The film is an embodiment of life overtaking events encountered in the aftermath of the Sino-Japanese war. The Dai family remains the most adversely affected by the war and their ever prosperous family now is on the brink of collapse as Liyan wallows in hopelessness while pondering the events of the war and its ruining impacts on the family. It is indisputable that emotional concerns still linger in the minds of Liyan and Yuwen despite several years of the emotional lowdown (Daruvala 171-187). Their marriage has been immensely affected by the ponderous adversity inflicted by the disastrous war. The events of the film take center stage when a Shanghai doctor, Zhang pays them a visit. Being liyan’s childhood friend, a rare discovery is made; Zhang is a former lover of Liyan’s wife, Yuwen.
The film excerpt from the film has been taken from 3:48 to 8:50 at the beginning of the film. In this part of the film, Liyen finds it hard to take the damage inflicted on their family properties by the war. He ponders whether their once palatial house can be repaired anymore. While Yuwen does the work of waking for the groceries every morning, they hardly utter words with Liyen, who seems consumed in the misfortunes of their family and the agonies of the war(Daruvala 171-187). He disappears to the secluded gardens where nobody can find him and ponders what the future holds for the destroyed family. It is imperative that the concerns of the husband are more progressively inclined and attempts to view the future through the mirror of hopelessness. The test of the character is utterly on the display as Liyen’s sister enjoys her side of life despite the agonies of the past which send him to a sea of thought every morning. It is at this point in the film that the impression is created about the subsequent unfolding in the whole. It is apparent that Liyen is overtaken by thoughts and deteriorating health which he finds mainly concerning. It is clear in this excerpt that Liyan is particularly in dire need to have his little sister pursue her education and seems concerned as to whether the sister has gone to school. When his sister appears in the garden to showcase her artistry, he seemed less bothered and ordered her to get to school.
However, he remains in the garden still contemplating the right course of action that can help change fortunes for their family. The film incorporates elements of internal-diegetic sound thereby depicting the silent thoughts of Liyen about the lost fortunes on his watch. The film portrays the struggles experienced by the larger Chinese society and families in attempting to rebuild from the past and create unity. The need for unity among families is portrayed in the excerpt as Yuwen brings Liyan some prescriptions to aid his recovery. But, he turns them down and throws away in protest of their deafening silence towards one another. It is paramount to highlight that the friend attempts to instill hope in him, but the degree of hopelessness still reign his mindset even after eight years of behind the wars. Surprisingly, he has a belief that he could be suffering from tuberculosis, but the wife thinks otherwise. The sister as portrayed in the excerpt lives in ambience to the fantasy world where everything for her seems perfectly rolling. She’s is very excited about the bonsai landscape she had made the previous night.
Despite her excitement, Liyan does not find any amusement in this and frustratingly takes the chance to stamp authority over her. The film is a culmination of the drifting role of women in the society. The traditional images and roles of women in the Chinese seemed more passive but are now more involving. The involvement of Yuwen on the recovery process and advice to Liyan on what how to remain healthy by staying positive is clearly indicated. When his friend makes him into their ramshackle home, he seems surprised and wonders how he managed to trace their home after ten years without any physical contact.
Growing social status of a woman in the Chinese society: Yuwen takes the role of family motivator (Daruvala 171-187). She remains positive despite the plethora of challenges experienced by the family and the relentless frustrations that Liyen undergoes. It is imperative that attempts to have Liyan engage her verbally are fruitless. It is demonstrated in her ponderous internal-diegetic analogy of the situation. She acknowledges the fact that Liyen does not seem likely to see her even twice in a day. Despite the frustrating relationship, she is determined to keep things moving and dreams to make their family life better. She understands that certain concerns are genuinely embodied in the mindset of Liyen and his appraisal solely lies in his health. The social status is also alluded to in the excerpt when Yuwen is offered the decisive role of undertaking medical decisions. It is important to acknowledge that Yuwen’s efforts to feed the family are big decisions. She wakes up to the groceries and makes critical decisions on what should sustain her family. The decision-making process has long been the portion of men and males in the Chinese tradition and women were merely left to execute instructions.
However, in the excerpt, the woman makes critical decisions on health and subsequently delivers the medicine to Liyen on a daily basis. She thinks that there is a misconception on the kind of disease that disease as she thinks that it is a neurosis. It is apparent from the context that the above woman is informed. The society had anciently looked down upon women and deprived them of the basic education that is fundamental to every living person in the society. Having the knowledge of neurosis and its distinction from tuberculosis is a manifestation of the level of information she keeps. It is undisputed that the portrayal of such prudence in understanding the nature of ailments that her husband undergoes. Such prudence is a demonstration of aptitude and being informed. The society has been found prolong the biases they have towards women not allowing them to acquire the necessary education that could help the find solutions to various problems that the society faces. Men in their culmination of the superiority have often attempted to have their way with women through the imposition of extreme cultural values. She seems concerned about the anger and the state of health that Liyen has and continues to pick the drugs even when he has thrown them away in dissatisfaction and lack of hope for tomorrow.
Interdependence in marriage: The relationship between Liyen and Yuwen utterly demonstrates the inseparable culture of interdependence in marriages. The relationship integrates elements of emotional support to companionship. In the excerpt, the husband is in emotional lowdown that works to the detriment of the welfare of their family. He opts for solitude and decides to spend the majority of his time in the garden alone. From this point of view, events of the past are ruling his consciousness, and he cannot figure out the way from poverty and despair. The woman tries to give hope that things will change and that he only needs to worry about himself and not the family. Through appropriate advice, the husband decides to reconsider his position on the drug. The theme is accompanied by series of off-screen sound that asserts the existing mood in the film. The man in the excerpt is a decision maker who has been rendered apples by the destructive war but under the care of a woman, he traverses the mucky life terrains. The woman commands respect by posing as the critical and equal partner of Liyen.
Role setting: in a capitalistic society, the patriarch has been rendered helpless by the war, he struggles to have a steady life, but the woman takes charge of affairs and psychologically outwits Liyen. She is the master of psychological perfection as she displays numerous aspects of prudence in her figurative effects the world war had in China. The Confucian family is in the excerpt still dominated by the woman who remains a key figure in throughout the film. She undergoes challenges when her former lover appears to be the best friends with the husband and longtime buddies. As they set to share a residence, the woman prepares to cope with challenges of living with emotional distraction.
Work Cited
Daruvala, Susan. “The aesthetics and moral politics of Fei Mu’s Spring in a Small Town.” Journal of Chinese Cinemas, (2007) 1:3, 171-187
Mu, Fei. "Spring in a Small Town (1948) Eng Subs." YouTube. YouTube, 1948. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN_iu_1kVjA>.
