Film review

[1343749697]

Zhou Yun

The movie “Spring Comes” tells the process of several young people living at the bottom of the society pursing art persistently until they finally give up while “Mona Lisa Smile” narrates a story of a independent woman who come to a female college to make a difference. Although one of the two films is Chinese, the other is American, they have similarities and differences.

First of all, both the two films embody the fetter of traditional ideology. In the movie "Spring Comes", the dancer Hu JinQuan loved ballet genuinely. However, a male Ballerina looked very weird to the public at that time, some even compare him to the Thai Banshee and consider him as a gay. Similarly, in the movie “Mona Lisa Smile”, the view of masculinist become more and more deeply rooted with the progress of the industrial revolution. As a pillar of a family, it seemed that men should focus on their career while women should assist their husbands and educate the children. Even the best women in the United States would think so, without even a trace of hesitation, and try to inherit this view. Therefore, the college’s education for students is not to teach them how to acquire the knowledge they are interested in, but to take the success and negation of students as the marriage in the future. Their purpose of learning is nothing more than to marry a good husband.

Another similarity is that both the two movies indicated women’s empowerment. In “Spring Comes”, the leading lady Wang Cailing never married during her life. From the beginning of the movie, she pursued her dream to the end, she sold mutton on the street for a living, she never relied on men. Equally, in Wellesley, Katherine Watson educated her students to be masters of their own lives, not depend on men.

When it comes to the differences about the two movies, we conclude two major points. The first one is the color tone of the movie shown in two movies. The film “Spring Comes” is dominated by dark tones such as gray and black, and in such subject images, there are extreme bright colors that are hidden or obvious. In this way, the contrasting colors have the cultural characteristics of black and white images. Actually in the psychological aspect, color is a subconscious element in the movie as it has a strong emotional character. It has a strong emotional character. It is not consciousness and intellectuality that appeal to it , but expression and atmosphere. This is how “the spring comes” expressed a hard but distinct black and white through simple and clear but contrasting black and white images. Through the lens, composition, tone and other visual elements except the film fashion elements, the use of a large number of "third eye" perspective of the long lens to shape the character, subjective lens of this movie is very few, as if in a corner far peeping which greatly enhance the film's sense of truth. With the simple texture the film shows us the life situation of the little people in the post-utopian era, the painful struggle between ideal and reality and finally the helpless compromise while the cold and warm tones of “Mona Lisa Smile” are well adjusted, and the film is sublimated by the interspersed background music. Most of parts of the movie are dominated by bright tones which may indicate the happy ending of the film.

What’s more, the second difference is the ending of the two main characters and what it revealed. At the end of “the spring comes”, the heroine finally gave up her dream and yield to the cruel reality. She no longer dreamt of going to Beijing and becoming a female singer but adopted a child alone and finally returned to the ordinary life with her dream buried in her heart forever. At the end of the story she indeed reconcile with life and she can really smile when she stand in Beijing at the cost of sacrifice her dream which make our readers felt sorry while at the end of “Mona Lisa Smile”, the main character chose to leave the school to Europe to broke the ideological shackles elsewhere. It is a completely happy ending which also has a little bit romantic color. She held on herself unflinchingly without compromised with traditional force and keep saving others from the shackles of traditional feudalism. It is very inspiring and encouraging and showed us the awakening of women’s consciousness. Both of the movies were emphasized the power of women, however, comparing with two of them, we may found that women in our country at that time may not as brave as those in western country which may be caused by cultural background, traditional conscious and so on. But the two films all show the awakening of women’s consciousness which gave us a lot of enlightenment.

In summary, although the cultural backgrounds of the two films are quit different, there are still many things in common between them. It can be seen that human thought and humanity are integrated in many aspects.

[1595877752]

1. The beginning of the article is concise, which makes a general summary of the two films. And each topic sentence is written at the beginning, which is straightforward.
2. It's striking to analyze the differences between the two films from the perspective of color tone.
3. Maybe one or two points can be deleted and the remaining parts can be described in depth. Sometimes, if you want to express too many points, you will lose your focus.
4. The English translation of the Chinese film should be And the Spring Comes.

[1343749697]

1. The beginning of the article is concise, which makes a general summary of the two films. And each topic sentence is written at the beginning, which is straightforward.
2. It's striking to analyze the differences between the two films from the perspective of color tone.
3. Maybe one or two points can be deleted and the remaining parts can be described in depth. Sometimes, if you want to express too many points, you will lose your focus.
4. The English translation of the Chinese film should be And the Spring Comes.

Thank you for your advice. We will carefully check our article and modify it.

