Review from Stanley Yuen

is a film from director Jia Zhangke who was trying to express his feelings and memories of China in the 80s to the 90s during Dang Xiaoping's reform era. The four main characters were art workers at their twenties who were relatively open minded comparing to the rest of the people in the inland underdeveloped city called FanYeung.

The film was trying to express the impact of the reform era to the city brought by the reform era. The teenagers were trying to follow the foreign new cultures such as styling their hairs, wearing bell-bottom pants, listening to pop music and wish to position themselves as the new era which is outstanding to the traditional working class people. They have lots of expectations to their future which would brought changes to their life, and refuse to face and follow the traditional life they were having.

There are lots of different cultures of China of the era expressed inside the film. From the beginning drama praising chairman Mao, to the CCP's influences to people's life and how the city changes during the revolutionary growth of China. Most of them were remarkable memories of director Jia. By watching the life of the four characters was like living in the era.

also pointed out some of the social problems during the reform. There is a touching theme about a mid-twenty uneducated teenager signing a contract with the coal mine who couldn’t understand the harsh and unacceptable conditions on the paper, but he had no choices but signing it as that was the only way he could earn money to live on and support his family. It also showed that education was not guaranteed for everyone, there is a huge gap in between the educated and uneducated people.

The director named the film because he saw those young characters as a train who was full of hope to the future, and they are running hard from the current platform to the ultimate platform representing their new life in the new era. However, even they were in the train full of hopes, the next platform was too far away for them to reach, it seemed a destination that they could never reached. As they have to face the reality of the life and at certain point they had to give up their longed dream and follow everyone else's path to live at their original life. The ending theme expressing the hopeless character had to finally gave up chasing his dream to the new life and built up his family at PanYeung to live the traditional life as his last generation.

Platform Review

Platform is about young performers (musicians and dancers) in a small town who experiences cultural, social, economic changes of China. The main characters are four friends, and their co-workers, girlfriends who are the members of the Peasant Culture Group. Their job is to move around from town to town by bus and showing their performances in praise of Chairman Mao’s great establishments and to celebrate the revolutionary work.

However, China soon begins to move toward contemporary movement through open door policy, free market, and cultural reforms. The peasant cultural group also needs to follow the development by transforming their music, dance, performance, fashion styles, and privatization of the troupe. Some of members choose to stay in Fenyang where they born and grow up, while some of them leave their hometown to find out better place for better chance.

Even though Fenyang is a very small town, there's a cultural reform movement such as talking about birth control and groups of people walk around the street shouting "One child is enough!." To remain as a member of cultural team, they try to adopt westernized cultures and listen to pop songs, performs westernized dance, and play electric guitars. They change their styles like perm hair, new bellbottom pants and draw eyebrows for someone who they like.

They struggle to get away from the past but finally return to the reality. For them, the gaps between different generations and cultural changes are hard to follow up easily. The most impressive scene is Zhong Pin's dance to music alone in her small room after giving up her dream and love. Her soft, delicate movement is beautiful but somewhat pitiful. Her movement is like farewell to her lover and also farewell to the past - revolutionary movement.

"Hot and Cold, Measure for Measure" Review

Zhang Ming, the central character of “Hot and Cold, Measure for Measure,” is the medium through which the author, Wang Shuo, can idealize and defend the idea of liumang culture – a broadly defined but notoriously known term that symbolizes hooliganism, eroticism, crime, and anti-social / against-the-norm behavior.

Zhang Ming displays a contradictory, dual behavior. He has many vices as a blackmailer, pimp, deceiver, and seducer. The business he runs involves pimping prostitutes, then blackmailing the male clients as he storms into the room disguised as a police officer, forcing the men to pay him large sums of money. He seduces Wu Di with his confidence and wit, and closes the deal with lies of love for her—but he seems to care nothing for her. In this sense, he is a liumang.

