Book Review: Asian Pop Cinema: Bombay to Tokyo by Lee Server

 Asian cinema makes up a huge amount of the films produced every year (on average India alone produces over 300 films a year) and countries such as South Korea and the Philippines have been producing more films now than ever before in history while Hong Kong and Japan continue to set new trends in the market place and International cinema.  In Lee Server’s book Asian Pop Cinema: Bombay to Tokyo all of the film industries of these countries are given a historic overview.

Server allows each of the countries their own chapter (which includes all those previously mentioned as well as Taiwan and China) which recounts the history of the cinema and how it developed to its current state.  Hong Kong and Japan have some of the richest history in the cinema arts despite some years of no film production at all (especially during war times).  Some of the chapters also focus on key personnel within the industry such as an interview with film makers John Woo, Tomoaki Hosoyama, Eddie Romero, Jose Lacaba, and several others.

Server’s book is not a definitive book on any of these countries’ film industries but it is rather an overview of key events and people involved in the industry.  It is very useful for people who have very little or no previous knowledge about Asian cinema and can help differentiate between all the different countries and their industries.  Server also provides a plethora of production stills and posters from many of the films discussed which is extremely helpful if you have not seen the films that he has mentioned.