StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

The Contemporary Chinese Movies - Movie Review Example

Cite this document
Summary
This movie review "The Contemporary Chinese Movies" analyzes the three movies in order to ascertain how these movies reflect on the changing Chinese lifestyle. The three movies selected are Eat Drink Man Woman, Together and To Live. China is inspired by the Western Lifestyle…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER95.5% of users find it useful
The Contemporary Chinese Movies
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Contemporary Chinese Movies"

Redefining the Chinese Tradition Introduction When most people think of China and its people, they imagine a land steeped with culture and tradition. Most assume that life in China is strictly dictated by the traditions present in China since hundreds of decades. However, this is not entirely true. As the world is turning into a global village, Chinese life is also evolving. While traditions and cultures still guide much of the Chinese lifestyle but most Chinese, including those living in China, are redefining their lifestyles. Chinese is also inspired by Western Lifestyle and one can observe many influences of Western culture in Chinese Culture. This can be observed in many of the contemporary Chinese movies. In this paper, three movies would be analyzed in order to ascertain how these movies reflect on the changing Chinese lifestyle. The three movies selected are Eat Drink Man Woman, Together and To Live. Perception of Chinese Culture The Chinese Culture is perhaps one of the richest cultures in the entire world. The Culture in Chinese in composed of many aspects of the Chinese life including cuisine, family structure, music and arts and spirituality. Chinese cuisine is famous throughout the world. The Chinese prepare the cuisine with the greatest passion. They consider cooking as a spiritual activity and often involves dexterity. Chinese meals usually consist of rice, noodles and seafood. Tea is also an important part of the Chinese cuisine as tea has become associated with the Chinese. Chinese meals are often enjoyed with family. Meal times in China are about sharing and enjoying time together (Wander Stories) In terms of family structure, the Chinese have the most tradition. The male providing member of the family demands the utmost respect. Chinese children are expected to respect and adhere to all commands issued by the parents. In return, parents are endowed with the responsibility of providing for their children. Marriages are often arranged and through the consent of the parents. Dowry forms an important part of the marriage. Extended families is considered part of the family. The Chinese have a strong appreciation of arts and music. Chinese children are expected to perfect some form of art. Violin is usually the most preferred skill and children are often expected to perfect this skill. Vernacular forms of music instruments include sheng, pipa, erhu, xiao, and Guzheng. The Chinese spirituality is based on either of the three religious beliefs: Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. All three beliefs basically practice many of the same concepts including harmony with nature. The Chinese have been able to exist in harmony despite different religious because they advocate peace and moral responsibility (Miller, 57). Perception of Chinese Culture in Movies Chinese movies form an important part of entertainment in US. Apart from the Chinese Americans, there is a wide viewership of Chinese movies given their themes of martial arts, drama and arts. These movies reflect on the Chinese culture and in the last few decades, they have begun to focus on the process of cultural change that can be observed in China. In order to understand this, a comparison of three movies has been developed. These include Eat Drink Man Woman, Together and To Live. Eat Drink Man Woman Eat Drink Man Woman is a Taiwanese drama movie released in 1994. It was directed by Ang Lee and consisted of a star cast of Sihung Lung, Chien-Lein Wu, Yu-wen Wang and Kuei-mei Yang (IMDB). The movie tells the story of a widowed man, Mr. Chu and his three daughters, Chu Jie-Jen, Chu Jia-Chien and Chu Jia-Ning. Mr. Chu is a Chinese master chef with three daughters having very modern views. All three daughters defy traditional norms. Chu Jie-Jen has accepted Christianity; Chu Jia-Chien works as an airline executive and Chu Jia-Ning becomes pregnant with his friends boyfriend. However, the family remains together and enjoys one of them most memorable times together. Together Together is a Chinese movie released in 2002. It was directed by Chen Kaige and stars Tang Yun Liu, Chen Hong and Wang Zhiwen (IMDB). The movie relates the story of a widowed cook, Liu Cheng and his adopted son, Liu Xiaochun. Xiaochun is a thirteen year old violin child prodigy whose father, Liu Cheng wants him to receive acclaim for his ability at a young age. Liu Cheng makes many sacrifices for his son along the way. Despite being pressed for money, Cheng assures that Xiaochun receives training under the best musicians. However, Xiaochun is reluctant to achieve this success at the hands of losing his father who he later realizes is not his real father. To Live To Live is another Chinese movie released in 1994. It was directed by Zhang Yimou and stars, Ge You and Gong Li (IMDB). The movie is an epic drama set during the important events in Chinese history including the Civil War, Cultural Revolution and the Communist Revolution (James). The movie tells the story of Xu Fingui, a rich man turned poor because of his gambling addiction. Fingui and his family goes through one of the most difficult periods in Chinese history. Tragedies continue hitting the family as Finguis daughter goes mute; his son is accidently killed by the Tribal Chief and Fingui is killed during childbirth. Comparison All three movies show different aspects of the Chinese life; however the audience can observe many similar themes in all three movies. These are inherently linked to Chinese traditions and how they have evolved over time. To Live is a movie set in the history of China, therefore evolution of culture and tradition in his movie is stagnant. Fingui, the father is the head of the family. He has to provide for the family even when he is portrayed as a compulsive gambler. Finguis wife, Jiazhen does not go out to make a living even though the family is living in the most trying conditions. Even Finguis daughter, Fengxia does not contribute financially when she is married or even before. She gets pregnant quickly. This reflects on the fact that Fengxia was not expected to work. Rather, she was expected to provide children for her husband. The same is