Yet he also has a sense of morality. He displays kindness and generosity towards certain individuals – he gives up a seat on the bus to a woman and her child, and he freely gives away a concert ticket to strangers, even after they have offered him double the listed price. His other ‘admirable’ qualities: he has the wisdom of a cynic and realist – a wisdom directly implanted by Wang, who grew up dismissing the ideas of the Cultural Revolution, refusing to enlist to its call. Zhang has a mind that does not listen to the regimented commands of the education system, and for this he seems to be above everyone else.

Throughout his seduction of Wu Di, Zhang seems so cool and clever. He is dangerous but charming, insulting yet flirtatious, and seems to have a wisdom that has ascended above that of the well known educators, speakers, and students. This attitude of his wins over Wu Di and, according to him, he ‘gets her into the sack’ after lying to her with words of love. For the readers, he shows us how it’s done.

With all these qualities, he seems to be a hero with flaws, but he faces no consequences for having them. His vices are justified and even glorified by his confidence and wit. His lifestyle is freestyle – making a living off the vices of men, unbound by the structured labor force, and seeking pleasures anytime he wants. This glorification calls out to the youth of China to follow suit.

But this story makes a larger statement than how to be cool, how to seduce women, or how to pull off a crime. It tells the people to not accept how they are told to think, live, and love.

Synopsis for Farewell My Concubine

The story of a love triangle between two performers in the Beijing Opera and the woman who comes between them. The story weaves the historical changes that took place during the early twentieth century in China from the warlord era through the Cultural Revolution, with the story of the two stage brothers and the beautiful woman who tore their friendship apart. Based on the novel by Lilian Lee. Cast includes Leslie Cheung, Zheng Fengyi, Gong Li. Screenplay by Lilian Lee and Lu Wei. Directed by Chen Kaige. This DVD version is the director's cut of the film and features widescreen presentation; In Chinese, with English subtitles.

*You are not to write a review on this film, though you're welcome to reply to this post with questions.*

Introductions

We'll begin in this blogging community by introducing ourselves.

Name: Jennifer Thackston Johnson-Cooper
Year in School: Recent Ph.D. Graduate (that would be year 11 since high school)
Major: Asian Languages and Cultures, with a concentration in Modern Chinese Literature
Three Interesting Things About Me:
1. I live in Long Beach with a husband and two cats (who, appropriate to my geekiness level are named Imoen--after the character in the video game Baldur's Gate--and Trillion--after the character in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy).
2. I love the TV show Glee and I have all installments of the soundtrack.
3. Teaching this course is my last hurrah at UCLA--in the fall I'm moving to Dallas to begin a tenure-track position at Austin College.

For your first blog post, please reply to this posting with all of the above information. Your response will a) allow everyone to know you better and b) make sure that your permissions are set correctly to allow you to post.

Cheers!

Primary Texts Covered in this Course

Farewell My Concubine (bawang bieji 霸王别姬), a 1993 film directed by Chen Kaige 陈凯歌
To Live (huozhe 活着), a 1994 film directed by Zhang Yimou 张艺谋
Yellow Earth (huang ditu 黃土地), a 1984 film directed by Chen Kaige陈凯歌
Platform (zhantai 站台), a 2000 film directed by Jia Zhangke 贾樟柯
Music from Cui Jian 崔健
Post-Tian’anmen T-shirt Culture
Music from Teresa Teng 邓丽君
Music from Ai Jing 艾敬
Music from Jay Chou 周杰伦
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wu hu cang long 臥虎藏龍), a 2000 film directed by Ang Lee 李安
Beijing Bicycle (shiqisui de danche 十七岁的单车), a 2001 film directed by Wang Xiaoshuai 王小帅
Selections from Playing for Thrills (Wanr de jiushi xintiao 玩儿的就是心跳), a 1989 novel written by Wang Shuo 王朔
Candy (tang 糖), a 2000 novel written by Mian Mian 棉棉
Hero (yingxiong 英雄), a 2002 film directed by Zhang Yimou 张艺谋
Kung Fu Hustle (gongfu 功夫), a 2004 film directed by Stephen Chow 周星馳