Darkness and Brightness

[1848800785]

Hu Yi

Different movies have different colours. Different movies will also tell people things in different ways. Here we will take the Chinese movie And the Spring Comes and the American movie Mona Lisa Smile as our examples.

If someone comes to the word "spring", he will often be reminded of the new beginning of lives, the warm weather and some other beautiful things. And the word "spring" is usually related to the word "green". However, And the Spring Comes cannot give the audience such warm feelings. Sadly, if there is one word which can describe the colour of this movie, that should be "grey". Grey represents "boring", "lifeless" and even "hopeless", while green refers to "interesting", "lively" and "hopeful". Those bitter and sad stories are all "grey"; especially the breaks of the characters' dreams are "grey". The characters' moods are also "grey". Though the spring comes, those poor people only have the grey future.

While And the Spring Comes is not giving its audience some warm feelings, this movie cannot be faulted for realism. Instead of encouraging people to realize their dreams blindly, And the Spring Comes uses the harsh reality to alert people. There is no fault on someone who wants to realize his dream, but if this he cannot recognize that what surroundings he has and what he is not good at, his efforts will just be futile. In the movie, Wang CaiLing does sing opera well, but she doesn't recognize that it is impossible for her to work in Beijing at all because that there are too many people who are also talents in this area. Another character, Huang SiBao, who always wants to attend a famous art school, has never realized that he is not a gifted painter. He just insists that he is talented and will finally get the admission to his ideal school. Though the environment that they are living in is not friendly to people who work in art, if any of those characters who live a bitter life in the movie can estimate the situation with a clear head, maybe they will not experience such bitterness later in their life.

Different from And the Spring Comes, Mona Lisa Smile gives the audience some other feelings.

Compared with the grey in the And the Spring Comes, the color of the film is fresh and elegant and lively and tonal, although the movie is full of women's independence and decadent ideas of the struggle, but the film is full of people strive forward with the youthful vitality breath, although it was fifty years ago, life style, let people strongly feel clearly however the sort of immortal spirit, make people see the surge of emotion surge, deeply touched. The maple leaves on the campus of women's college float in the clear sky and fall on the path of the campus, which is full of classical romantic atmosphere, which is very suitable for the emotional atmosphere to be created in the film.

In contrast to the reality of And the Spring Comes, the Mona Lisa Smile is summed up in two words: romantic. The romance comes from the restored atmosphere of a 1950s women's college, from every exquisite scene, from the elaborate costumes of the characters, and from the "romantic" ending of each character.

Betty, who has an unhappy marriage, finally get a brave to divorce and an opportunity to further her education. Joan follows her heart and chooses to be with her loved ones and to devote to her family. And teacher Catherine also goes to the more liberal Europe to pursue her dream! At the end of the movie, the girls ride bikes to see miss Katherine off. Now they are all smiling. The scene of them riding bikes is like they are riding into the future with hope!

Both of the two films told about the difficulty of pursuing dreams, And the Spring Comes reveales the difficulty of pursuing dreams in a more realistic way. People finally have to yield to reality and return to ordinary life, while Mona Lisa Smile gives us the hope to pursue dreams.

[nlr5191]

Hi, Hu Yi! Your essay is very strong, and especially enjoyed how you used the cinematographic aspects such as the bleak colors in "And the Spring Comes" to support your argument that the two films offer different arguments about the independence of their characters. My main point of critique is that I think your essay lacked brief summaries of each movie. Right now, your audience is only limited to people who have watched both films, so If you briefly explained the general events of each movie, you might be able to expand your argument to people who haven't seen the films.

[921649141]

In this review, the authors begin with the film title And the Spring Comes. It points out that there is a contradiction between the color of the film and the feeling of the film name, which actually amplifies the impact of the film on the audience. Although it seems to have started as an introduction to And the Spring Comes, in the middle, there was a natural transition to the introduction of Mona Lisa Smile and the comparison between the two films. I think the use of transition is very smooth, not stiff.

[mlc5948]

Hello Hu Yi

Your essay is rather interesting since you discuss the themes of dreams throughout both films yet you bring the cinematic points such as colors into your argument. I thought this really added to your essay as it brings more to your argument and really makes the reader rethink the scenes through your analysis. Although, if I would suggest anything for your essay I would suggest adding an introduction which broadly summarizes each film. This can broaden your audience to those who haven’t seen the film, but also give a recap to your audience who may have forgotten some aspects of the film that may be important for your essay.

I know contacting can be difficult since we are in different time zones but I thought I would offer you my Wechat ID. I’ve had a Wechat for quite some time and we can discuss more about the essay or about each other's cultures! Wechat ID: notkenzi

[1848800785]

Hello Nate Ricketts,
Thank you for your reply. I think the question that you point out is quite true! I will correct it. It is not convenient for us to communicate in this website. Do you have WeChat? My WeChat Id is:jameshy6. I am looking forward to having further discussion with you.

[nlr5191]

I don' t have WeChat, but feel free to email me at nlr5191@psu.edu. I'd love to share some correspondence!

[mlc5948]

I'm sending a response here that will hopefully ping your email so you can check back on these responses. We messaged on Wechat which helps and is very informative with our discussions of culture. Hopefully, you can respond back to these responses so we can have communication through here as well. I still find your essay to be well written and I hope you can put my previous response into consideration. Feel free to continue to message / text me on WeChat so we can further communicate and assist each-other.

[1848800785]

I am so happy to chat with you. You are so kind.Through chatting with you, I gain a lot. You tell me that confidence is really important. We not only communicate the films but also talk about our lives our hobbies. We have many same hobbies. We like hot-pot, milk tea! I feel like we know each other before! It's relaxing and fun to talk to you! We always have many topics to chat! You give me a sense of familiarity! I am so lucky to meet you!

[1848800785]

Thanks for your reply！You are so kind that you give us a high evaluation! We know our article has many shortcomings can you give us some advice!

[1848800785]

I am so happy that you are willing to chat with us!
Through this experience, I meet some new friends and make some progress in writing! It is a nice experience for me! I hope this is the beginning of our friendship.