The sorrow of women in the old age

[1226847047]

Wu Qianlin

Mona Lisa’s Smile tells the story of the United States in 1953, when the times are changing. Catherine, who graduated from the Open University of Berkeley, went to Wesley women's traditional college to teach history of traditional art. However, Catherine, who is full of ideals and enthusiasm, boldly challenged the stale teaching system.

And the Spring Comes is a drama film directed by Gu Changwei, starring Jiang Wenli, Zhang Yao, Li Guangming and Jiao gang. It was released on April 11, 2008. The film tells the story of Wang Cailing and other young artists struggling in the contradiction between dream and reality in a small county in China in the 1980s.

From the perspective of the background, the movie of Mona Lisa’s Smile reflects the United States in the 1950s, when the World War II just ended and the great depression occurred. Because in World War II, men went to the front, the government called on women to work on their own. But after World War II, when men returned home, they found that the previous job opportunities had been seized by women. Therefore, the government called on women to return to their families and take care of their husbands and children, which was their born responsibility and mission, which led to the return of the once liberal liberation discourse to the conservative discourse. This kind of discourse change first permeates into the school education system. Catherine hopes to change such an education so that girls can learn to live and study for themselves.

And The Spring Comes opens with a panorama of bicycles and crowds. The scene is crowded, the people don't know where to go, the transportation is mainly the bicycle, all these reveal to us that the film unfolds in the era -- the late 1980s and early 1990s, when eastern and western ideas meet and the economy develops rapidly. Such a historical period is the background and premises for the film's mission to be constantly squeezed into the gap of destiny. Aided enormously by naturalistic photography and wide shots that illustrate how impersonal the city is, the film quietly depicting the blandness and uniformity of life in provincial China and in ultimately accepting small triumphs found in existing within one's means.

From the perspective of character image and fate, Catherine deeply influences her students with her avant-garde thoughts and independent character, which makes the most outstanding women in the country have independent thoughts, independent pursuit and independent character. Gradually, the students will also think about the status and role of women in society and family. There is a line in the film, which is mentioned many times: "I came here to let them change me, not me to change them." Originally, she thought of changing herself in the new environment. However, the traditional concept, instead of changing her, made her stick to her own point of view, so gradually changed others. At the end of the movie, when Katherine left school, the students all rode their bikes to see her off, showing that Katherine's avant-garde thoughts have gradually affected these girls, because their own experiences have changed their original ideas.

And The Spring Comes is about a tale of traditional values clashing with western art, and all the human ties and emotions that comes with it. Plain but supremely gifted opera singer Wang cailing has settled for a teaching job in a run of the mill industrial town. She refuses, however, to give up her aspirations at becoming a star with the national theater. As she navigates her lonely, routine life, she comes into contact with other frustrated artists: Would-be painter Sibao, singer Zhou Yuan dancer Hu. Everything about cailing's life is disastrous, from her lack of romance and sex to her white lies about Beijing connections to her assorted humiliations. Further humiliations await until Wang accepts her fate as a mere provincial teacher and finds peace under limited horizons. But there’s little implied criticism, and by eliminating transitions, Gu turns Wang’s story into a series of vignettes, as she and those she comes in contact with pass from one pipe dream to another.

From the different attitudes of China and the West towards new ideas, when an idea goes against the tradition, although the Westerners don't understand or even reject it, they don't deny it, let its interpretation develop, let people observe it and make their own judgments, while China will only reject it blindly. Betty in the film is the defender of the tradition of Wesley .Any doubt and shake of the tradition of Wesley will be critically criticized by her. However, when she went into a loveless marriage, she said angrily to her mother-in-law, " Mona Lisa’s Smile is only superficial, and I will not maintain this marriage with a false smile." She chose to divorce and try a new life. Joan in the play is a wiser student. She has a dream of becoming a lawyer. But when Joan finally qualified for Yale, she chose to give up her studies for her family.

And the Spring Comes is a story of disillusioned dreams that does not point to a path to success, nor does it dramatize personal ideals. A large number of long shots depict the artistic pursuit of a group of small characters, showing the dazzling loneliness of individuals and groups, and the warmth flowing behind the loneliness. Opera, oil painting and ballet, even today, are still not appreciated by the general public, not to mention the small cities in the early 1980s. So the three people’s persistent pursuit of art in the film is doomed to be ignored by those around them. Art, which was supposed to be the lifeline of their poor lives, ends up "killing" them.

The characters in two films all failed, but the spring in turn comes. There is no real sign of spring, but the wind changes suddenly. Maybe in the near future, Mona Lisa will wear a real smile.

