China on Screen: Chinese Identity
China on Screen: Chinese Identity
The majority of classic popular Chinese cinemas are filmed and published by the fifth generation directors. The fifth generation directors focus on three key aspects to their production, in which are the social framework of the countryside, the past-aesthetics, and the global film distribution. These aspects have been well illustrated through the films of Yellow Earth and Hero directed by two well-known fifth generation directors, Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou. Both directors believe in the power of aesthetic matter to convey the issue of Chinese identity. Despite the fact that both films appeared to be dramatically different in terms of aesthetic; however, the hidden messages convey by both directors are the same.
Yellow Earth is a Chinese cinema filmed at 1984 by the director, Chen Kaige. The story takes place at Shaanxi, China, where the province was going through regional division by the opposing parties of the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomingtang. Yellow Earth promotes the helpfulness of the Chinese Communist Party to the peasants who live in the rural countryside. The director conveys his idea of China and Chinese people through the use of imagery and the implicitness of ideology. Moreover, Hero is a Chinese cinema filmed at 2002 by the director, Zhang Yimou. The story is based on an assassination endeavor on the greatest emperor of Qin Dynasty, Qin Shihuang, by four great assassins from Zhao state, which are Changkong, Canjian, Feixue, and Wuming. Zhang Yimouhas carefully had interwoven aesthetics with story lines to convey the hidden message, which is the unity of China. Hero reveals how Chinese identity is constructed and practiced through the lens of the fifth generation director. Despite the fact that both directors are trying to convey a similar ideology, the director of Heroutilizes rich colour scenes to demonstrate his beliefs, in which is very different from the aesthesia of Yellow Earth.
Throughout Yellow Earth, the scenery of Shaanxi is dark and dusty, and the color theme is dull. Even though Chen Kaige vividly portraits the authentic landscape of Shaanxi, it also implies the depressed atmosphere of the peasants due to the political division and the harsh living condition. The accent of the movie is monotonous, in which one believes is to illustrate the lifestyle of the peasants. The peasants live in the countryside with no other hope, but to rely on the government, the Chinese Communist Party, for their livelihood improvement.
The tone of the movie also conveys the message of hidden toil of the peasants. Moreover, by presents the movie through monotonousness, it also demonstrates the unity of peasants and the Chinese identity. The peasants are the vast majority of the Chinese population, not only the fifth generation directors had experienced the livelihood of peasants and their importance as the root of Chinese identity, most influential individuals in China have either experienced countryside lifestyle or are from the peasant class. For example, Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, was from a farmer family in the rural area of Hunan in China. Thus, by indicating the significance of the unity of peasant, Chen Kaige also successfully conveys the significance of the unity of China and the unforgettable root of Chinese identity.
In contrary, Zhang Yimou portraits Chinese identity in a very distinct way as to what Chen Kaige has done in Yellow Earth. Zhang Yimou exploits various colour themes in Hero to portrait the countryside through his lens. It is obvious that the scenery in Hero gives audience great visual enjoyment due to the variety of colour usage. Zhang Yimou employs major colour themes based on the plot. For instance, the leaves are green when the fight occurred in the forest between Feixue and Ruyue, the maid of Canjian; however, the leaves and the scenery turned into bright red after Feixue stabbed Ruyue with her sword. The change in colour theme suggests the defeat and the death of Ruyue.
Another example would be the colour of the outfit of the people from Zhao state when Zhang Yimou first introduced the Zhao people in Hero. The colour of red has several significances in the Chinese culture, which has been interestingly interwoven with the plots. Using red as the colour of Zhao outfit, Zhang Yimou implies the passion of calligraphy to the populace from Zhao state. Zhao people believed in the philosophy within calligraphy and realization it will bring to people’s consciousness. The theme of red also foreshadows the ending of the war between Zhao state and Qin dynasty. The defeat of Zhao state was appalling. The colour, red, represents the people who sacrificed their lives during the war and the bloody failure to protect the state of their own. Furthermore, the colour, red, is also the theme colour of the Chinese Communist Party. Thus, one believes that the director purposely employs red as the theme colour of this particular plot.
The fifth generation directors are also consciously aware of the influence embedded in the “eco cinema practice”. In the course Chen’ lens, it is remarkable that the landscape of Shaanxi is full of dry plains and bare mountains. For example, at the beginning and the end of the film, the director focuses on the landscape of Shaanxi. The dry plains and the bare mountains echoes with the title of the movie, Yellow Earth, and they also imply the poor living condition of peasants at Shaanxi at the given period. The livelihood of majority peasants in China was as described in the movie. They have limited food and natural resources. People rely on the weather for harvest and the neighbours for the exchange of daily needs. The peasants are the soul of China and yet, they suffer for basic daily needs. Chen Kaige conveys the message that Chinese people are hardworking people. It is their cultural identity. Thus, while one is enjoying the fruit of success, one must not forget about the root of Chinese identity.
Nonetheless, through the lens of Zhang Yimou, the countryside is illustrated as a paradise that has not been touched and polluted by human beings. The plains are green and full of vegetation; the mountains are majestic and luxuriance. For example, Zhang Yimou graphically portrays the scenery of the countryside when the plots were focused on the Zhao people, Canjian, Feixue, and Ruyue. Even though no peasant or the livelihood of peasant has been seen in the movie, the scenery of the countryside implies that the peasants do have a comfortable life at the given time. Since they have plenty of food and natural resources, the peasants do not need to worry about their basic needs for survival; whereas the peasants have plenty of food and natural resources, the peasants do not need to worry about their basic needs for survival; whereas the peasants in Yellow Earth do. Even though Zhang Yimou tends to romanticise the livelihood of the peasants in the countryside, he also conveys the message that a nation is only strong and powerful when the peasants have a good livelihood because they are the seed of the heart of China. Both of Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou present the livelihood of peasants in the countryside in the opposite condition; however, they both believe in the importance of peasants of China because they are the root of Chinese identity.
In conclusion, Yellow Earth and Hero are two influential Chinese movies that were filmed almost two decades apart from one another. Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou both portrays the imagery of the countryside of China through their own lens, the difference is self-evident. However, both directors of the fifth generation film production convey the similar ideologies through the movies, which are the unity of Chinese people, and the Chinese identity. Both directors carefully and cleverly interwove the aesthetics with the connotation to convey the hidden message in a remarkable manner. Chinese people are determined with undefeated spirits and any individual should never underestimate the significance of peasants. It is imperative for the populace of China to never forget about their root and the original national identity.
