Zhang Yimou's Hero

This week’s film, Hero, directed by Zhang Yimou, was totally different than any other film I had seen before. While the beautifully choreographed fight scenes and colorful landscapes were striking and set this film apart from many other low-budget Chinese films, I found its general plot outline difficult to follow. Different elements, including the constant flashbacks, unusual names, trickery and unfamiliar cultural customs, contributed to the film’s confusing nature. There was little interaction between the characters in the story and audience members. As viewers, all we could do was admire the artistic qualities of the film, instead of relating to the characters and their situation. However, it was a fascinating look at part of China’s culture. The reverence for high powered officials and country leaders may have been astounding to some, but this inside look at the ancient cultural traditions were vital in progressing the movie’s themes and plot line. Another element I found particularly fascinating was the blending of history with more futuristic elements. From the beginning, we see how this is part of the story of the unification of China, and yet the director introduces many components that give the film a modern-day feel. The graphic nature of the film, especially the dominance of single-color schemes created a contemporary and fresh experience for viewers. While the fluid motions and theatrical fight scenes in which the character fought in Chinese gardens, forest clearings or above a lake pushed viewer’s sense of what is possible, their exaggerated movements created a melodramatic and sensational tone.

Zhang Yimou's Not One Less

The film Not One Less, directed by the award winning Zhang Yimou, is the story of a young girl in poverty-stricken rural China on which extreme responsibilities are placed. These include running the local school and teach the 28 children enrolled their daily lessons without help and with only meager supplies. Charged with the duty of making sure that not a single other student drops out, she is convinced that she must follow one of her trouble-maker students who has gone to the city looking for work to help his indebted family.
While a touching story line, my mind could not help but wander as I sat and watched Not One Less. What could have been the purpose of this film? What message was the filmmaker trying to convey? Was it to teach others of the state of rural China? To show us a story of fearlessness and steadfastness? Who was this film targeted at? Was it trying to reach the people of China, to let them know of their brothers’ troubles? Or was it directed at those who have probably never imagined such poverty? While it may have intended some of these lofty goals of education and exposing current affairs, it fell drastically short.
Our main character, Wei Minzhi, shows absolutely no expression throughout the entire length of the film, until the very end when, in a desperate plea, cries for Zhang to return. She bullies her students, forcing them to come up with a bus fare for her and solve their problems amongst themselves. Her stubbornness is not an endearing quality, as she repeatedly reveals her lack of understanding of many of today’s customs. She does not accept what others tell her and continues on whatever path she was on, whether it is weaseling money out of the construction site manager or trying to find the TV station manager. As a main character, she proves unrelatable and simply frustrates audience members with her ineptitude and bumbling persistence. While the fact that she is only 13 could excuse her from many of her decisions, the fact that the audience cannot derive any emotion from her blank stares and repeated orders serves to make this film feel irrelevant to our everyday lives and unsuccessful in whatever its original goal was.

Swades, Ashutosh Gowariker

In his film Swades, director Ashutosh Gowariker not only tries to portray the problems facing the nation of India, such as its lack of proper infrastructure, overpopulation ad rampant malnutrition, but also attempts to illustrate how a nation’s culture is important in the everyday lives of its people. When Gita rebukes Mohan for running off and forgetting his history and for trying to argue that the American culture is better simply because it is more organized and prosperous, she states that without its history, traditions and culture, a country would be nothing and argues that India’s customs are just as defensible. The director hopes to show audiences how, even though the country may be underdeveloped, it is still a prosperous society. However, along with the message comes the truth about India's poverty levels and state of affairs. When Mohan travels to a “nearby” village, he cannot help but feel devastated by the poverty and heartbreaking story of a weaver who, when he tried to change with the times, was not accepted into society. This, coupled with his at first futile attempts to bring new and old children into Gita’s school, illustrates how while every society in the world today has its positives each has shortcomings and weaknesses of its own. Gowariker is able to accurately and successfully balance the good and bad of a society throughout this film. While in India, Mohan encounters not only a nation in a state of disorder, but one that is unified and grateful. He sees not only the lack of modern tools and a disadvantaged population, but also new and exciting ceremonies and a culture grounded in their traditions and satisfied in their way of life.