Who Dances without Shackles?
Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:39 am
Xue Siwen
And the Spring Comes is a drama directed by Gu Changwei, starring Jiang Wenli, Zhang Yao, Li Guangjie and Jiao Gang, which was released in 2008. The film tells the story of Wang Tsailing and other young artists struggling in the contradiction between dream and reality in a small county in 1980s. The film is a story of the disillusionment of nobody's dream. On the contrary, the American film Mona Lisa Smile, which created a different image, was directed by Mike Newell and starred by Julia Roberts, Kristen Dunst and Julia Stiles. The film was first released in the United States on December 19, 2003. The film tells the story of America in 1953 when time was changing. Catherine, who graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with open atmosphere, went to Wellesley College to teach art history. However, she boldly challenged the old teaching system with idealism and enthusiasm, Mona Lisa Smile reflecting the theme of new things challenging old traditions. In the process of breaking the so-called tradition, women began to reflect on the status and pursue freedom and personality.
These two films describe two “dancers” performing on their life stages with “shackles" to pursue their dreams. While some people do everything for the so-called dream. They were sad, but finally they came back to life. In both films, the so-called “outcast” is mentioned, that is, different from others, contrary to tradition and secular. The difference is that the “outcast” in And the Spring Comes never find the same person no matter where they are, and will always be “outcast”. Having a proud heart cannot resist loneliness of being an “outcast”. But in Mona Lisa Smile, the hero, who is also regarded as "outcast", is brave to fight against the secular world, not willing to be ordinary and mediocre.
“The spring comes. There is real sign of spring, but the wind changes s suddenly. ...When this wind blows, it makes me want to cry, and I know it is only me causing the emotion.” The monologue at the beginning read by Wang Tsailing, the heroine in And the Spring Comes meets the title point, building up the blue tone running through the movie. It seems that dreams of idealists in the movie are like the gleaming spring, accessible but unattainable. In term of shooting colors in the movie, it employs a shade of colors with gray and blue, which brings viewers the sense of humble and despair. For instance, surrounding description such as storms, cold winds and heavy snow, social background delineation like crowded passengers who could only stand in the corner on the old train, shows us a strong sense of the special period. Moreover, near the end of the movie the classic lines echo the beginning, integrating the movie and sublimating the character’s psychological activities “Every year when spring comes, it doesn't actually mean anything. But I feel like something big is happening and my heart is constantly ready for something.”
On the other side, Mona Lisa Smile chooses to show the audience female elites’ life from upper class at that time, which brings us a style of classical romance, while Mona Lisa Smile begins to show the characteristics of 1953. The setting, props, wallpaper, headdress and so on all reveal a strong nostalgic atmosphere, which also makes the external form of the film inconsistent with the theme. The cold and warm colors are well combined in this film. The selection and interleaving of background music sublimates the effect of the film. Warm colors create a happy atmosphere and give people a warm, excited and happy feeling. The shots in the movie are centered on characters to emphasize the theme. And the clue throughout the movie Mona Lisa Smile not only matches the identity of the heroine as an art professor but also ingeniously interprets the true suffering from traditional American women then.
Both of the films create the vivid female images with unique characteristics. Either Wang Tsailing or Catherine are struggling to challenge with the conventional opinions about “good women” in their society, which turns to a common but eternal social topic in most parts of the world—feminism, the revolution of women. Eighty years ago, a woman who was invited to Cambridge university to deliver a speech was rejected by the library gatekeeper, because only men could be admitted to the library then, later on she wrote as a pioneer of feminism “The one who can make her become herself. It’s better than nothing.” Her name was Virginia Woolf. For quite a long time, women have effectively been denied a philosophical experience of subject-hood that does not center on the self as object. They are supposed to be hide their talents instead of going outside, and raising children, helping their husbands are their inherent duty. These two movies describe two women who are willing to pursue their dreams and make great efforts to it, arousing our consciousness that she shouldn’t be someone’s wife, mother, sister, daughter instead of being someone.
Although these two dream chasers own totally different endings, which means one never gave up the pursuit, and the other one finally gave in to the reality, they’re both faced with prejudice during their personal growth. Whether it’s judged by their class, appearance, or job, social stereotype, it once truly hurt one’s dignity. These biases do exist in our daily life everywhere, which we can’t ignore but only fight against directly.
In spite of defects in our society right now, our awareness of remove them have been raised luckily. So long as the direction is right, we could, I believe, wait for the spring approaching and Mona Lisa smiling.
