Hero, China

Hero, a film once again by Zhang Yimou, was significantly more enjoyable than the previous film viewed. The story, which features long, choreographed kung-fu fight scenes, centers on an assassin name Nameless and his exploits with the three other assassins (Snow, Sky, and Broken Sword) who have been hired to kill the King of Qin. Although at times there seem to be more fight scenes than dialogue or story, the fight scenes and many other portions of the film are mainly highlighted by color.

Color is used for tonal purposes in the film. The main character, Nameless, always is scene dressed in black (outside of when he appears at the Calligraphy school decked out in traditional red garb). Other characters, mainly Snow and Broken Sword’s are scene in many different colors based off the situation around them. For instance, in Nameless’s initial telling of his story all the characters appear in red. The connotations of this red are two fold- one is anger and one is passion. The anger and the vision of blood it brings with it is highlighted by the onslaught of arrows brought on by the Qin army. The passion comes in the form of Broken Sword’s love making to Moon, his servant, and his love of Snow. Throughout the film, bright red reappears (especially during fight scenes) in connotations of blood and anger. Blue, when it appears, seems to indicate a more subservient status of the characters that wear it. Green, when it appears in the scene recounting Broken Sword’s fight with the King of Qin, seem to indicate (as it often does) an amorphous dream- one of the uniting of China.

Hero presents an interesting, yet still artistic view of a Chinese legend. Through its impeccable use of color and non-linear story line, the film engages the audience in a vivid cinematic experience.

Not One Less, China

Zhang Yimou’s Not One Less is an unentertaining film concerned with the economic, social, and moral status of China. In the film, the main character, Wei, comes to a remote village as a thirteen-year-old substitute teacher, working towards gaining as much money (50-60 Yuan) as possible. When she takes over for the old teacher, she is promised an extra ten Yuan if everybody still remains when he returns. Of course, two students promptly leave for different reasons, and the rest of the story centers on Wei’s quest to return Zhang Huike to the village.

This part of the plot concerning Wei’s quest, highlights the moral, social, and economic differences between urban and rural life in China. One such criticism comes in the form of the manner in which Wei is treated as a character and portrayed in the film. Wei lives on the street and in the bus station (without visible anguish for these actions) while in the city. She is often shown alone, and being treated as just another person. While in the village, though, Wei is almost always surrounded by people, and is treated warmly, however cold she treats other people. From these two different depictions, comes the commentary on moral, social, and economic differences. The city, the symbol of modernity, can almost be seen as another character in the story, perhaps the true antagonist. The village, though, represents a refuge for Wei in the context of the film. Modernity is seen in a negative light in this film, while the country life is seen more positively.

Not One Less, although not particularly entertaining, does show this global theme. This theme can be found in many conservative texts across film, literature, and other art. Due to that, this film is a global one, just not one that has particularly global appeal.

Swades, India

Swades, a film about Indian traditions, cultures, and heritage in the face globalization revolves around the main character, Mohan’s, realization of his own history. In this film by Ashutosh Gowariker, Mohan, a NASA engineer, returns to India to locate his beloved Kaveriamma, who was his nanny and like a mother to him. In the process he meets an old childhood friend, Gita (jokingly referred to as Gitli), and an assortment of other characters from the remote village of Charanpur. As the film progresses, Mohan becomes more and more engaged in village life, helping to construct infrastructure as well as influence village politics, but still in continual communication with the West (often asking for more time off). By the end of the film, the happy ending the audience has been waiting for comes, and Mohan returns to India to become part of the culture he left behind.

The central theme in the film is that of returning to one’s heritage, since no matter where somebody moves, they are born with some notion of a cultural background. The film does not hide this theme behind vague symbolism or excessive special effects. Rather, the film tends to feature this film prominently by Mohan’s transformation as well as the behavior of all the characters’ around him, who are stubborn to Mohan’s suggestions. In the end, there is compromise as somewhat of a “melting pot” (ironic for a film that mildly criticizes America) between Mohan’s technology and progressivism and the slow, traditional life of the village combine.

Swades aptly presents its message without trying to hide it in vague cultural references or heavy literary techniques. Rather, the simplicity of the film makes it a more enjoyable viewing experience, and the message a universal one that people can adapt for their own lives.

