HBO Asia, the Asian arm of the American premium TV channel second venture into the world of wuxia, focuses on another iconic Chinese folk hero,Wong Kei-ying.
Wong Kei-ying is a quiet and honest physician, who spends his life upholding medical ethics and saving lives, while avoiding conflicts and politics. However, China in the mid-19th century is swarming with opium, with a number of opposing powers trying to control its distribution, while the consequences lay heavy on the populace, from kids to the elderly. The new governor of Canton, General Wei tricks Wong into helping him take control of the opium from the Ma gang, who are the chief distributors, and subsequently, tasks him (supposedly) to find a cure for the addiction. The first task
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In this last aspect, the fact that this film is much more violent and gory, definitely helps the action, as it brings it much closer to the Shaw Brothers wuxia films. This trait finds its apogee in the final fight, which is elaborate as it is lengthy, with the duel among different styles of martial arts presenting a very entertaining outcome. The one in the rain is also well-shot.
Regarding the first aspect, the film benefits the most from Sun Hao's acting, who is quite persuading in both the dramatic and the action scenes, within the reasonable, of course, hyperbole of the wuxia genre. Furthermore, the concept of drug addiction gives another level to the film, more meaningful, without though, faulting the entertainment aspect.
As is the case with "Beggar So", the overall production is impressive, and highlights its big budget, particularly in the presentation of the era and the various settings, especially since we are actually talking for a TV movie. However, it seems that the era in the present film makes a much more appealing set, through the combination of the old and the
While most of the Western Hemisphere was undergoing drastic advancements, such as former colonies gaining their independence and transforming into more modernized nations, a lot of mishaps were occurring in the Eastern Hemisphere—China, specifically—a nation that was notorious for its isolation from foreign influences. European nations began to greedily eye China’s abundance of desirable resources, such as tea, porcelain, and silk. However, China had very little need or desire for European goods. In an attempt to resolve the trade imbalance Britain began importing opium into China, which would prove to be disastrous for the Chinese population. The dispute over the importation of the drug eventually led to the
Opium is dangerous, and it will ruin people’s life once people get addicted to it. Smoking opium made most of the Chinese
This allows the scene to create greater tension with the use of darkness diverting the audience expectations. For the camera movement, firstly it is a long shot to show the location and they are going to fight, and then it use a lot of close up, over shoulder and extreme close up to illustrate how they fight with using different Kong Fu and weapons, during they are fighting, it also has some bird s eye view shot to show how intense of their fight, because it also show the ground fault of the weapons and the struggle traces shows the suspension. As a distinctively visual technique, audiences are able to feel the suspense. The way in the shooting, the director Ang Lee has done all the details in every possible way. In the light text effect, he spent most of the low key lighting to keep the mystery of kung fu; the lens shooting, he spent a lot of The third-person perspective and two shot make the audience appreciate the traditional Chinese martial arts, and he can also take care while a lot of details, such as eye contact play against the two sides, the audience can understand the meaning of what they want to say without the dialogue. The scenes is showing a back and forth between two characters staring at each other, then that is most likely the use of the shot-reverse-shot technique.
While The boxer rebellions is still ongoing, the British were selling opium, a poisonous drug made from poppy plants, to the chinese people. The British colonies refused to stop importing opium and continued selling opium to injure the chinese. In document 1 The Opium War, The chinese suffered shameful defeat and were forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing, which gave Britain the island of Hong Kong and free from the chinese laws at the chinese ports. China’s humiliated lost made them resist against the British rule, eventually leading to the Opium Wars. Although they were manipulated by the British, they still resisted to prove their loyalty and their love for their country. This indicates that the chinese people show Nationalism by portraying the pride they have for their country. The chinese also shows ideology by showing loyalty to their sacredness and ancient culture. In conclusion, imperialism altered China to a country that has nationalism and pride for their
Perhaps, the powerful storyline of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was what encouraged one of the greatest cinematic martial arts directors Ang Lee, to make a film out of the Chinese novel. In this film, Lee’s primary function is not only to portray skillfully choreographed fighting scenes, but also to connect powerful sequences of events that touches upon the emotional complex human condition that is associated with both the Taoist and Buddhist belief systems. By not allowing action to be the sole guiding force of the narrative of Crouching
As you have likely realized, the differences begin to overlap the similarities towards the ends of both movies.
The first thing to note, Johann Hari uses pathos to emotionally connect to the viewer, so he can make drugs to not be viewed as
Opium came from opium poppy seeds, which were grown and sold under British ruling in India. The British East India Company developed a monopoly which took place in effectively growing opium and making profits and/or trading it with the Chinese in exchange for their premium good such as silk, porcelain, and tea. According to Memorials on the Legalization and Elimination of Opium by Xu Naiji and Yuan Yulin, they explained how the rise of opium prompted many debts and death around China. Opium became an addiction for many, from the poor to officials in government positions. Cutting off all access of trading opium would’ve started issues in the trading network, not just with Britain but with the Western countries as well. Instead of passing laws to completely ban opium, they reverted to only permitting the barbarian merchants to import opium to pay duty as a medication. This made it unacceptable for money to be involved with the product. According to Xu Naiji, smokers of opium were lazy, with no purpose in life and if they were caught smoking it, the only punishment was getting the opium confiscated. However, if any officer, scholar, or soldier were found smoking opium, the would be immediately dismissed from public employ. Yuan Yulin, a minister, believes that the expansion of opium is the government’s fault, being that they cannot decipher right from wrong; he thought it was unfair that prohibition of smoking opium only applied to the officers of the government, scholars, and military but not the common people. The British capitalized on the effects of opium, because many of China’s population were going to put forth their money, goods, etc. for
First off, the biggest difference is the time periods of each movie. The older movie was set in Early Renaissance times. The newer movie is set in the early ninety’s. Another difference is the use of special effects. In the
Within a century ago, juveniles justice system were created because of the unspeakable acts of kids learned in adult jails when placed in that interment. when juveniles are placed with adult prisoners , the juveniles return to the community as a more knowledgable criminal.
Lots of music, fast cuts, fantastic cinematography and superb sets and costumes make it the lively tale it was meant to be. These features also make the film somewhat cartoon-like with a lot of heightened realism. Don't expect to see British people prancing around in tights when you rent this one. Luhrmann creates a world where gun-toting youths sport Hawaiian shirts and beachfront brawls are an everyday event.
nothing from later dates was thrown in to make it more "exciting" except maybe the
Xu’s memorandum advocates for the government allowing opium to be brought into China by foreign traders as a taxable good as the best way to combat the opium problem. Xu views strict laws against opium as ineffectual for tackling the drug problem in China, noting in the first paragraph that, “the more severe the interdicts against [opium] are made, the more widely do the evils arising therefrom spread” (Xu page 1). While he acknowledges the addictive and destructive effects of opium on those who use it, Xu believes that the stricter the laws proscribing the dissemination and use of opium, the more widely used the drug becomes. Xu argues that the prohibitions against the opium trade led to increased smuggling by foreign traders and increased use of the drug across China. Conversely, when the state’s policy towards opium was one of leniency, in which opium was allowed into China and taxed as a medicine, the issues involving opium were
In 1838, the Ch’ing government began to take the illegal opium trade more seriously as they noted the debilitating effect opium smoking was having on its people. Commissioner Lin was appointed by the Emperor to stop the illegal importation of opium. Lin
First off, the location of the fight is very different. In the 1968 version it takes place in the town square. In the 1996 version, the main location is the beach. In the 1968 version, they fight with swords, and use their hands. Contrary to that version, in the 1996 version they fight with guns, and broken glass. Another