The Director
China in the past as well as currently consider cinema as a high form of art rather than entertainment only. The Chinese are taught with the view to develop art in the form of literature. For this reason most of the films have its mastery in aesthetics such as cinematography, montage and mise-en-scene. The narration ingrains different kind of philosophical reflections, social malaise and political contemplation (Han 1999). Professionals in the Chinese cinema industry thus are artists in the true sense of the word as they have to matter the visual art such as metaphors, audio streams and cine language to portray the aesthetics culture of China. Among these artists Chen Kaige is renowned for controversially filled films such as The Big Parade, Yellow Earth, Life on a String, Farewell to My Concubine and Temptress Moon.
Belonging to the Fifth Generation movie makers, Kaige is a master in symbolic narratives and film aesthetics to communicate the social, political and national messages to the audience (Han 1999). His claim to fame did not begin till his film Yellow Earth launched at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. The challenge that Kaige faced during the making of his movies have intrigued and renounced by many critics. For example Farewell to My Concubine and Temptress Moon
Statement
In the following discussion, the researcher attempt
to delve into the issues surrounding the above
films by Kaige. The purpose is to investigate
the reason why Temptress Moon (Feng Yue)1996,
directed by Kaige Chen was banned from his own
country, but Farewell My Concubine (Ba Wang bie
ji) 1993 was not. Instead it was nominated for
numerous awards and even won many of them. The
basic premise is to attempt to answer why Farewell
to My Concubine although proved to be as controversial
as Temptress Mon but was not banned from Mainland
China.
To resolve, the researcher will research on the cultural context and trace the critical reception of the movies to come to conclusive results.
Synopsis
Farewell to My Concubine
Released in 1993, the movie is the result of the efforts of director Chen Kaige, producer Hsu Feng, screenplay by Lilian Lee (novelist) and Lu Wei. The cinematography had been the efforts of Gu Changwei and cast comprising of Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi and Gong Li.
The movie spans over a period of fifty three years taking into account the lives of two men Douzi and Shitou. With 1920s as the backdrop, the movie narrates of the trials and turbulence of the lives of the two opera singers. With humble beginning as pupils of a strict master of a small acting troupe, Douzi and Shitou both learn hard from their master. After thirteen years, both become major opera stars operating under the titles of Chen Dieyi (Leslie Cheung), and Duan Xiaolou (Zhang Fengyi). Douzi and Shitou produce Farewell My Concubine around the country and are considered to be an enviable duo until Juxian (Gong Li) comes into the picture. Juxian is a prostitute who acts as companion to Xioalou. Dieyi on the other hand has a homosexual attraction for his friend and for this reason resents the presence of Juxian. Xioalou remains unaware of this attraction and continue to develop an intimate relationship with Juxian. Dieyi tortured by their intimacy demonstrate his resentment for Juxian which inevitably soiled his relationship with Xioalou. Throughout the course of the movie, the actors' turbulent roles are taken through the Communist Regime and the Cultural Revolution, and eventually to their aftermath in the Mainland.
Temptress Moon
Temptress Moon is directed by Chen Kaige with
screenplay by Shu Kei based on the story by Wang
Anyi and director of photography Christopher Doyle.
Released in 1996, Temptress Moon is a controversial
movie for the media and the critics alike. With
the 1920s backdrop, the film is based on the story
of Zhongliang (Leslie Cheung) an orphan boy who
goes to live with his old sister and addicted
husband Pang Zhengda (Yemang Zhou). Zhengda is
the heir to the Pang estate.
His stay at the Pang estate involved Zhongliang
being forced to prepare opium pipes for Zhengda
and to take part in incestuous activities with
his sister. Zhongliang escapes from the Pang estate
to Shanghai and become involved with the "boss"
(Xie Tian). The chief task that has been assigned
to Zhongliang had been to lure rich and innocent
wives to blackmail them.
On the other hand Zhengda becomes brain dead leaving his sister Ruyi (Gong Li) as the head of the family and the heir to the estate. Ruyi with the help of cousin Duanwu begins to change the old tradition in the family. When the "boss" learns of Ruyi, he sends Zhongliang to lure Ruyi for her wealth. However, Zhongliang discovers he is falling in love with Ruyi and fails to accomplish his designated task. Ruyi through her interaction with Zhongliang longs to have a life of liberation and adopt the ways of urban Chinese in Shanghai.
Analysis
To understand the context of the films' critical reception, one need to understand the cultural transformation that had taken place in China. According to Professor Cora Agatucci of Central Oregon Community College the significant development in Chinese cinema came about with the reopening of the Beijing Film Academy in 1978 after the Cultural Revolution. The graduates of the post-Cultural Revolution film making are known as the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers. These individuals unlike their ancestors did not like the traditional past narrative and stylistic formulas of filmmaking. Instead they have been interested in the introduction of new concept of blending social and cultural change at a personal level with a political backdrop. Among the renowned filmmakers of the fifth generation are Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.
The fifth generation filmmakers faced with adverse
cultural liberalization policies as well as strict
political control over creative expressions. During
the 1980s for example many films have been carefully
screened and banned from being launched in China
due to the fact that they reflect on negative
Chinese social and political scene. On the one
hand Chinese bureaucrats are of the opinion that
the Fifth Generation films do not reflect true
Chinese culture and society. The purpose of films
like Temptress Moon and Farewell to My Concubine
are to smear the Chinese culture by following
the Western perception of Chinese society. On
the other hand, the filmmakers deny the fact that
this had been the case. Instead they are of the
opinion that their movies are reflections of the
transformation taking place in the Chinese society
and how people are longing to express their concerns.