And the Spring Comes is a drama directed by Gu Changwei, starring Jiang Wenli, Zhang Yao, Li Guangjie and Jiao Gang, which was released in 2008. The film tells the story of Wang Tsailing and other young artists struggling in the contradiction between dream and reality in a small county in 1980s. The film is a story of the disillusionment of nobody's dream. On the contrary, the American film Mona Lisa Smile, which created a different image, was directed by Mike Newell and starred by Julia Roberts, Kristen Dunst and Julia Stiles. The film was first released in the United States on December 19, 2003. The film tells the story of America in 1953 when time was changing. Catherine, who graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with open atmosphere, went to Wellesley College to teach art history. However, she boldly challenged the old teaching system with idealism and enthusiasm, Mona Lisa Smile reflecting the theme of new things challenging old traditions. In the process of breaking the so-called tradition, women began to reflect on the status and pursue freedom and personality.
These two films describe two “dancers” performing on their life stages with “shackles" to pursue their dreams. While some people do everything for the so-called dream. They were sad, but finally they came back to life. In both films, the so-called “outcast” is mentioned, that is, different from others, contrary to tradition and secular. The difference is that the “outcast” in And the Spring Comes never find the same person no matter where they are, and will always be “outcast”. Having a proud heart cannot resist loneliness of being an “outcast”. But in Mona Lisa Smile, the hero, who is also regarded as "outcast", is brave to fight against the secular world, not willing to be ordinary and mediocre.
“The spring comes. There is real sign of spring, but the wind changes s suddenly. ...When this wind blows, it makes me want to cry, and I know it is only me causing the emotion.” The monologue at the beginning read by Wang Tsailing, the heroine in And the Spring Comes meets the title point, building up the blue tone running through the movie. It seems that dreams of idealists in the movie are like the gleaming spring, accessible but unattainable. In term of shooting colors in the movie, it employs a shade of colors with gray and blue, which brings viewers the sense of humble and despair. For instance, surrounding description such as storms, cold winds and heavy snow, social background delineation like crowded passengers who could only stand in the corner on the old train, shows us a strong sense of the special period. Moreover, near the end of the movie the classic lines echo the beginning, integrating the movie and sublimating the character’s psychological activities “Every year when spring comes, it doesn't actually mean anything. But I feel like something big is happening and my heart is constantly ready for something.”
On the other side, Mona Lisa Smile chooses to show the audience female elites’ life from upper class at that time, which brings us a style of classical romance, while Mona Lisa Smile begins to show the characteristics of 1953. The setting, props, wallpaper, headdress and so on all reveal a strong nostalgic atmosphere, which also makes the external form of the film inconsistent with the theme. The cold and warm colors are well combined in this film. The selection and interleaving of background music sublimates the effect of the film. Warm colors create a happy atmosphere and give people a warm, excited and happy feeling. The shots in the movie are centered on characters to emphasize the theme. And the clue throughout the movie Mona Lisa Smile not only matches the identity of the heroine as an art professor but also ingeniously interprets the true suffering from traditional American women then.
Both of the films create the vivid female images with unique characteristics. Either Wang Tsailing or Catherine are struggling to challenge with the conventional opinions about “good women” in their society, which turns to a common but eternal social topic in most parts of the world—feminism, the revolution of women. Eighty years ago, a woman who was invited to Cambridge university to deliver a speech was rejected by the library gatekeeper, because only men could be admitted to the library then, later on she wrote as a pioneer of feminism “The one who can make her become herself. It’s better than nothing.” Her name was Virginia Woolf. For quite a long time, women have effectively been denied a philosophical experience of subject-hood that does not center on the self as object. They are supposed to be hide their talents instead of going outside, and raising children, helping their husbands are their inherent duty. These two movies describe two women who are willing to pursue their dreams and make great efforts to it, arousing our consciousness that she shouldn’t be someone’s wife, mother, sister, daughter instead of being someone.
Although these two dream chasers own totally different endings, which means one never gave up the pursuit, and the other one finally gave in to the reality, they’re both faced with prejudice during their personal growth. Whether it’s judged by their class, appearance, or job, social stereotype, it once truly hurt one’s dignity. These biases do exist in our daily life everywhere, which we can’t ignore but only fight against directly.
In spite of defects in our society right now, our awareness of remove them have been raised luckily. So long as the direction is right, we could, I believe, wait for the spring approaching and Mona Lisa smiling.