[3030843098]

Hi, Wu Qianlin
I’d like to share my views with you about this essay. Hope you can talk with me further later.
Your essay is comparative complete, and you give a point-to-point analysis, which I think it is very clear and logical. And your writing is fluent and your thinking is advanced. The background of the text is very important to your writing, which explains the history reason of the two films. And you can use enough details to support your text, that is good. But I think you should give a general sentence to tell us about the main of your essay at the beginning, that is the topic sentence of the whole text. If you can add it and more views about yourself to your essay , I think it will be greater.
Fengjie Cheng

[3030843098]

Hi, Wu Qianlin
I'm very glad to have this opportunity to communicate with you. These are some of my points of view, I hope we can help each other, absorb ideas, and continue to improve our film reviews.
Your composition is very clear. I have my own opinion on the introduction of the film and I can see that you are watching it carefully. The point of each paragraph is very clear. The analysis of the characters is good. There are specific examples of analysis. What is more worth mentioning is that it relates to our real life and the differences between Chinese and western cultures. However, if some cuts and adjustments are made, the whole article will be more concise. Very good film review, looking forward to your reply.
ChengPengyu

[yml5247]

Hi Qianlin,

I'm glad to discuss with you about the two different films. I am a Chinese student who attends college in the United States. When I know there is an opportunity to communicate with Chinese university students, I am really happy!

The organization of your essay is complete and smooth. The first two paragraphs summarize the whole essay well; the detailed analysis is good in the body, and the final conclusion is well down. From your article, I read a lot of conclusions about two films, but I think you should get more your personal analysis and statement from the two movies. Your theme of the film and culture should be more explicit. Now it is a little vague.

Thank you so much and I look forward to getting your reply!

Sincerely,
Yuhang Liu

[ama6629]

Hi, Wu Qianlin

I'm happy to be able to communicate with you overseas, especially during the difficult times the world is currently going through. I'd like to share my opinions on your essay and talk about some ideas that I think could improve your essay as well.

Your summarization of both movies is well written and touches on key aspects of the film. Both films get their own dedicated paragraphs analyzing the themes that allow readers to understand the point you're trying to make in showing the connections between them and the cultures they were created in. However, I think your point on what makes them different could be fleshed out more. On your third to last paragraph you talk about how characters in Mona Lisa Smile don't always outright reject Catherine's different approach to feminism and allow her ideals to develop, while people in And the Spring Comes close mindedly reject characters who are different from the norm. I'd like to see this point expanded and talked about more in the essay. It's an interesting point and if you could make more connections to this cultural difference between movies it would strengthen your essay a lot.

[1226847047]

Hi, Cheng Fengjie
We are glad to hear from you.Thank you very much for your suggestions on our article! Your suggestion is very reasonable! Your suggestion that we should add more details to support our article, indeed, our whole article looks a bit empty due to lack of details. Maybe we put more attention on expound, thus ignoring providing details. We will modify it latter. But I have a question about you saying let’s add a topic sentence of the whole text. Our article compares two movies from three aspects. The first two discuss can be summarized the sorrow of women in the old age, but the third aspect mainly compares Chinese and western attitudes toward new trends of thought. So it’s hard for us to add a topic sentence of the whole text. So, do you have any good suggestions? Let me know if you think there's a way I could make this more clearly! Looking forward to hearing from you again!(*•̀ᴗ•́*)
Wu Qianlin / Ji Lingjin

[1226847047]

Hi, Alex
Thank you so much for responding to my paper! Your suggestion is very reasonable! In the process of finishing the whole article, we were intended to focus on the third part of the comparison. However, we spent much effort on expound, thus ignoring providing details. In paragragh7, perhaps we can mainly analyze Betty and Joe, and add more details of their experience to support the viewpoint. In pararaph8, we can add Hu’s example. Hu, a ballet dancer, who have been pursuing his dream, but this dream doesn't match that environment, so there are a lot of prejudice against him. In a later revision, we will give a detailed description of these characters to support point. Let me know if you think there's a way I could make this more clear! I would love to discuss this further with you! Looking forward to hearing from you again!(*•̀ᴗ•́*)
Wu Qianlin/ Ji Lingjin

[1226847047]

Hi Cheng Penyu,
Thank you for the compliment! Which part do you think we should cut and adjust? Could you give us more specific advice?
Wu Qianlin, Ji Linjin

[1226847047]

Hi Yuhang,
Thank you so much for responding to my paper! When I know that you are a Chinese student, I am also very happy!
As for your opinion of clearing the theme and filling in the details, I think it is very valid so I went back to reread my essay. In my back analysis of my essay, I feel like I wasn’t emphasizing on one point. I think I can focus on part Ⅲ. In an environment where an artistic passion stronger than death yet unable to triumph over the secular pressure to which the heroes belong, we may only see the regret and sad beauty of wearing cloth shoes and standing on tiptoe in prison, rather than the blooming of art. However, in Mona Lisa Smile, the environment is comparatively more gentle. What do you think of the differences? Would you like to give us some advice?
Looking forward to hearing from you again!(*•̀ᴗ•́*)
Wu Qianlin, Ji Linjin

[3030843098]

Hi, W/J
I know the topic of your essay is about two parts and what I want to say is that you should make a generalization to include two parts at the beginning of the essay, so that our reader can grasp the point you want to tell us at the first sight. You do not to mix them, just tell us briefly, that’s will be better. I am looking forward to your answer!
Fengjie Cheng