These films are in essence realistic and retain
the primary Chinese culture. The tug of war of
this debate continues to wage as directors attempt
to retain their position in the industry. As a
result, many decided to venture abroad to gain
support and funding for film production. It had
only been recently with Western recognition that
Chinese filmmakers are being recognized for their
efforts.
Yet despite this fact it must be noted that Fifth Generation filmmakers are no ordinary artists with the aim to repulse the Chinese government. Instead these artists aim to convey political, social and cultural messages across the screen to the audience. In Farewell to My Concubine for example Chen Kaige focused on the decades following the fall of the imperial legacy in China. Spanning over 50 years, the story traces the development of the Chinese culture in the post Imperialism period. During the Communist period, suppression had been prevalent. This has been depicted in the movie in the allegorical relationships of the pupils Douzi and Shitou. As the narrative depict, just as the master's endeavors have been hard and at times torturous for the opera singers the Communist Regime have been stringent in its governance and people. Similarly, as the couple becomes stars a decade later, the Cultural Revolution takes place. Chen Kaige's attempt had been to present the message how culture revolution take place and the factors that influence it. In the case of Farewell to My Concubine, the director present the concept that change takes place at the insistence of leaders while the people are made to suffer as a consequence of none readiness for change and resistance to change.
Similar, endeavors have been taken into account in Temptress Moon in which the director focused on the cultural transformation taking place during the 1920s when China had been strived with the dilemma of remaining within its traditional decadent past or give in to the mercenary modernity (Susman 1997).
The backdrops which Chen Kaige uses to depict the above messages have been interpreted adversely by the authority but with different reasons. Farewell to My Concubine hint at how China is in a dilemma whether to accept the new world and the foreign ideas or remain "ignorant" of the traditional ways. The fact that the story borders issues of homosexuality, oppression, liberty and cultural change hint that the Chinese people is ready for a change but the authority has not. This is perhaps the reason why Farewell to My Concubine had been rejected and banned from Mainland viewer ship in the first place. Furthermore, it has also been observed that the story introduced and hint at the prevalence of homosexuality as a way of life whereas the Chinese tradition has been patriarchical. The acceptance of Farewell to My Concubine by the authority would mean that they accept homosexuality as part of the Chinese culture (Kaplan 265).
But perhaps the most important message in the
story is the denouncement of the Communist Regime
and the Cultural Revolution as positive endeavors
by the government. The director and the screenplay
attempt to convey the fact that the Communist
Regime had done nothing for the people except
subject them to torture and made them into automated
workers. The censor board had therefore banned
the movie from release (MIM 1993). However, a
few disparate attempts the movie gained access
to viewer ship and thus had not been banned from
being released in China.
Temptress Moon on the other hand did not have such a lucky fate. The movie's main themes revolve around the concept of political hegemony, feudalism and patriarchical tradition. But at a more personal level it addresses the need for liberation, freedom of expression and change within the Chinese culture. The critics are of the opinion that Kaige in the Temptress Moon have attempted to redefine Chinese culture from a Western perspective as these issues have been rejected by the Western society for a long time. China continues to dwell within the dimensions of tradition and republican whereas the Western world appeals to the democratic regime. For this reason Kaige's film has been interpreted as an attempt to corrupt the minds of the viewer towards democracy thereby unbalancing the position of the Republic of China. As Susman (1997) writes:
"Like the corrupted jazz-age Shanghai, the post-imperial republic proved equally susceptible to greed and power-mongering. Moreover, it's easy to see in the decadent, moribund rigidity of the Pang estate a swipe at China's current geriatric, dogmatic leaders; meanwhile the film's Shanghai anticipates the free-market rapacity that threatens to fill the void left by the passing of those leaders."
Susman's views are more liberated as compared to the Chinese leaders who consider Kaige and the like Fifth Generation filmmakers as freedom fighters, working against the interest of the government. Western critics are of the opinion that the Chinese government restricts artistic expression and liberation of its people by banning movies such as Temptress Moon. They consider it a violation of human rights and individual expression. Kaige's view reflect the Western critics as he is of the opinion that the bureaucracy and the stringent control the Chinese government have against its people have resulted in the liberation of the people's aesthetic sense and perception of their individuality. In Temptress Moon he has elaborate on these facts in the form of Ruyi, a representative of the new China that is oppressed by old traditions, political hegemony, patrichical systems and corruption. Instead what the people of China really want is to embrace the new Western culture. This concept did not sit well with the Chinese authority. Even though the movie is based during the 1920s, its resemblance to the 1990s is evident in the story line. As Feng Jicai, a critic of Fifth Generation movie makers expresses his opinion of the new Chinese movies "new Chinese movies, which expose the backward aspects in Chinese culture to the foreigners, is a disgrace." (Tsao 2000).
More objectively, Tsao (2000) is of the opinion that films such as Farewell to My Concubine and Temptress Moon have created such havoc among film critics in China due to the fact that it "reflects a divided perception on the authenticity of a controversial past. The Republican period is gone but not far away. Whoever lived through it, was born at the end of it, has parents nostalgic about it, or has some faintest idea of it, would have a particular and subjective sense of what that period should have been, and should be - in fiction, and in movies". Consequently, the masses may be receptive to the past the authority is still living in the web created by the past governments which is why they find it hard to ignore the perception of Chinese decadent and corrupt authority and culture.
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