you’ll be able to do
Identify and describe major works, genres, and trends of Chinese-language film
Interpret and evaluate how these films respond to and are shaped by the social, cultural, and political histories of modern China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong
Develop skills of film analysis and close reading, including interrelated issues of form (e.g. visual language, narrative structure), politics and ideology, and film’s capacity to enchant and disenchant
Sharpen ability to think critically and creatively, supported by question-centered inquiry and discussion
Improve written and oral communication in the form of a 1) concise, well-organized, and original paper; and 2) concise, well-organized oral presentation.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapSophomore standing
- Sophomore standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Sophomore standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
ANATOLY DETWYLER is recorded teaching in Fall 2019, Fall 2021, Fall 2023, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Past student reviews · Anatoly Detwyler
Past students described Prof. Detwyler as deeply knowledgeable about Chinese film and consistently invested in their growth.
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2021: 3.89 GPA, 88.9% A/AB (n=18 letter grades); Fall 2023: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=22 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.55 GPA, 72.7% A/AB (n=22 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · Anatoly Detwyler
Lectures were long, and the professor pushed students to engage deeply with the course material.
Past student reviews · Anatoly Detwyler
Discussions were rich and productive, and students found Prof. Detwyler accessible outside of class.
Topics
- Historical narrative of Chinese-language film from the turn of the century to contemporary China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong
- Major works, genres, and trends of Chinese-language film
- Social, cultural, and political histories of modern China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong
- Film analysis and close reading: visual language, narrative structure, politics, ideology, and enchantment
Skills
- Identifying and describing major works, genres, and trends of Chinese-language film
- Interpreting and evaluating films in relation to social, cultural, and political histories
- Film analysis and close reading of visual language, narrative structure, and ideology
- Critical and creative thinking through question-centered inquiry and discussion
- Written and oral communication through original papers and presentations
Grades
Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Fall 2025
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.
Selected offering source records
No offering records for the selected term.
Raw records
[]
Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
{
"model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
"model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
"task_version": "17",
"output_id": "5ea653689e8280f7a7e08bb83f867d4d126a844e4824045be3d58846f0c7839f",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}