Monsoon Wedding, India

Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding tells the story of an Indian family’s tribulations surrounding a marriage. The film feels like a Hollywood film, but has a distinct Indian flavor.

The premise of the story surrounds Aditi’s marriage to Hermant, who has returned from the U.S. to marry her. Aditi painfully breaks off her ties with her old boyfriend, tells Hermant she’s been cheating on him, and then the two get married. This main plot line is what contributes to the Hollywood feel of the film. The story seems very common, and as such it generates little interest on its own because it is easy for an audience to anticipate what will occur next in the plot line. What makes the film interesting, however, are the more tense subplots which, rather than sitting right within the audience’s expectations, explore the extremes of the audience’s tolerance for unconditional love and disturbing abuse.

Much of the tension in Monsoon Wedding comes from the juxtaposition of Dubey’s love for Alice against the abuse of young girls in the family. This contrast, however, is reverse of class status. The lower class working citizens, despite their societal status, are seemingly much happier than the upper class citizens. The upper class citizens appear in a much more negative light because of the drama surrounding the wedding as well as the abuse of young girls in the family. Through this difference, Monsoon Wedding critiques the system of classes in India and hints towards the global theme that money and status do not equal happiness and purity.

Although Monsoon Wedding appeals to a wide audience because of its Hollywood feel, it shows a distinct (yet still common) theme in a way somewhat unique to India.

Amores Perros, Mexico

Alejandro Inarritu’s Amores Perros shows how a single pivotal event could change many lives. The story centers on a car crash where two of the three main characters are injured: Octavio, who fights his dog Cofi and has fallen in love with his sister-in-law Susana, and Valeria, a superficial Spanish supermodel who recently married Daniel (who left his wife and kids for Valeria). A lonely drifter observes the accident and has his life changed by the injured Cofi, as well.

A central point in the film is the arrangement of elements in time. The story is told with overlapping segments, where we see the car crash first, then we get the events leading up to the car crash from a certain point of view, and then in the case of Valeria and El Chivo (the drifter) the aftermath of the car crash. With this overlapping, non-linear storyline one of the subtlest elements is foreshadowing. One such case of foreshadowing comes when Valeria (who has her leg severely injured in the car crash) looks out her window at a large billboard of herself, but her leg (from the perspective of the camera) is occluded, foreshadowing the ultimate amputation of her leg. More so than that, the rampant foreshadowing in the movie helps to tie together all the elements of the film by making each character, in some way, a part of the other character’s storyline besides the car crash. In this way, a central theme of human connectedness comes through in the twisted plotline because the characters are not only connected by the horrific accident but by many of the events in their everyday lives.

Amores Perros shines through its artistically gritty film style to present themes that are accessible to every audience, not just Mexican ones. The film, while being quick paced and full of the occasional melodrama or Hollywood-esque element, shows how a film can present very meaningful content in an entertaining, accessible, and passive way.

Good Bye Lenin: Ostalgie and Globalization

Germany’s reunification in 1990 created a triumphant return to a single nation, however it also created a crisis of national identity for the citizens of eastern Germany. These people were instantly cast into a new society and forced to follow new economic, moral, and political codes to survive. Wolfgang Becker’s Good Bye Lenin presents this crisis of national identity in the face of reunification, commercialization, and rapid globalization by employing the popular post-wall social movement of Ostalgie: an East German influenced microcosm of nostalgia. This use of Ostalgie combined with the poignant images of the effects of globalization and cultural conquest allow Good Bye Lenin to acutely problematize the national identity crisis that befell the East German citizens following the destruction of the wall.

Good Bye Lenin draws much of its intellectual significance from the Ostalgie movement. This movement, which derives its name from the German “ost” for east and “nostalgie” for nostalgia, centers “around the proliferation of cultural artifacts such as movies …TV shows…[and] the return of the East German products and objects of consumption” (Jozwiak and Mermann 783). It arose because of the rapid westernization and modernization that occurred in East Germany soon after the country was reunited and the term “German culture” became ill defined as a general term for the entire country. German culture, to the global community, mostly meant West German culture. East Germans had their culture and its attached nationality violated. To worsen this offense many East German factories stopped producing their goods because they were out-produced and out-priced by the long-time capitalist (West German) opponents in the new nation. In effect, East Germans were reincorporated into a new country and a new culture, one that wanted to exclude and possibly ignore their communist legacy. Ostalgie was the countercultural movement to this violation, and was adopted by both former East Germans as well as many West Germans in an attempt to open a discourse on this bleak part of history instead of ignoring it. It offered a return to the past way of life in the 1960s and 1970s and worked as a “psycho-social [expression] of melancholy caused by prolonged absence” (Jozwiak and Mermann 783). Good Bye Lenin “displays prominently many of the products and lifestyles popular among Ostalgie enthusiasts,” including clothes, food, and other parts of material and visual culture (Cook 207). By doing so, it created not only a full German appreciation (and to some extent even an adoption) of Ostalgie, but due to its international appeal, created a global awareness of the issues that faced the people of former East Germany from economic to social and political issues.

