Yellow Earth Review

Brother Gu, a member of the Eighth Route Army, goes to the Shanxi countryside in Yellow Earth to collect folk songs for the army to listen to. He stumbles upon a family of three: a 47-year-old peasant and his two children, Cuiqiao and Hanhan. During his stay with the family, Brother Gu constantly helps out the family with daily chores, and eventually Cuiqiao, the daughter of 14 years, falls for him.

Interestingly, in the beginning Brother Gu’s mission to collect folk songs is not successful. None of the family members are willing to sing for him, saying that the songs are reserved for only extreme happiness or sadness, definitely not meant for everyday use. Despite the community being in the midst of an intense drought for the past two years, the family expresses the routine nature of their poverty, and refuses to consider their hardship as “sad enough” to merit singing their folk songs. This brings into focus a stark contrast between the harsh reality of the rural countryside versus the rapid modernization of the urban cities. The city’s optimism for the future is in obvious disparity with the hopeless nature of the country’s people.

Eventually, the old man, the young boy, and even the girl all sing for him. However, the folk songs are always filled with bitterness and despair, as they lament over the conditions of their hometown. It is interesting to note that, ironically, the original purpose was to use these sad, depressing songs to rejuvenate the soldiers as they fight against the Japanese troops. Yet the contents of the songs would seem to function in just the opposite manner – not to energize the army, but rather to spread its gloom all over. Nevertheless, each of the three members of the family all at some point willingly contributes to Brother Gu’s cause.

Through the family’s involvement, Chen Kaige depicts the need for everybody to give their all in order to allow the CCP to succeed, even though not everyone is guaranteed a positive outcome, as assumed in the fate of Cuiqiao. We see from the film that both the old and the young sing, both the male and the female participate, and both the urban and the rural people are needed in order to bring the music from the countryside to allow the army to have a record of the famous folk songs. Thus, the entire society is needed to gear the nation towards progress, while not necessarily ensuring the progress of the individual.

Even though the ending is open to interpretation, I find it hard for even the most optimistic viewer to inject a realistic, happy ending. Chen Kaige ultimately suggests the necessity of contribution and support of the whole country for the success of the CCP, albeit with the cautious, almost reluctant, approval of the rural peasants.