[jbb5635]

Dear Zhou,

Your essay brings up multiple interesting talking points about the films that are definitely worth exploring. In particular, your analysis of the films as showing women being empowered and not being dependant on masculine figures is a great point. Even though And the Spring Comes ends with Cailing Wang working as a butcher and failing in becoming a singer, she nonetheless chose a life for herself without giving up her power and authority to anybody else.
While this was a fantastic analysis, I must admit that I was confused with your essay's overall focus. The beginning of the paper focused more on the similarities and differences, but then you also focused on the colors of both films as well. I think your paragraph about the colors work well, especially with how you explain that the dreary colors in And The Spring Comes correlates with the movie's bleak tone. However, after the colors paragraph, you then went on to talk about women empowerment, an analysis that I enjoyed reading, but then you ended the paper by reiterating your point about the differences and similarities between the films. I think a strong way to structure your paper would be to take one or two of your ideas and focus on how each film represents them.
For instance, you discuss how women empowerment is done with And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile. This discussion can be expanded into its own paper, and with each movie, you can use specific scenes that explain how they portray the main character and her development throughout the narrative. The color aspect of the films can be part of your analysis by connecting how the colors reflect not only the movie's tone, but also the character's state of mind.
Lastly, I wanted to mention how it was interesting that you included the Industrial revolution as part of your analysis of Mona Lisa Smile. I did not think how Katherine Watson's character is influenced by politics in her time period. Potentially she desired to become free and independent because she was taught that women's purpose should serve men. What are your thoughts on how the time period that And the Spring Comes may have affected Cailing Wang's ambitions in becoming a successful singer? Do you think there are similarities between how women were treated between the two cultures? And perhaps this question can link back to your theme about both Katherine and Cailing empowering themselves when their society tells them that they do not have any power.
Thanks for reading my response and apologies for being late with this, I hope my comments can help you make your paper stronger and that we can have an interesting discussion about how each film's cultural background influences the progression of the narrative. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!

[1343749697]

Dear Zhou,

Your essay brings up multiple interesting talking points about the films that are definitely worth exploring. In particular, your analysis of the films as showing women being empowered and not being dependant on masculine figures is a great point. Even though And the Spring Comes ends with Cailing Wang working as a butcher and failing in becoming a singer, she nonetheless chose a life for herself without giving up her power and authority to anybody else.
While this was a fantastic analysis, I must admit that I was confused with your essay's overall focus. The beginning of the paper focused more on the similarities and differences, but then you also focused on the colors of both films as well. I think your paragraph about the colors work well, especially with how you explain that the dreary colors in And The Spring Comes correlates with the movie's bleak tone. However, after the colors paragraph, you then went on to talk about women empowerment, an analysis that I enjoyed reading, but then you ended the paper by reiterating your point about the differences and similarities between the films. I think a strong way to structure your paper would be to take one or two of your ideas and focus on how each film represents them.
For instance, you discuss how women empowerment is done with And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile. This discussion can be expanded into its own paper, and with each movie, you can use specific scenes that explain how they portray the main character and her development throughout the narrative. The color aspect of the films can be part of your analysis by connecting how the colors reflect not only the movie's tone, but also the character's state of mind.
Lastly, I wanted to mention how it was interesting that you included the Industrial revolution as part of your analysis of Mona Lisa Smile. I did not think how Katherine Watson's character is influenced by politics in her time period. Potentially she desired to become free and independent because she was taught that women's purpose should serve men. What are your thoughts on how the time period that And the Spring Comes may have affected Cailing Wang's ambitions in becoming a successful singer? Do you think there are similarities between how women were treated between the two cultures? And perhaps this question can link back to your theme about both Katherine and Cailing empowering themselves when their society tells them that they do not have any power.
Thanks for reading my response and apologies for being late with this, I hope my comments can help you make your paper stronger and that we can have an interesting discussion about how each film's cultural background influences the progression of the narrative. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!

Dear Joe,

Thank you for your response and your questions and I am very pleased to discuss these questions with you. As you asked how the time period that And the Spring Comes may have affected Cailing Wang's ambitions, first I would like to introduce you to the background of that time.The film tells the story that happened between 1988 and 1998 and this decade is the time when East and West converged and the economy developed rapidly. Collisions are inevitable between different cultures . People at that time were still conservative and were accustomed to normal life and that was the reason why Cailing Wang was not accepted by the society and seemed strange in other's eyes. Although she struggled for a long time to pursuit her dream but sadly she eventually gave in to the reality and compromised with the world at the cost of sacrificing her beloved dream.The film focuses on depicting the sorrow of the bottom social figures, and it also exposes the injustice under the background of the big era.The tragedy has a rich color and is thought-provoking. The plot of the story is plain and unique, and each character has a distinctive personality. The persistent spirit of chasing dreams is admirable. Love can not be equally empathetic, warning everyone that they can recognize reality, not all good things will fit Life is the most important thing in life.
That's my understanding about how the time period influenced Cailing Wang's dream and life. I hope it can be of some help to you.Through our communication I think you are very thoughtful person and your questions are worth pondering.Here's my wechatnumber: wxid_0n93bov6nvbf22 and I hope we can make friends.Hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!

