Tuesday 4 September 2012

Yellow Earth




Yellow Earth, the 1984 period piece foray into the struggling inception and indoctrination of Chinese Communism is deftly and critiquely handled by director Kaige Chen and cinematographer Yimou Zhang. The film placed in 1930s China follows Gu, a young impressionable Communist soldier as he tries to gather folk songs from a meager and desolate rural village, to boost Chinese nationalist moral in a time of war. However, when he arrives, he is greeted with desolation and extreme poverty, as he slowly but surely falls in love with Cuciqao the daughter of his host, who carries the mightiest singing voice in the village.

The area around them becomes palpable to the audience, parched, dried, and destitute becomes an apt metaphor and representation of the inhabitants of this hapless land. They parade around wooden fish,  pray to gods for rain, and marry their younger daughters to older males, in hopes of a better future. The absence of middle aged men at first doesn’t register but as the film progresses, it becomes clearer, till finally it becomes an overbearing presence. The film utilizes colours and imagery in amazing ways. The only flash of colour that is repeatedly present is red; everything else is dull, dying, and gray. The absence of any hope is incredibly tangible, but rather than the literal representation of what the film states, there is an ever more captious message in the film.

It is ironic to note that at this point in history, the Communists where actively seeking and encouraging traditional folk songs. Step twenty five years in time, and the artistic individual voice is repressed and talent takes a back seat to the larger government in the Cultural Revolution. The struggle of the fourteen year old daughter and her incredible singing voice, being stiffened and overpowered by her own forced marriage is a metaphor. The art itself has been suppressed by the larger more powerful communist party, they are forced to engage in a relationship they want no part of. Her fate like the fate of any art in this overbearing regime is left a mystery as she literally fights against the stream to the beat of her own drum, it could ultimately be a success or failure. This film was made by the young rebellious graduating class of Bejing Film Academy, who wanted to bring a newly liberated voice to the People after the terrors of the Cultural Revolution had ended.

Although, it is not only taking a blistering look at artistic suppression but rather the stagnation and development of rural farmers. Thing’s have still not progressed for the poor rural farmers, in modern China; they still live in undesirable lifestyles, yearning to be free. The tragedy of this realization is amplified when Cuciqao sings so fondly of the Communist revelation only never to be helped. This "real" help becomes as useful as praying to Gods for rain,  ultimately the director suggests find a third alternative.

 Kaige Chen direction in this film is peculiar as well; most of the shots are wide, stationary, and panoramic. They invoke a documentary feeling, keeping detached but allowing you to wonder the screen to absorb every bit of it. By keeping the shot so wide, and so long, you are forced to look at the despair, examine every inch of it and forced to acknowledge the awful predicament of these farmers.  In addition, there is ample head room given for most of the villagers, there heads so far in the clouds, there thoughts pre-occupied with the sky, it becomes noticeable that their thoughts are with the gods and the rain that surely should follow.

The music contributes to this acknowledgement, haunting and overbearing, it assaults your senses till you a relent. An interesting combination of ancient Chinese folk songs and modern Western Orchestral, two things not heavily encouraged by Chinese governments at the current time this was made. This is a way of Mister Chen to show another way of escape and artistic freedom for the viewers to engage in.

Yellow Earth, is a well crafted film that manages to move through the muck of a totalitarian repressive beuocracy and emerge with a subtle critical view of the government. In addition the acting by the cast really helps elevate the story, both Xueqi Wang and Bai Xue do a commendable job, that adds to the impressive achievement this movie accomplished. Kaige Chen manages to put his stamp as a formidable Chinese director and one of the best to come out of the Bejing Film Academy, which he continues to do.

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