Texts examined:
- Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon ［卧虎藏龙］(2000) - Ang Lee
- Hero ［英雄］(2002) - Zhang Yimou
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| Maggie Cheung stars as Flying Snow, a skilled assassin in Hero |
There are
ambiguities over how China is represented in films such as Ang Lee’s Crouching
Tiger Hidden Dragon –
a film that has sparked debate as to whether or not it is truly Chinese in nature. The film
introduces us to the issue of how Chinese films represent China to both itself
and to the Western world. I was also compelled to watch Zhang Yimou’s Hero (2002), a film made the same time as Crouching
Tiger Hidden Dragon but
offers something completely different.
The
contrast between Crouching Tiger and Hero could almost be analogized as a
boxing match. In the blue corner is Crouching Tiger, an American-Chinese-Hong
Kong-Taiwanese co-production with influences from Malaysia (Michelle Yeoh),
evidently addresses China and the rest of the world. It portrays a fantastical version of the Chinese experience – and it has
done extremely well to please the non-Chinese audience, being the most
commercially successful foreign-language film in US history. In a sense,
Crouching Tiger has been translated for Western audiences as Lee tries to
decode the beauty of China into a form that can be understood and appreciated
by a global audience. Perhaps it is this approach is the reason why it wasn’t
well received by the mainland audience because it results in losing touch of
China’s cultural authenticity. Some Chinese values such as filial piety and
obedience have been translated for the Western audience to individualism (in
Jade Fox’s mocking of Lee and Yu’s Eastern practices) and feminism (in its
focus on female characters). Another example is the inclusion of a story of
love, tragedy and redemption, which was melodramatic and cheesy at times –
elements that are typically Hollywood-esque.
In the red corner is Hero, which can be interpreted as an “emphatic and wholly deliberate response by mainland cultural producers to both the globalization of Chinese culture and the presumption of other ‘Chinas’ to speak for China”. The story is about a nameless assassin’s journey to assassinate Emperor Qin, through a series of flashbacks. In contrast with Crouching Tiger, Hero isn’t a well-made story as it doesn’t have any sort of clear plot and there doesn’t seem to be much character development – there is a lot of fighting though. The use of Mandarin is more tolerated in Hero since most stars are from the mainland, compared to Crouching where some stars have ‘laughable accents’. I believe the film is more directed to the Chinese audience rather than to a global stage. It attempts to glorify China in a different way, by promoting the state-run political ideology as a form of propaganda. It promotes authoritarianism as being quintessential to bringing a sense of national identity to the people of China. Without spoiling the film, the ‘hero’s’ ultimate decision at the end of the film is one that would not bode well in the West but would be praised in the East. In this sense, I think the East-West dichotomy is brought out.
In the red corner is Hero, which can be interpreted as an “emphatic and wholly deliberate response by mainland cultural producers to both the globalization of Chinese culture and the presumption of other ‘Chinas’ to speak for China”. The story is about a nameless assassin’s journey to assassinate Emperor Qin, through a series of flashbacks. In contrast with Crouching Tiger, Hero isn’t a well-made story as it doesn’t have any sort of clear plot and there doesn’t seem to be much character development – there is a lot of fighting though. The use of Mandarin is more tolerated in Hero since most stars are from the mainland, compared to Crouching where some stars have ‘laughable accents’. I believe the film is more directed to the Chinese audience rather than to a global stage. It attempts to glorify China in a different way, by promoting the state-run political ideology as a form of propaganda. It promotes authoritarianism as being quintessential to bringing a sense of national identity to the people of China. Without spoiling the film, the ‘hero’s’ ultimate decision at the end of the film is one that would not bode well in the West but would be praised in the East. In this sense, I think the East-West dichotomy is brought out.
Zhang
Yimou would have had global considerations since he uses stars like Jet Li who
are well known in Hollywood, but my viewpoint is that Crouching Tiger uses it
as a focal point whereas Hero it is less of a concern.
For those
who haven’t seen Hero, it is a good film even if you don’t look at the deeper
meaning of it– it stars Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi and
Donnie Yen (some of the regulars of Asian Cinema) and the fight scenes are
pretty intense.
Which
film did people enjoy more: Crouching Tiger or Hero?
Further Reading: Mark Harrison, “Zhang Yimou’s Hero and the Globalisation of Propaganda,” Millennium – Journal of International Studies, 34: 2 (February 2006), pp. 569-572.
Further Reading: Mark Harrison, “Zhang Yimou’s Hero and the Globalisation of Propaganda,” Millennium – Journal of International Studies, 34: 2 (February 2006), pp. 569-572.
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