[1343749697]

Dear Zhou,

Your essay brings up multiple interesting talking points about the films that are definitely worth exploring. In particular, your analysis of the films as showing women being empowered and not being dependant on masculine figures is a great point. Even though And the Spring Comes ends with Cailing Wang working as a butcher and failing in becoming a singer, she nonetheless chose a life for herself without giving up her power and authority to anybody else.
While this was a fantastic analysis, I must admit that I was confused with your essay's overall focus. The beginning of the paper focused more on the similarities and differences, but then you also focused on the colors of both films as well. I think your paragraph about the colors work well, especially with how you explain that the dreary colors in And The Spring Comes correlates with the movie's bleak tone. However, after the colors paragraph, you then went on to talk about women empowerment, an analysis that I enjoyed reading, but then you ended the paper by reiterating your point about the differences and similarities between the films. I think a strong way to structure your paper would be to take one or two of your ideas and focus on how each film represents them.
For instance, you discuss how women empowerment is done with And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile. This discussion can be expanded into its own paper, and with each movie, you can use specific scenes that explain how they portray the main character and her development throughout the narrative. The color aspect of the films can be part of your analysis by connecting how the colors reflect not only the movie's tone, but also the character's state of mind.
Lastly, I wanted to mention how it was interesting that you included the Industrial revolution as part of your analysis of Mona Lisa Smile. I did not think how Katherine Watson's character is influenced by politics in her time period. Potentially she desired to become free and independent because she was taught that women's purpose should serve men. What are your thoughts on how the time period that And the Spring Comes may have affected Cailing Wang's ambitions in becoming a successful singer? Do you think there are similarities between how women were treated between the two cultures? And perhaps this question can link back to your theme about both Katherine and Cailing empowering themselves when their society tells them that they do not have any power.
Thanks for reading my response and apologies for being late with this, I hope my comments can help you make your paper stronger and that we can have an interesting discussion about how each film's cultural background influences the progression of the narrative. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!

Dear Joe
How is it going bro? I am Renee, another member of this group. The previous emails were finished by both of us. This time, we decided to send you an email by each of us cause I’m a little jealous when I see you calling dear zhou many times huh? Oh well, I am jocular . After reading your reply, I can see that you read our articles carefully. Your logical thinking ability is very strong, and your suggestions to us are very pertinent, which makes me think that you are a very thoughtful and independent person.
You mentioned that we can discuss about the women empowerment and the similarities beween how women were treated between two clutures, I can’t agree more. Although there is such a big gap between the East and the West, why does it seem that the only unified thing in the world is the discrimination against women? In And the Spring Comes, Cailing Wang was teased by men for her ugly appearance and was constantly advised to get married. Similarly, in Mona Lisa Smile, all girls are taught how to be a good wife. It seems that in the eyes of the public, women are always incompetent. They should be attached to men’s life and even serve them. most women have quietly accepted this tradition. Tragically, their lives revolve around their husbands and children. Few of them have considered their own dreams and values. In my opinion, a country’s attitude towards women shows its level of civilization. The more advanced and civilized a country is, the more respectful it will be to women, do you think so? Therefore, nowadays, with the continuous development of social civilization and science, women’s rights and dignity should be protected better.
Your words make me think you are an interesting person. I don’t know what software Americans usually use to socialize. Maybe you can have a Chinese friend on the other side of the ocean after this interaction aha! Oh what’s more, I heard that the novel coronavirus pneumonia is serious in the United States. Take good care of yourself and I wish you have a good day!

[1343749697]

Reflection
It is very honorable for us to hear that our American friend said that our movie review brought up multiple interesting talking points about the films that are definitely worth exploring.Through this across border exchanges, we have learned a lot not only about language but also the differences of culture between the east and west. We know that there are still something we need to improve in oue work. For instance, we discuss how women empowerment is done with And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile. This discussion can be expanded into its own paper, and with each movie, we can use specific scenes that explain how they portray the main character and her development throughout the narrative. The color aspect of the films can be part of our analysis by connecting how the colors reflect not only the movie's tone, but also the character's state of mind. The article of our American friend is very logical and has brought us some different thoughts and feelings which shows us that there is still a lot we need to learn about the American background and history.
Anyway, the response of our American friend is indeed meaningful for us and inspire us a lot which help us polish our movie review better.
It is very interesting to communicate with foreign student and we hope we can have such interesting interaction again !

