A Movie Review on And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile

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Revised Essay:

Movie Review

“No female wants to live alone”, is it true? Maybe today it seems ridiculous because women, as a dependent social group, have reached their deserved position. But in the last century, a majority of women considered it as a truth that women’s job is to serve both the husband and the child. So from a perspective of challenging the feudal ideology and pursing women’s empowerment, I will analyse two movies named “And the Spring Comes” and “Mona Lisa Smile”.

The movie, “And the Spring Comes” was directed by Gu Changwei, which was released in China in 2008. It tells a story of a group of art youths represented by Wang Tsai-ling, an ordinary music teacher in a small country, were struggling against the fate in the conflict between the dream and the reality. Comparatively, “Mona Lisa Smile” presents a story of Katherine Watson, who just a new art history teacher in Wellesley, broke the traditional thought that the final goal of students’ study was to marry a good husband, successfully encouraging all students to procure knowledge of the subjects they preferred to and pursue their own hobbies.

Undoubtedly, the women’s empowerment is expressed clearly in the two movies. Both the leading roles are art teacher, and both of them have the same pursuit. In the last century, whether in China or in America, the status of women was not valued, and the the secular conviction took it for granted that women should get married early and their sole responsibility will be taking care of their husband and children. Either Wang or Katherine, they all experience the same dilemma-being discussed that they are old enough to find a husband. However, women also have the right to choose their own life and live in the way they like, rather than blindly put their fate in the hands of others, for instance, their husband. As shown in Gu’s movie, the neighbor of Wang thought she had married a husband who loved her, but to her surprise, it was such a husband that finally betrayed and left her. Different from the ordinary people, both two heroines shown above never yield to the feudal ideology; instead they are always in the long pursuit of their dreams, ignoring how tough and arduous it will be. Under the heavy blow of reality, Wang didn’t give up the opportunity to go to Beijing, always persisting in her dream of singing despite the fact that the masses, with a conservative thinking, had no interests in literature and art. Even in the end of the story, She dreamed of performing an opera at the Central Opera house as a formal actor. Just like the lyrics mention, “Why be so cruel to me”. Wang’s ending is quite helpless, and it is a compromise to live in the present and it is a concentrated reflection of the world’s unjust treatment of literary and artistic youth.

In the indomitable struggle, apparently, women always take on the tragic color in the process of resisting the social orthodox values and the powerful mainstream consciously or unconsciously. This kind of struggle is reflected in the alienation, departure, even subversion of mainstream values like “the social relations are determined by male”, “the women’s job is to serve both the husband and the child”, etc. In “Mona Lisa Smile”, Katherine never compromised to encourage students to forge ahead regardless of difficulties to adhere to her ideals. There is nothing more admirable than her persistence. She represents perseverance under pressure and the female spirit of never giving up.

Then the non-verbal strategies used in two movies also give them great credit. Both two stories present a picture of life in the last century, so the costumes, architectural style, and language features are very close to the environment and atmosphere of that era. “And the Spring Comes” begins the story with a dialect monologue, which easily bring the audience into the context of that time. Later, every scene and spot appearing as the plot progress, like steel mills and trains, is quite full of memories for the old. Take makeup for example, dressed plainly, Jiang Wenli lends Wang Tsai-ling, with an ugly look, a sense of reality and pity. Hence, the movie tends to take on a sense of the gritty realism through the backward settings. And in “Mona Lisa Smile”, Katherine’s exquisite makeup very accords with the artistic female teacher image. In addition, the background music, vehicles, and costumes all feature the characteristics of the 1950s in America, giving people an immersive feeling. Lastly, the application of close-ups in the films shows the real thoughts and feelings of the actresses, thus framing and highlighting the main role of them. For example, when Betty insisted on a divorce on account of her husband’s deception and refused to do in accordance with her mother’s suggestion-“what counts most is keeping it to yourself instead of being happy”, the film gave the mother a long close-up after Betty left. In that shot, the lady’s profile is clearly-defined in light and shade, while it couldn’t conceal the shocked silence on her face. Maybe it suddenly occurred her that she had lived most of her life for the sake of her husband and family, not her own. In contrast, perhaps the social reality is crucial, but this movie expresses a kind of American idealism, that is advocating people to pursuit their dream bravely.

In conclusion, through an excellent usage and application of formal techniques, both movies reflect vividly that in last century, women with an ambitious dream never just live in the present; Conversely, they want to make a difference on their own to live a better life, instead of becoming men’s appendage. At that time, this advanced idea was a support of feminism. Up to now, it also has its instructive meaning.