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Michael Henning

Non-Verbal Strategies: “Mona Lisa Smile” and “And the Spring Comes”

The two films that we have watched for this class, “Mona Lisa Smile” and “And the Spring Comes” are different films in nearly every possible way. After watching both films, although they both have themes of empowerment and personal growth, I argue that the most strikingly different aspects of the two films, especially when considering them side by side, are the non-verbal strategies both films employ. Including, but not limited to the characters’ clothes, makeup, and actors, and the production aspects, these two movies are near polar opposites. These strategies also are employed to advance the plot and show the themes of empowerment and how they advance throughout the film.

Beginning with “Mona Lisa Smile,” the American film, viewers are greeted with what could be called the classic American, or Hollywood, style. First analyzing the actors chosen for the movie, these people are beautiful. While the film could be reality, there is simply no way that everyone would look the way that they do in a real-life version of this film. This is a key element of the classic Hollywood style. This is also something that is done to make sure people want to come see the movie. Hollywood prescribes to the ideology that people want to come see the movies because it is something to remove them from the realities of their everyday lives. This movie is no different, as the characters are all clean cut, attractive, and have on makeup to make them look their best. This is best exemplified in the scene when we meet the majority of the characters for the first time, in the first lesson. As the camera rapidly goes from face to face in the room, we see the characters and their attractiveness, embodying the core values of the Hollywood style. Flipping to the Chinese film, “And the Spring Comes,” it could not be more different. Rather than treating the viewers of the film to an escape from reality, this film transports you to what real life looks like. By using people that look normal instead of supermodels, and not giving them fancy clothes or makeup, this film looks less like a film and more like if someone had taken a video camera into the lives of these characters. The portion that stuck out to me the most was in the very beginning, when one character destroys the art studio of another. The characters look like normal people in a normal circumstance. This strategy is used to make the movie seem more realistic and because it lets the viewer transport themselves to the movie. This also triggers the theme of female empowerment. Through the lens of image, female empowerment is advanced especially in this film. In the beginning of the film, the main character is often shown in drab, bleak circumstances. This advances throughout the film and culminates in her final dream which depicts her performing to an audience in beautiful clothing. This is done to show her mental advancement throughout the film.

The second non-verbal strategy that was supremely different between the two films was the difference in types of camera shots and angles employed to get their messages across. Looking at “Mona Lisa Smile,” to achieve the drama that the movie is going for, it uses quick movements from shot to shot and face to face. In times of drama, the camera uses angles from above to establish a stronger position. In the scene in which Julia Roberts lectures Kirsten Dunst about missing class, the film is shot from above Roberts’ shoulder, giving her the position of superiority. In “And the Spring Comes,” the viewer is not given quite the same experience. This film traditionally uses longer and more drawn out shots. This is to get a full view of the world that the characters are experiencing, rather than shots being used to establish a specific emotion.

These films shared certain values when it came to overarching themes, but especially in the ways that they were shot and produced, they could not be more different.

Hi, Michael,
I was amazed when I read your article. Because I saw a new aspect. Instead of sticking to the content of the films and the contrast of the characters in the two films, you focus on the shooting techniques, actors, and so on.
In fact, I also feel the same with you. The color of “Mona Lisa Smile” is very warm, I like it, and the actors inside are very beautiful—bith Catherine and her students. The costumes of the actors are also gorgeous and beautiful. But in “And the Spring Comes”, the actors are very simple, there is no beautiful appearance and beautiful clothes, and even the image of the heroine is an ugly teacher.
But I think that no matter what kind of shooting technique is used, the director definitely wants to express something. You can look at the two movies from different aspects—different from us, I think it is so great!
Thank you!

Yingying

Dear Michael,

Hello！
For feminism, I think that the performance in the film is objective, and our thoughts are subjective.
Just like " there are a thousand hamlets in a thousand people's eyes," the idea of each person's content in the movie is also different.
But at least in my eyes, Catherine is a successful woman because she follows her heart. However, for Wang, she is more like to be forced to settle down and live an ordinary life. I think she is not as courageous as Catherine, because she is ultimately willing to be ordinary. But maybe this is her best life.
Feminism is only part of the film, I believe that there are more aspects waiting for us to interpret.

Yingying

Hey Yingying!

I completely agree with your thoughts on the subjectivity of feminism in the movie when it comes to our specific opinions on the film. I just thought it may be interesting for you to impart some of your own experiences in relation to the film!

I would love to see a revised version of your paper when you get a chance, or if there is anything else that you have questions about I would love to be able to help and keep working with one another!

Michael

Hello Michael!

I am sorry to be late for response. You really did a good job, which brings us a new aspect to see the films. I actually never think about that before. After reading your article, I have a new understanding to the non-verbal strategies both films employ.

Your article mainly mentions the image contrast of the actors in two films and the difference in types of camera shots and angles. Your analysis of the two films is very meticulous. And I would like to see more of the analysis of film styles combined with the cultural background of the film itself.

-Shilei L

Hey Shilei!

Thank you for responding. I will definitely take into consideration the cultural background of And the Spring Comes and how it relates to how the film is shot. I agree, that this is something that I missed in my origial essay.


- Michael

Reflection:

1) What were your expectations for the border-crossing activity? Are your expectations met? Why or why not?

I truly had no expectations going into the border-crossing activity, as I have never done anything even close to this in any other classes. As an English major, and someone who had never had any interaction with the Chinese language prior to this course, I was intimidated by the idea of this type of assignment and I had no idea what to expect. Now that the project has concluded, I can say that I was so impressed and intrigued by this assignment. I think that primarily, this assignment helped me gain a global sense of the ideas that we discuss in class every day and how they relate to everyone in different ways, regardless of culture or primary language.