The film allegorically recounts the political issues that faced the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany), early in the film. Alex (the main character), his mother Christiane, and his sister Ariane are abandoned by Alex’s father, who defects to West Germany in seeking a better life. Christiane is interrogated by state officials as to why her husband defected and as a result of the entire situation, suffers a mental breakdown where she is separated from her children for six months and during which she contemplates suicide (although she later reveals that Alex’s daily visits prevented her from actually committing suicide) while simultaneously becoming an ardent supporter of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. In this allegory, the adolescent Alex serves to represent the “alternative community that formed outside of public life in the GDR,” whereas Christiane represents the mass body of people in the fledgling GDR that were disoriented by the sudden shift of ideals and the loss of a strong uniting force, the father (Cook 208). Through this allegory, the GDR is characterized as a broken family unit, something that is not strongly reflected in Ostalgie. As such, Good Bye Lenin cannot fully be read as a text of pure Ostalgie. While Christiane’s back-story is extremely significant in terms of allegorical analysis, Christiane’s main purpose is not as much figurative, as it is a method for one of the main themes concerning the GDR and Ostalgie to appear.

Although portions of the story are out of line with Ostalgie, the main premise of the story serves as a description and critique of the Ostalgie movement. Christiane became an ardent supporter and contributor to the communist GDR. Alex, over the course of years, became increasingly disenchanted with the same issues. Due to these feelings Alex chooses to protest the wall. While the police intervene (and Alex is subsequently arrested), Christiane has a heart attack and slips into a coma that lasts through the reunification of Germany. In her weakened state, however, she cannot handle excitement, and, therefore, could not handle the news that the nation and government she so ardently backed was gone. As such, Alex chooses to recreate a miniature version of the GDR to prevent Christiane from knowing what has happened and, as a result, prevent her death. This plot aptly shows the largest critique of Ostalgie as being “an impossible desire to retain the past” (Hillman 225). The film’s themes and content, though, are “firmly rooted in the Ostalgie wave” according to Roger Cook (40). Though these ideas superficially conflict, they actually represent the same idea. The movement and the film are about maintaining a past culture, and in many ways Christiane embodies this past culture. The death of the GDR’s culture is paralleled by Christiane’s death at the end of the film; however, Alex’s final lines about always remembering his mother as well as his ironic association of her with his fatherland, the GDR, mirrors this impossible desire. Through this situation a strong association with the nostalgia of a former nation becomes apparent, but, simultaneously, the permanence of death for both Christiane and the GDR show the futility of the movement. Therefore, the film’s slightly positive interpretation of Ostalgie, is primarily seen in the Mother-Son dynamics of the plot. With this marginally positive view of Ostalgie, the film actively participates in the critical dialogues of Ostalgie, including the discussion of socialism in the face of a rapidly globalizing and westernizing nation.