not observed in the movie Eat Drink Man Woman. Even though both movies were released in the same year, most themes in the movie contradict each other. In Eat Drink Man Woman, the movie shows the daughters as highly independent. Each of the three daughters earn their own wages even though the family seems to be faring well financially. In them movie, even Chu Jia-Ning, a college student works at a restaurant joint to help pay for her college. Chu Jia-Chien , the second daughter, enjoys an important position as an airline executive and Chu Jie-Jen works as a nurse. The conception that male head of the family, Mr. Chu should provide for the family is not present in the movie. The father accepts the fact that her daughters are working and does not hold it against them. In all three movies, a father child relationship can be observed. All three movies show some form of relationship between the parents and the children. In Together and Eat Drink Man Woman, the father is widowed and a cook. In To Live, both the parents are alive. All three movies show that Chinese value family relationship. Even though there may be problems within the family, the family stays together. In To Live, Fengui may not be the perfect father with his gambling habits but his family does not entirely leave him. He reunites with his family and retains authority over them when he becomes more responsible. Fengui, as a father, enjoys more authority over his children than the fathers in the other two movies despite Fenguis apparent shortcomings. Fengui in collaboration with his wife, Jiazhen, arrange the marriage for their only daughter, Fengxia. Fengxia accepts her parents decisions without putting up any resistance and even falls in love with her husband. In the movie, Together, one sees the father in a position of authority. It is Liu Cheng who decides the fate of his son and Xiaochun is expected to comply with his fathers order. However, unlike Fengxia, Xiaochun is not exactly very accepting towards his fathers decision. While Xiaochun does not entirely revolt against his father but one does see glimpses of his resistance. In one scene, Xiaochun embarrasses his father when he refuses to play the violin. However, even Xiaochun is strongly attached to his father. He is willing to forgo his commercial acclaim in order to live with his father even though Liu Cheng is not Xiaochuns real father. The movie, Eat Drink Man Woman probably offers the most change in Chinese culture. The father, in this movie, is shown as a friend rather than an authoritative father. Even though he continuously guides and corrects his daughters, but he is not in a position of authority. His daughters have their own mind and would sometimes even listen to the father. All three daughters have chosen their own career paths. Even in terms of their marriage, they enjoy a very modern lifestyle. Even in this movie, there is a strong love within the family. All four members of the family may be at ends with each other but they still take out the time to enjoy meals together. Food is another an important theme in the movie. In Eat Drink Man Woman, food forms an important part of the movie. It is the meal times where the family comes together and enjoys the most entertaining moments. Since Mr. Chu is a chef, therefore we often see him preparing food as if he is planning for a restaurant meal. He often gives advice on food to his daughters. One of this daughters, Jia-Chien also has the same passion for food (Khaw). These people enjoy the traditional Chinese cuisine despite being portrayed as a very modern Chinese family. Even in To Live, food forms an important part of the film despite the fact that the family is poor. These people also enjoy food. This is evident during the end of the movie when the doctor eats too much buns that he is unable to deliver Fengxias son. In Together, meal time is an important bonding time for the father and son. In all three movies, the characters enjoy Chinese food even though they have been exposed to American food. This suggests that the taste buds of the Chinese have not altogether evolved. The theme of music and arts is most prominent in Together. The entire movie is based on a violin prodigy. The audience also get an inkling of how much the Chinese respect the violin and other forms of music. The director gives violin the position of a religious activity. Even in To Live, art forms an integral part of the movie. Fengui has artistic abilities which allows him to survive despite his hardships. It was through his singing that he made his livelihood at one point of time. In Eat Drink Man Woman, music and arts forms a very small part of the basic plot. It would seem that this family is not like other Chinese families in their appreciation for arts. Conclusion Chinese movies, like any other movie, reflect on the culture that they represent. As the Chinese culture is evolving, so is the culture portrayed in most Chinese movies. While some movies still show the Chinese as people steeped in tradition in culture, there are movies such as Eat Drink Man Woman that completely change the perspective about Chinese society. Food and music is still something revered amongst the Chinese and therefore themes of music and food is common in Chinese movies. Works Cited  "Eat Drink Man Woman". Internet Movie Database. Web. Retrieved Dec 2, 2014 James, Caryn. To Live (1994) NY Times, 1994, Web, Retrieved Dec 2, 2014 Khaw, Winnie, Review and Analysis of the Film Eat Drink Man Woman, Electia.org Retrieved Dec 2, 2014 Miller, James, Chinese Religions in Contemporary Societies, NY: ABC-CLIO, 2006, Print  "Together With You" Internet Movie Database. Web. Retrieved Dec 2, 2014 "To Live" Internet Movie Database. Web. Retrieved Dec 2, 2014 Wander Stories, China - a travelers guide to Chinese cuisine and table manners, traditions and customs, holidays and festivals, behavior and etiquette, Peking opera, Chinese humor and jokes, China: Wander Stories,14-Oct-2014, Print Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(The Contemporary Chinese Movies Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words, n.d.)
The Contemporary Chinese Movies Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words. https://studentshare.org/visual-arts-film-studies/1851798-none
(The Contemporary Chinese Movies Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 Words)
The Contemporary Chinese Movies Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 Words. https://studentshare.org/visual-arts-film-studies/1851798-none.
“The Contemporary Chinese Movies Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 Words”. https://studentshare.org/visual-arts-film-studies/1851798-none.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Contemporary Chinese Movies