2) Please name three things that struck you most when you interacted with the Chinese peers, and explain why. (You may comment on the differences and/or similarities in lexical choice, writing style, idea presentation, rhetorical preference, cultural convention etc.)

The first thing that stuck out to me was the mechanics of the students' writing style. Between the students that I interacted with personally and the essays that we analyzed in class, it seemed like the way these students were taught to construct the "average" paragraph is very different. The second thing that stuck out to me was some of the word choice that they used that differs from ones that we would use in our every day language or papers. An example of this would be the word "clan" instead of "group of people" or something similar. The final thing that stuck out to me, which I anticipated, was the students' analyzations of the American film compared to the Chinese film. Language, and the ability to read subtext rather than reading subtitles was clearly something that both groups of students benefited from when it came to the films in their respective languages.

3) Did you incorporate what had been discussed into the revised draft? If so, please elaborate on how the discussion had led to the revisions you made. If not, please explain why.

Yes. The discussion helped me especially target the weaknesses within my draft. I think that something I was missing out on was the idea of incorporating some of the cultural context within the reasons that I believed a certain thing was shot one way or another. This was something that Shilei especially helped point out to me, and it is something that I immediately changed in my final draft.

4) Do you think the activity is beneficial to you in terms of knowledge gains or skill enhancement? If so, please elaborate. If not, please explain why.

Yes, I believe that this was especially beneficial when it came to skill enhancement. I think that something that I would not have quite understood without an assignment like this was the ways that different cultures can write the same language. We had a lengthy discussion about this in class last week (Friday?) when we discussed what was "right" and "wrong" when it came to the construction of paragraphs. I think that this assignment helped open my eyes to different writing styles that may not be as common in my personal writing style, but could be something that I will choose to include in the future.

5) Could you provide three adjectives to describe the activity? Please explain your choice.

First, I would say informative. I think that this helped educate me, as I wrote above, about the different styles and forms that the english language can take and can still achieve the desired result. Second, I think that this assignment was engaging. This required an immense amount of communication and coordination between professors and students on opposite ends of the world. Because of this engagement, we were able to gain an understanding of something from people that we would have never met before. Finally, I think that this project was investigative. By getting to read other students' opinions, especially of the Chinese film which I felt like I missed parts of, I got to see a new perspective and got to metaphorically rewatch this film from a completely new lens.

Thank you!
Michael Henning

Final Revised Draft:

Non-Verbal Strategies: “Mona Lisa Smile” and “And the Spring Comes”

The two films that we have watched for this class, “Mona Lisa Smile” and “And the Spring Comes” are different films in nearly many ways. After watching both films, although they both have themes of empowerment and personal growth, I argue that the most strikingly different aspects of the two films, especially when considering them side by side, are the non-verbal strategies both films employ. Including, but not limited to the characters’ clothes, makeup, and actors, and the production aspects, these two movies are near polar opposites. These strategies also are employed to advance the plot and show the themes of empowerment and how they advance throughout the film.

Beginning with “Mona Lisa Smile,” the American film, viewers are greeted with what could be called the classic American, or Hollywood, style. First analyzing the actors chosen for the movie, these people are beautiful. While the film could be reality, there is simply no way that everyone would look the way that they do in a real-life version of this film. This is a key element of the classic Hollywood style. This is also something that is done to make sure people want to come see the movie. Hollywood prescribes to the ideology that people want to come see the movies because it is something to remove them from the realities of their everyday lives. This movie is no different, as the characters are all clean cut, attractive, and have on makeup to make them look their best. This is best exemplified in the scene when we meet the majority of the characters for the first time, in the first lesson. As the camera rapidly goes from face to face in the room, we see the characters and their attractiveness, embodying the core values of the Hollywood style. Flipping to the Chinese film, “And the Spring Comes,” it could not be more different. Rather than treating the viewers of the film to an escape from reality, this film transports you to what real life looks like. By using people that look normal instead of supermodels, and not giving them fancy clothes or makeup, this film looks less like a film and more like if someone had taken a video camera into the lives of these characters. The portion that stuck out to me the most was in the very beginning, when one character destroys the art studio of another. The characters look like normal people in a normal circumstance. This strategy is used to make the movie seem more realistic and because it lets the viewer transport themselves to the movie.

The second non-verbal strategy that was supremely different between the two films was the difference in types of camera shots and angles employed to get their messages across. Looking at “Mona Lisa Smile,” to achieve the drama that the movie is going for, it uses quick movements from shot to shot and face to face. In times of drama, the camera uses angles from above to establish a stronger position. In the scene in which Julia Roberts lectures Kirsten Dunst about missing class, the film is shot from above Roberts’ shoulder, giving her the position of superiority. In “And the Spring Comes,” the viewer is not given quite the same experience. This film traditionally uses longer and more drawn out shots. One of the examples that I think back to is the scene in the courtyard where one of the characters is yelling out to for Wang to come out. This is to get a full view of the world that the characters are experiencing. It can also be employed in ways that establish specific emotions.

The ways that these films are shot and performed also triggers the theme of female empowerment. Through the lens of image, the female characters all advance and progress throughout the films. This is most easily seen through Wang in “And the Spring Comes.” In the beginning of the film, the main character is often shown in drab, bleak circumstances. This advances throughout the film and culminates in her final dream which depicts her performing to an audience in beautiful clothing. This is done to show her mental advancement throughout the film.

. These films shared certain values when it came to overarching themes, but especially in the ways that they were shot and produced, they could not be more different.