In modern globalized world, an intertwining of numerous cultures takes place. Western values and lifestyle are known to be specifically actively spreading all over the world. Urbanization is one of the trends brought in Asia from the West. For instance, according to the research of the World Bank, from 2000 to 2010 around 200 million people from East Asia moved to urban area; it can be assumed that this tendency is to a great extent associated with the imitation a Western urban lifestyle by Asian people (“East Asia’s Changing Urban Landscape”). It is in particular captivating to observe the process of blending and absorbing Western and Eastern cultures. It is noticeable that, despite Western civilization tends to have highly strong influences on other cultures, Asia manages to preserve its own unique culture and values. A specific form of the correlation between cultures of the West and East, the urbanization’s extending in Asia, can be viewed in such two famous Asian films as Three Seasons and Chungking Express; in terms of this paper, urban trends taking place in Asia and an overall infusion of Western values into the East will be investigated.
Firstly, the brightest example of the coexistence of East and West cultures in modern Vietnamese cities is the one associated with the process of picking lotuses by young Vietnamese girls from a flower pond. It has to be noticed that the picking lotuses in the way it is depicted in the film is known to be an old Asian approach to making this work. The girls and women who are picking lotuses wear traditional Vietnamese clothes and sing rich traditional folk songs. There is also a thought-provoking scene associated with Kien An comment regarding the machine-made plastic flowers which are as well being sold in Saigon; the girl notices that they are not natural and they cannot be able to replace the lotuses she is picking using old traditional method (Three Seasons).
Furthermore, the at the very beginning of the film, along with the scene portraying the lotuses’ picking, the audience can observe the dialogue between Kien An, the girl who is starting working at a flower pond, and her mentor. Although the conversation between them is being showed during a minute, from the movie’s beginning, it becomes clearly understandable that East cultural tradition continues playing an extraordinarily influential role in Vietnam, at least for a certain part of the Vietnamese population. Among the inferences which can be made on the basis of the dialogue between Kien An and her mentor is a huge meaning of diligence, patience, and thoroughness during the performance of work (Three Seasons).
At the same time, the lotuses are being picking with the goal of being sold to American tourists and Vietnamese citizens of Saigon. What is more, whereas at first the depiction of the process of the lotuses’ picking is being showed, after that, the examples of the capitalism’s invasion in the Asian culture’s life can be seen; these examples include the Coca-Cola signs, luxurious 5-star hotels, neon signs, and other characteristic elements of Western culture. Thus it can be assumed that the representatives of West culture tend to respect and appraise Eastern cultural traditions and, at the same time, the Asians continue preserving their cultural uniqueness in spite of an active penetrating of West values into their culture; such interrelation between two drastically different cultural approaches takes place in the urban area.
Another striking example of the invasion of the Western influence in the urban life of the Vietnamese society is the fact of the market economy being expanded in Saigon, and, as a result, the phenomenon of the unequal distribution of income, characteristic for the market economy, takes place in the Asian city. For example, within the film, there is a Vietnamese cyclo drivers giving rich tourists from the Western countries a ride can be seen; the men, one of whom is Hai work incredibly hard to survive in the conditions of the market economy whereas rich American people take advantage from the hard work of the Vietnamese. Besides, a little boy named Woody is depicted selling chewing gum, cigarettes, and some other goods for prosperous denizen of a luxurious hotel. Proyect, while reviewing the film, notices, “the Saigon of Three Seasons is a money jungle where people eke out livings against a backdrop of garish new hotels.” All in all, in the film the director’s struggling to portray vanishing culture can be viewed. In the film, the traditional Vietnamese culture is represented by Kien An, the transition between past and present is represented by Hai, and the future of the Vietnamese city is represented by Woody.
In Hong Kong film Chungking Express the issue of the urbanization’s development in Asia under the influences of the West is depicted from a slightly different angle. The major idea of the film is the emphasis on the fact of the inhabitants of a densely populated city of Hong Kong tend being, to a great extent, rather lonely and living in their specific inner worlds. The film starts from the showing an actively moving crowd. It is noticeable that the Chinese title of the film is translated to Chungking Jungle, which can be associated with the film creators’ desire to stress on the phenomenon of the Jungle of the city (Chungking Express). It is known that such a fast pace of a city life might have been brought to the Asian world from the West. Romney, in the review of the film, smartly notices, “Chungking Express is urban cinema par excellence - a story of crowds, crossed paths, stolen kisses and snatched takeaway meals.”
What is more, in Chungking Express a substantial influence of specifically American culture on urban life of Hong Kong is portrayed. Numerous elements characteristic for modern American economy and culture can be viewed in the film demonstrating the daily life of the Asian city. Among these elements there is a huge complex of restaurants, shops, and bars, the girl listening to famous American song “California Dreaming,” the woman dressed in the Western style, the Coca-Cola being sold in the shops, and some other features of the Western culture (Chungking Express).
Taking everything into account, Three Seasons and Chungking Express are two famous and thought-provoking films depicting a fascinating process of the correlation of the Western and Eastern cultures from the perspective of the urban lifestyle’s modification. Grounding on the information perceived from two pictures, it can be inferred that despite the strong influences of the West on the East, Asia remains saving its special native cultural traditions.
Works Cited
“East Asia’s Changing Urban Landscape: Measuring a Decade of Spatial Growth.” The World Bank. The World Bank, 26 Jan. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2016. <http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/urbandevelopment/publication/east-asias-changing-urban-landscape-measuring-a-decade-of-spatial-growth>.
Proyect, Louis. “Three Seasons.” IMDB. IMDB, n. d. Web. 28 Apr. 2016 <http://www.imdb.com/reviews/161/16144.html>.
Romney, Jonathan. “Chungking Express.” The Guardian. The Guardian, 14 Sep. 1995. Web 28 Apr. 2016. <http://www.theguardian.com/film/1995/sep/14/1>.
Three Seasons. Dir. Tony Bui. October Films, 1999. Film.
Chungking Express. Dir. Wong Kar-wai. Ocean Shores Video, 1994. Film.