Summary on movie Secrets Of The Silk Road and how the movie related to anthropology

Some of the artifacts reflect the influence of Han chinese culture, while some of the clothing on these artifacts had images from Greek and Roman mythology.... The Secrets of the Silk Road is closely connected to anthropology as it helps contemporary man to understand their ancestors in a better light by closely examining the bodies and artifacts found in that region....
1 Pages (250 words) Movie Review

Critical Paper

Name Instructor Course Date Theme of Change in the movies To Live, The Wedding Banquet, and Eat Drink Man And Woman In the three movies namely “To live”, the wedding banquet and eat drink man and woman: there are several concepts that have been covered namely that of change and specifically in the fate of women in traditional Chinese, family culture, women position and in society.... hellip; With this overview analysis on the articles main aim it will in addition help interpret and analyze the Chinese culture by centralizing mainly on the theme of change in the three movies while also highlighting their similarities and difference of how they are represented in the films....
4 Pages (1000 words) Movie Review

The Tradition in Chinese Families

In the essay “The Tradition in chinese Families” the author analyzes the movie, which opens with Jade Li's apparent struggles in trying to honor the traditional expectations of her chinese family while attempting to balance the realities of living in the Western world.... hellip; The author of the paper states that Jade is an impious, sassy chinese-Canadian who is still living at home with her parents and younger sister.... Because she fears being disowned and hurting her family, while she manages to land a few bit parts on camera, Jade spends most of her time working in the shop owned by a family friend, performing the duties of a respectful daughter, and suffering through arranged dates with prosperous young chinese men....
2 Pages (500 words) Movie Review

Contemporary film

In the… This paper seeks to discuss the synopsis of the television series, and to illustrate the family genogram to show the interrelationships contemporary Film 0 Introduction Family-oriented television series has been installed in the culture of Americans ever since.... Life as a House is a paradigm to show how people's behavior and attitude change over time....
2 Pages (500 words) Movie Review

Contemporary Chinese Cinema: Raise the Red Lantern

This movie review "contemporary chinese Cinema: Raise the Red Lantern" presents Raise the Red Lantern, a 1991 Chinese film, was directed by Zhang Yimou with a screenplay by Ni Zhen who wrote it based on Su Tong's novel Wives and Concubines.... hellip; Set primarily in the 1920s, the film is about the life and travails of a young chinese woman who becomes a concubine in the household of a wealthy man.... Raise the Red Lantern is Zhang Yimou's fourth film and is considered as the last film of his trilogy, all of which were highly critical of the chinese Culture as well as Confucian thoughts....
5 Pages (1250 words) Movie Review

The Films Chungking Express, Happy Together and In the Mood for Love

nbsp;… By criticizing the film representation in Hong Kong movies, this movie review will tackle the notion that Hong Kong cinema is more than martial arts and action.... The movies include Chungking Express (1994), Happy Together (1997), and In the Mood for Love (2000).... During this time, Hong Kong films were being produced with a martial arts theme in them, all about fighting, but having left mainland China just at the age of 5, Wong had a different perspective of what movies were meant to portray to the audience....
6 Pages (1500 words) Movie Review

Hero and House of Flying Daggers

This work called "Hero and House of Flying Daggers" describes Zhang Yimou's experience in producing movies.... nbsp;Basically, the two movies fall in the Wuxia genre.... nbsp; Though Zhang has been accused of trying to appeal to the western audience through these two films, he tries to maintain that Chines cultural aspect that he is widely recognized to uphold in his earlier movies.... ero follows the setting of 227 BCE soon before the emergence of the initial chinese empire....
11 Pages (2750 words) Movie Review

History of Spanish Cinema and Analysis of Alejandro Amenabars-The Others

hellip; The film industry in Spain has existed since the early nineteenth century and began with silent movies and moved on to active audio-visual cinema after the Civil Wars.... By the mid-nineteenth century, Spain saw a free flow of silent movies in the society.... From the Civil Wars in the 1930s to 1960, Spanish moviemakers mastered the craft of transferring its genius from silent to sound movies.... movies created between 1914 and 1960 established the Spanish genius of capturing the reality of life through the lens and the ability of Spanish filmmakers to experiment and analyze different storylines possible in fiction....
10 Pages (2500 words) Movie Review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us