Farewell My Concubine follows the lives of Diouzi Deiyi and Shitou Xiaolou as they perfect performing traditional Peking opera through cultural, political, and personal upheaval. The film covers decades of modern Chinese history while taking a focus on the cultural significance of Peking opera. Several themes are explored and depicted in Farewell My Concubine. Of those regarding the Peking opera, the persistent presence and preservation of the opera despite challenging conditions and the contrast between the wide acceptance of the opera as culturally important and the subpar treatment of the performers, are concepts that stand out throughout the film. From the beginning of the film, the Peking opera is celebrated as a symbol of Chinese culture. Some characters outright claim that to be human, one must watch the opera. In most, if not all, opera performances in the movie, the audience is packed into the area to observe …show more content…
In the beginning of the film, it is made clear that performers fall low in the social structure. Opera performers are not truly respected despite hoe much the opera is valued culturally and the amount of time, effort, dedication and pain that that goes into training a good actor. At one point, it is stated that opera performers have the same social standing as prostitutes and their method of earning a living nearly as respectable. When Douzi is raped as a young boy, it shows another layer of how little respect people hold for people of his standing. Also, Shitou’s wife Juxian demands that Shitou leave the opera, possibly due to it not being a respectable occupation. Oddly enough, opera performers were treated as the scum of the earth, even as the Peking opera is elevated as a quintessential representation of Chinese culture – an artform to be
In the 1999 novel “Chinese Cinderella”, author Adeline Yen Mah explores the theme of acceptance and belonging throughout the novel, as a result of her tragic childhood. The autobiography reveals the experiences of a young Chinese girl called Adeline, and her sense of isolation. The young girl is neglected by her family because she is being held liable for the death of her mother, who died during childbirth and leaving the family in poverty. As a result of this his heart-wrenching story, the author challenges the idea of belonging in an unkind family, to ultimately depict a sense of loneliness
China is and always will be a land seen as mysterious to those with roots in Western culture. And in its own way, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie is what can happen when Western and Far Eastern culture interact. Outside of the cultural revolution, headed by Mao Zedong, which makes the whole novel possible, and was a push back against Western involvement in China, the novel includes many other ideas of cultural interaction. However, it also prominently provides complex emotions and changes within the characters who are followed throughout the novel. In fact, one passage in particular reveals much character change and development in the narrator of the story (who will simply be known as narrator for the entirety of this essay), and it occurs on the pages of 166 to 169. The passage is a daydream of the narrator’s after having taken a beating by a band of hooligans and potential suitors of the Little Seamstress. In it, readers can see the narrator develop to the same sort of manhood as Luo: the satisfaction of changing something and reaching independence. However, after reaching this stage, he also realizes the drawbacks to having done so, causing him to feel remorse for his actions. This is achieved by the narrator’s expression of hidden desires he developed over time and what lustful feelings and desperation accompany them.
The One Woman Show, Chinese Takeaway, created and performed by Anna Yen is a detailed journey of the culturally challenging stories experienced by herself, her mother and her grandmother. Yen shows the different cultures of Chinese and Australian and how they are intertwined in the three generations of the women. Anna puts herself in the shoes of the generations before her and unpicks the journeys about her mother, father, grandmother and herself. The theatre performance goes from the early 1900’s in China to Hong Kong in the 1930’s. The story continues through suburban Sydney in the 1960’s to present day. Chinese Takeaway tells a deeply personal story about strength, loss and transformation in a unique, poetic way.
China during the Cultural Revolution was a place where you were told what to do, and what to say. Today I will be speaking to you about Mao’s Last Dancer, the film adaption of the autobiography of Li Cunxin. To begin with, I will speak about the Cultural Revolution in China, where the story is set.
No Promises In The Wind would be a fantastic movie because of it’s breath-taking tragedy's, sweet bitter love, twists and cliff-hangers, and action packed chapters. This novel is wonderfully crafted and a breathtaking novel to read. Each of the characters are beautifully crafted and each have special traits of their own, but the plot of the book is what makes, The No Promises In The Wind, a page turner. It is about Josh and Joey’s journey, through the United States, during the great depression. They abandon their family and go to grand places and meet marvelous people, and at the end of the novel they return home and become reunited with their family. Irene Hunt captured the emotions of sadness, joy, fear, love, and passion gracefully in
In looking at how the Opera fits into the CVF we see that they have characteristics that are consistent with a Market Culture. The Opera unlike the symphony is limited to 3 to 5 performances a year. This sets the stage for a fundamental difference in the two organizations. The Opera has a permanent staff of 23 relying on contract employees to fill the required spots for the chosen performances. In a market culture there is a concentration of an external focus and differentiation. The Opera and Anne Ewers concentrates on developing outside relationships to gain funding for the Opera. In addition a market culture has to respond to changes in the market. The Opera has to fill the needs and requests of the patrons that attend their performances. The Opera is constantly competing to get the best talent and performers to showcase at the few performances that they have a year. A market culture pays close attention to its audience and customers. The Opera is always taking a poll of their audience to ask how they are doing and how they
This movie depicted different life experience of four pairs of Chinese mother and daughter. Though distinct grievous life stories they had, these four Chinese mothers were all born and bred under the background of feudal Chinese regime, cultivated by Chinese traditional feudalism, and fatefully, their lives were poisoned and destroyed by malignant tumor of Chinese backward culture and ideology, for example, women are subordinated to men. More unfortunately, the four daughters who were born and educated in America, assumed to avoid from the influence of Chinese feudal culture, still inherited deformed character, like without self-value and spirit; extended last generation’s tragedy—misery marriage. The
The 1993 movie directed by Kaige Chen, Farewell My Concubine, addresses the Chinese political issues during the war against Japan via interpersonal issues of an opera troupe of young male actors. The movie is as long as it is engaging. With two orphan boys who are raised to act in an Opera for their entire lives, dedication obtains a whole new meaning. Dieyi's training to act as a woman and to reflect femininity in his whole life increases the dissension that is observed within the film as well as its connections to the politics of China. The use of ghastly sound effects, close-up cinematographic techniques, and military involvement combine together in this movie to create a devastatingly dramatic experience.
