Zhang Yimou Essays

Farewell My Concubine and To Live are two drastically different films that represented the Communist takeover as well as other major events of turbulence like the Japanese invasion. While Dieyi presented a life of hardships, through intense beatings and punishment by the troupe master, it was not the same with Fugui. Fugui began the movie as a rich gambler. However, when the Cultural Revolution surfaced in both films, the lives of both characters were under pressure. Dieyi had to live in a chaotic

Sorghum (Hong Gao Liang), this song in the film keeps haunting me. Red Sorghum is an emotionally powerful film. It is beautiful, romantic, as well as barbaric, and violent. As Zhang Yimou's directorial debut, Red Sorghum, released in 1987, with its lush and lusty portrayal of Chinese peasant life and culture, immediately put Zhang at the forefront of China's Fifth Generation filmmakers. The film is an adaptation of Nobel laureate Mo Yan's "Red Sorghum" and "Sorghum Wine" from his multi-volume novel

style caused by globalization. Due to China’s globalization efforts and the blend of different era ideals, the movies that were made during that time showed a response to such occurrence. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon by Ang Lee and Crazy English by Zhang Yuan both are a response to that of globalization in China, and can be further

Heroes are often portrayed as being perfect and not similar to humans. This is not actually the case in which every hero has some kind of weakness or flaw. This is the reason that one feels connected to heros. In Robert Nye's Beowulf: A New Telling, the theme is that even heroes are not perfect. This applies to Beowulf because although he saves the Danes from Grendel, he still has imperfections. One thing that Beowulf does to make himself a hero is he uses his weaknesses as an advantage. Beowulf

The novel entitled Chinese Cinderella, written by Adeline Yen Mah can be considered by one as an autobiography. Adeline Yen Mah writes about her life during her younger years in this novel. Starting off with the author, Adeline Yen Mah was born in Tianjin in the Republic of China on November 30, 1937. Its whole title, “Chinese Cinderella: The Story of the Unwanted Daughter,” speaks literally of how the flow of the novel is. The novel introduces us to 4-year-old Yen Jun-ling, whose name was changed

be found in many different forms. Yet no matter the type, rules help construct a symbolic, and sometimes physical, hierarchy of power amongst a group of people. In Zhang Yimou’s film Raise the Red Lantern and Athol Fugard’s play The Island, this hierarchy of power can be seen through character representation and cinematography. Yimou exemplifies social control while Fugard demonstrates political law, but both emphasize power and the movement of this power within a community. Thus, the formation of

missionary Wilhelmina Vautrin’s diary accounts (1937–1940) about a young Japanese soldier with Christian background. The recognition of Kadokawa’s potential humanity effectively defuses the nationalist thrust of the classic Massacre narrative in previous Chinese cinema. The inclusion of Western histor- ical figures (John Rabe and Wilhelmina Vautrin), the documentary-style black and white images, as well as the avoidance of emotive music, exemplifies the filmmaker’s intention to not indulge in excessive

Shiji by Sima Qian provides invaluable insight into the history of the Qin dynasty, while the movie Hero directed by Zhang Yimou presents a modern interpretation of Qin’s successful unification of China. Therefore, Shiji and Hero reflect historians’ different attitudes toward government power: Shiji demonstrates the importance of centralizing government power in Qin’s reforms as well as the danger of abusing power shown in Qin’s totalitarian governance, while Hero conveys the necessity and legitimacy

Hero by director Zhang Yimou tells the myth of Nameless, a skilled martial art warrior who attempted to assassinate the King of Quin. He is a hero archetype who sacrifices himself in experiencing the Hero’s Journey for the benefit of all people. In the Ordinary World which is revealed at 58:18 of the film, Nameless is a man from Zhao. With his unique skills of sword fighting, he wanted to assassinate the King of Quin to revenge for his family that was killed by Quin soldiers. He created a plan in

Yellow Earth is a Chinese movie directed by Chen Kai-ge in 1984. The movie’s cinematography is by Zhang Yimou. The movie was filmed when the Guomingdang and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had temporarily joined forces to fight against Japanese invaders. The protagonist, Gu Qing, is a CCP soldier who travels to a poor, rural village in Shanbei. His task is to collect local folk songs so that they can be rewritten with communist lyrics. Gu Qing stays with a peasant widower, Da Shu, and his two children

A right mixture of elements both from Taiwanese and American perspectives is one of the reasons contributing to the great success of The Wedding Banquet, like what the director Ang Lee always jokes that his filmmaking style is ‘Yasujiro Ozu meets Billy Wilder.’ The movie is neither purely Asian American nor purely Chinese but is a hybrid movie that serves to connect the two cinemas. Different from regular Hollywood film, The Wedding Banquet is uniquely featured with Taiwanese characteristics. It

Film director Ang Lee dies at 61 Ang Lee, an American film director, producer and screenwriter born in Taiwan, whose films include “Brokeback Mountain” and “Life of Pi,” died of brain cancer in his New York home Friday morning. He was 61. Mr. Lee was the first Chinese-American filmmaker who wins Best Director in Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA. His earlier films explored conflicts between traditional and modern values within two generations as well as eastern and western culture. “It is with deep

Besides the issue of group mentality in the genre of a coming of age film, Better Luck Tomorrow takes the opportunity to add a love interest for the reluctant hero. This love interest creates the rising tension between the protagonist Ben towards the young man Steve Cho, who in essence, is a representation of the mainstream depiction of the typical male antagonist, complete with money, motorcycle, and charisma. As the young woman plays her role as the middle of a teen love triangle, she creates

seriousness, but enlivens the gloomy diegesis with a pragmatic concern for survival. According to McClintock (2011), this fresh angle in approaching the war, as well as the commercial potential of presenting the exotic female community, appeals to Zhang Yimou greatly, and he changed the film title from The Heroes of Nanking to The Flowers of War. In the church where two groups of women seek sanctuary, “good” and “bad” women are divided by a set of cultural signifiers: blue cotton uniforms versus rainbow-hued

By 859, the Tang Dynasty is before its downfall. The emperor is incompetent and the government corrupted. Uprisings occur throughout the country and many revolutionaries form teams to overthrow the regime. The most powerful among them is a hidden league called "House of the Flying Daggers." Their main tactic is to steal from the rich and give to the poor, an act that has made them very popular among the common people while infuriating the regime. Eventually the authorities manage to assassinate their

‘Raped’ is a forceful verb. The act itself has consumed the lives of many women, children and cities. Take the rape of Nanking. In 1937, Japanese troops ravaged more than 20,000 women in six weeks. In her book, The Rape of Nanking, the late Chinese-American author Iris Chang said the number of victims could have even touched 80,000. Much is written about the Japanese and their war-time atrocities, but little is done to prevent such a massacre from rearing its genocidal head again. Though people say

Despite the obvious lack of democratic institutions and political system, the CCP has long been portraying itself as the representative of the “fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people (最广大人民群众的根本利益)”1. The idea behind such a statement is a legitimacy based on support of the masses. This populist nature of the regime was highly visible during the Mao period, when the Party claimed to have built a better society for the majority of the population and increased its popularity