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Brushed in Light: Calligraphy in East Asian Cinema

Markus Nornes

Open Access

Drawing on a millennia of calligraphy theory and history, Brushed in Light examines how the brushed word appears in films and in film cultures of Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and PRC cinemas. This includes silent era intertitles, subtitles, title frames, letters, graffiti, end titles, and props. Markus Nornes also looks at the role of calligraphy in film culture at large, from gifts to correspondence to advertising. The book begins with a historical dimension, tracking how calligraphy is initially used in early cinema and how it is continually rearticulated by transforming conventions and the integration of new technologies. These chapters ask how calligraphy creates new meaning in cinema and demonstrate how calligraphy, cinematography, and acting work together in a single film. The last part of the book moves to other regions of theory. Nornes explores the cinematization of the handwritten word and explores how calligraphers understand their own work.

Citable Link

Published: 2021

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

License:

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license

ISBN(s)

978-0-472-90243-9 (open access)
978-0-472-13255-3 (hardcover)

Subject

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End title with white calligraphy is superimposed on a paperscape of clouds, water, and mist. Above "the end" are the film's title and "Part 2."

The 47 Ronin, 元禄忠臣蔵, Genroku Chushingura Image 13

From Digital Corpus

End title with orange calligraphy, a splatter of red, and white calligraphy is superimposed on a paperscape of clouds, water, and mist. It reads "the end" with the film's title and "Part 2."

6ixtynin9, เรื่องตลก 69, 6ixtynin9 or A Funny Story About 6 and 9 Image 1

From Digital Corpus

A large oval bronze incense holder, with silver calligraphy embossed on it, fills the frame. Many incense emerge from the top of it. At the bottom left and right, the corner of two rectangular incense holders flank it, with many incense emerging from inside it. A light, diffuse incense smoke lingers generally around the tops of the incense.

A Better Tomorrow, 英雄本色, Yingxiong ben se Image 1

From Digital Corpus

Calligraphy on walls of temple

A Better Tomorrow, 英雄本色, Yingxiong ben se Image 2

From Digital Corpus

Handwritten nametag on protagonist's prison uniform

A Better Tomorrow 2, _ 英雄本色 13_, Yingxiong ben se 2 Image 1

From Digital Corpus

Calligraphy words representing name of place

A Better Tomorrow 2, _ 英雄本色 13_, Yingxiong ben se 2 Image 2

From Digital Corpus

Handwritten note from antagonist to one of the main characters

A Better Tomorrow 2, _ 英雄本色 13_, Yingxiong ben se 2 Image 3

From Digital Corpus

Calligraphy words on storefront presenting name of store

A Better Tomorrow 2, _ 英雄本色 13_, Yingxiong ben se 2 Image 4

From Digital Corpus

Handwritten note from one of the main characters to another explaining his departure

A Better Tomorrow 2, _ 英雄本色 13_, Yingxiong ben se 2 Image 5

From Digital Corpus

written red letters on phone showing chinese numbers

A Better Tomorrow 2, _ 英雄本色 13_, Yingxiong ben se 2 Image 6

From Digital Corpus

A shopgirl in a medium shot holds the receiver of a rotary phone to her ear, with white calligraphy on a black banner right above her head.

A Better Tomorrow 2, _ 英雄本色 13_, Yingxiong ben se 2 Image 7

From Digital Corpus

A birds-eye close-up of the hands of two young grifters scratching calligraphy characters, the English names "Jack" and "Simon," and a pictograph onto a table with switchblades.

A Better Tomorrow 2, _ 英雄本色 13_, Yingxiong ben se 2 Image 8

From Digital Corpus

Two young grifters sit facing each other. Both wear black jackets and sunglasses. They both hold switchblades, with one holding it like a pencil carving into a wooden desk. The other is holding his switchblade forcefully by the grip, pushing it downward into the desk with his body.

A Better Tomorrow 2, _ 英雄本色 13_, Yingxiong ben se 2 Image 9

From Digital Corpus

The back of a man in a black jacket obscures the left side of the frame. The right side of the frame reveals yellow flowers planted in front of a gravestone with red calligraphy written on it.

A Better Tomorrow 2, _ 英雄本色 13_, Yingxiong ben se 2 Image 10

From Digital Corpus

A close-up shows red calligraphy on a gravestone.

A Better Tomorrow 2, _ 英雄本色 13_, Yingxiong ben se 2 Image 11

From Digital Corpus

A close-up of black calligraphy on matte white in partial English, posted to a fence.

A Better Tomorrow 2, _ 英雄本色 13_, Yingxiong ben se 2 Image 12

From Digital Corpus

Red letters are written on the high upper wall, towards the ceiling of a warehouse, saying "No Smoking," in a scene right before a firey explosion in the factory. The warehouse is filled with smaller boxes and few large industrial storage containers. a worker drives a forklift shifting boxes.

A Better Tomorrow 2, _ 英雄本色 13_,Yingxiong ben se 2 Image 1

From Digital Corpus

Director Miike Takashi's credit appears over a violent screenscape, and is rendered in the ancient clerical style.

First Love, 初恋, First Love Image 1

From Digital Corpus

In this hard-core metal version of the _Heart Sutra_ vocaloid Hatsune Miku and her band perform on a platform decorated with what appears to be calligraphic Siddham script, the writing introduced to Japan by master calligrapher Kukai in the 9th century.

Pop Heart Sutra, 般若心経ハードコア, Hannya Shingyo Haadokoa Image 1

From Digital Corpus

In this hard-core metal version of the _Heart Sutra_ vocaloid Hatsune Miku and her band perform on a platform decorated with what appears to be calligraphic Siddham script, the writing introduced to Japan by master calligrapher Kukai in the 9th century.

Pop Heart Sutra, 般若心経ハードコア, Hannya Shingyo Haadokoa Image 2

From Digital Corpus