In subsequent years following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China came a revolutionary new approach to not only producing films, but also film’s very role in communist society. During this period the state gained complete control of the filmmaking industry, decreeing that the utilitarian functions of art and literature were to become a powerful weapon in serving the revolutionary struggle. In an otherwise artistically stifling period in which socialist realism pervaded all creative outlets, Xie Jin managed to retain some autonomy and emerged as one of the cleverest Chinese directors in the early 1960s. In his 1961 film Red Detachment of Women, Jin provides a classic revolutionary melodrama, yet also displays elements of formalism so that the viewer becomes conscious of the manipulations of his film technique. To analyze this film, I will use Mao Zedong’s 1942 “Talks at the Yan 'an Forum on Literature and Art,” clip #10 “Landmark 2,” and clip #6 “We are joining the red army” to elaborate on the major themes and cinematic style that distinguish Xie Jin’s work from his contemporaries.
Ang Lee’s Crouching tiger Hidden Dragon is probably one of the most successful foreign films to ever be screened in America. Being the number one film of the year in 2000. On the other hand it was reportedly considered a flop in China. While it was influenced by American film styles, it still kept true to many aspects of its Chinese film heritage. With very apparent love story, it lacked the Extreme amount of Kung Fu fight scenes eastern audiences have come to enjoy. This is a stunning love story between a monk and widow. While it does have its share of over the top fight scenes, when you start to dig deeper the films many social implications become apparent. With ties to subjects such as religion, martial arts, philosophy, love, and even gender issues. This film is a representation of the modern era and how long practiced traditions are being challenged. Each character and plot line allows a glimpse into the Social and Traditional understanding of a culture.
Shanghai Girls is a work of historical fiction, and apart from the well-known people, events and settings that figure into the narrative, all names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. The work is clearly filled with research, yet has a nice balance between history and the story line.
The parallel of being successful and famous is symbolized in the character Shirley Temple, a 1960’s white television child that became popular from her acting and cute appearance (ENG 114). The pianist to Mrs. Woo becomes the perfect representation of her American dream and assurance that it is possible for immigrants to become prosperous. Jing-mei is seen in the story rebelling against her mother by invoking her “own will, [and] right to fall short of expectations” (240). This characterization is equivalent to American individualism that employs the principle of favoring freedom of action for the individual over the collective, or in this case for Mrs. Woo. These opposing values continuously clash and create distance within the mother and daughter relationship. The immigrant expectations of success for a better life in America coupled with American values of freedom and individuality provokes and sustains the rift in the family’s bond.
This shows the respect that families had for each other during this time. He greets his mother for the first time in 7 years and doesn’t recognize her face. She then talks of how she is proud of her son as the Emperor of China. I saw it interesting how ordinary people have to turn away; they are not allowed to look at the Emperor because he is too important. He seems very harsh and demanding even at a young age. He tells his brother he cannot wear imperial yellow because it’s only for the emperor. I noticed how woman seem to be treated poorly in this time period.
Dramatic arts became an essential and esteemed form of entertainment during the Song Dynasty. The Chinese theater ran the gamut of all possible kinds of play or composition. A testament to the Song’s work toward variety in entertainment “the drama made quite a feature of short farcical scenes, acrobatic turns and satirical
The last emperor is a very famous film about Pu Yi's life story. The film is directed by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci (1). The film uses time and space staggered dramatic structure, with flashback, narrative, narrative way of telling stories. Respectively, is part of the memory and reality, the two space-time continuous switching, the formation of the rhythm-sharp story. Bernardo Bertolucci, with his unique shooting style, conquered all the audience. In 1988, sixtieth Oscar won the award for best film, best director, best-adapted screenplay, best photography, best art, best costume design, best editing, best sound, the best original music, nine awards. In this article, we will discuss how the Chinese and Western cultures in the film