The economics of the GDR are portrayed at different times in different ways through the economics of the GDR prior to the break-up of the wall and the globalization of this economy and culture thereafter. Christiane’s birthday, one of the more poignant scenes in the movie, shows the real life economic effects of the reuniting of Germany. During this scene a Coca-Cola banner is unfurled down the side of a building that overlooks her bedroom. This scene is analogous to the unfurling of a communist flag (in the same shade of red) near the beginning of the movie. The Coca-Cola banner is an unmistakable symbol of a global, capitalist, western country. This symbol overtly implies the “western colonization of East German values” (Cook 40). More important than this, though, is Alex’s negative response to the event, which threatened his mother’s life (and through her symbolic purpose, the GDR’s life). The Coca-Cola banner, though, is just one part of “the powerful tide of Westernization forces” that face Alex (Kapczynski 82). Many of the companies that Christiane knew, loved, and relied upon disappeared, with a special focus placed upon food items like Globus green peas, Mocha-Fix Gold Kaffee, and Spreewaldgurken (pickles). Food represents an integral part of any culture, and the disappearance of these items reflects the disappearance of the East German culture due to rapid globalization. The ideas presented by the emphasis on these items supports the notion of an East German culture that had evolved beyond just socialism and communism to a thriving, unique cultural identity. As the culture fades, Alex has to go to greater and greater lengths to preserve the illusion he has created. This illusionary aspect is, perhaps, the most important aspect of the movie. It seems to speak that no matter what attempt is made to preserve a native culture, once it has been globalized (or in this specific instance, Westernized), this culture is just an illusion-- part of a new, less diverse, and vaporous cultural identity.

Good Bye Lenin shows the effects that globalization has had on East Germany. Not only was the GDR lost to the capitalist influence of globalization, but the culture as well, becoming an effective paradigm of occidental society. This transition created a national identity crisis, and while many of these crises disappear under the pressure of global forces, Ostalgie prevented the immediate evaporation and opened an important cultural dialogue on the situation. Through this dialogue and through critical films like Good Bye Lenin that speak through in the dialogue, it is apparent that although a culture can dissolve, it can never fully dissociate. Culture will remain-- whether as a vague idea of the past or a concrete fact of the present.

Works Cited

Cook, Roger F. “Good Bye Lenin!: Free-Market Nostalgia for Socialist Consumerism.” Seminar -- A Journal of Germanic Studies 43.2 (2007): 206-219.

---. “Recharting the Skies above Berlin.” German Politics & Society 23.1 (2005): 39-57.

Hillman, Roger. “Goodbye Lenin (2003): History in the Subjunctive.” Rethinking History 10.2 (2006): 221-237.

Jozwiak, Joseph F. and Elisabeth Mermann. “ ‘The Wall in our Minds?’ Colonization, Integration, and Nostalgia.” Journal of Popular Culture 39.5 (2006): 780-795.

Kapczynski, Jennifer M. “Negotiating Nostalgia: The GDR Past in Berlin Is in Germany and Good Bye, Lenin!” Germanic Review 82.1 (2007): 78-100.

The Wind Will Carry Us, Iran

Abbas Kiarostami’s The Wind Will Carrys Us is not a film that appeals to the large body of passive moviegoers. It tells the story of Behzad, or “the Engineer,” who is an urban Iranian photographer who has come to observe the rituals surrounding death in a small, remote village. Eventually Behzad acclimates to their culture, but this is a slow and painful process (like the death of the woman) for both himself and the passive audience.

The reality presented in The Wind Will Carry Us causes the film to be less accessible for entertainment purposes, but more accessible as an intellectual film. The slow pace of the film and the ritualization of everything (the man talking on the phone, going to the hill, shaving, talking to the boy, etc.) show this reality. This real-life approach causes the film to have a less discernable plot. The movie initially seems to explore this ritualized life and embrace its serenity, but as the movie progresses, the main character becomes increasingly impatient, and his true purpose in the village is revealed. This hyper-reality is what shields the plot, but as the movie progresses more towards ideas that are slightly less plausible, the plot becomes more and more apparent.

Through this slow pace, though, the film's themes become more apparent. It presents a contrast between modern life and village life in both plot and cinematography. The majority of shots showing village life are still and long. This implies the distance between modern society and the village, as well as the pace of village life. Shots involving the Engineer, though, tend to contain more movement and tend to be medium or close-up shots, implying a more hectic life and more self-centered life. Through these different presentations, the main purpose of the movie, as a juxtaposition of modern life and rural life, becomes clearer.

Initially, I was rather bored with the film. As the film progressed, though, I stopped watching the film passively and tried to become intellectually engaged in it, which helped with tolerating the film for several hours. The brief moments of action (the turtle and the dung beetle) really helped to break the total focus of the camera on human characters. Because this movie cannot be viewed passively (it requires some thought and engagement), it would likely not do well as a mainstream global film. However, to the academic film pulpit or student, it could be a significantly more engaging and intellectually pleasing film compared to many foreign films that try to imitate the "Hollywood Style."