[1343749697]

Film review(revised version)
The movie “Spring Comes” tells the process of several young people living at the bottom of the society pursing art persistently until they finally give up while “Mona Lisa Smile” narrates a story of a independent woman who come to a female college to make a difference. Although one of the two films is Chinese, the other is American, they have similarities and differences.
First of all, both the two films embody the fetter of traditional ideology.In the movie "Spring Comes", the dancer Hu JinQuan loved ballet genuinely. However, a male Ballerina looked very weird to the public at that time, some even compare him to the Thai Banshee and consider him as a gay. Similarly, in the movie “Mona Lisa Smile”, the view of masculinist become more and more deeply rooted with the progress of the industrial revolution. As a pillar of a family, it seemed that men should focus on their career while women should assist their husbands and educate the children. Even the best women in the United States would think so, without even a trace of hesitation, and try to inherit this view. Therefore, the college’s education for students is not to teach them how to acquire the knowledge they are interested in, but to take the success and negation of students as the marriage in the future. Their purpose of learning is nothing more than to marry a good husband.
Another similarity is that both the two movies indicated women’s empowerment. In “Spring Comes”, the leading lady Wang Cailing never married during her life. From the beginning of the movie, she pursued her dream to the end, she sold mutton on the street for a living, she never relied on men. Equally, in Wellesley, Katherine Watson educated her students to be masters of their own lives, not depend on men.
When it comes to the differences about the two movies, we conclude two major points. The first one is the color tone of the movie shown in two movies. The film “ Spring Comes” is dominated by dark tones such as gray and black, and in such subject images, there are extreme bright colors that are hidden or obvious. In this way, the contrasting colors have the cultural characteristics of black and white images. Actually in the psychological aspect, color is a subconscious element in the movie as it has a strong emotional character. It has a strong emotional character. It is not consciousness and intellectuality that appeal to it , but expression and atmosphere. This is how “the spring comes” expressed a hard but distinct black and white through simple and clear but contrasting black and white images. Through the lens, composition, tone and other visual elements except the film fashion elements, the use of a large number of "third eye" perspective of the long lens to shape the character, subjective lens of this movie is very few, as if in a corner far peeping which greatly enhance the film's sense of truth. With the simple texture the film shows us the life situation of the little people in the post-utopian era, the painful struggle between ideal and reality and finally the helpless compromise while the cold and warm tones of “Mona Lisa Smile” are well adjusted, and the film is sublimated by the interspersed background music. Most of parts of the movie are dominated by bright tones which may indicate the happy ending of the film.
What’s more, the second difference is the ending of the two main characters and what it revealed. At the end of “the spring comes”, the heroine finally gave up her dream and yield to the cruel reality. She no longer dreamt of going to Beijing and becoming a female singer but adopted a child alone and finally returned to the ordinary life with her dream buried in her heart forever. At the end of the story she indeed reconcile with life and she can really smile when she stand in Beijing at the cost of sacrifice her dream which make our readers felt sorry.The film tells the story that happened between 1988 and 1998 and this decade is the time when East and West converged and the economy developed rapidly. Collisions are inevitable between different cultures . People at that time were still conservative and were accustomed to normal life and that was the reason why Cailing Wang was not accepted by the society and seemed strange in other's eyes. Although she struggled for a long time to pursuit her dream but sadly she eventually gave in to the reality and compromised with the world at the cost of sacrificing her beloved dream.The film focuses on depicting the sorrow of the bottom social figures, and it also exposes the injustice under the background of the big era.The tragedy has a rich color and is thought-provoking. The plot of the story is plain and unique, and each character has a distinctive personality. The persistent spirit of chasing dreams is admirable. Love can not be equally empathetic, warning everyone that they can recognize reality, not all good things will fit Life is the most important thing in life. While at the end of “Mona Lisa Smile”, the main character chose to leave the school to Europe to broke the ideological shackles elsewhere. It is a completely happy ending which also has a little bit romantic color. She held on herself unflinchingly without compromised with traditional force and keep saving others from the shackles of traditional feudalism. It is very inspiring and encouraging and showed us the awakening of women’s consciousness. Both of the movies were emphasized the power of women, however, comparing with two of them, we may found that women in our country at that time may not as brave as those in western country which may be caused by cultural background, traditional conscious and so on. But the two films all show the awakening of women’s consciousness which gave us a lot of enlightenments.
In summary, although the cultural backgrounds of the two films are quit different, there are still many things in common between them. It can be seen that human thought and humanity are integrated in many aspects.