A Movie Review of “And the Spring Comes” and “Mona Lisa Smile”
Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 1:16 am
Wang Wenjing
And the Spring Comes is a movie directed by Gu Changwei and starred by Jiang Wenli. It was showed on April 11, 2008. The movie tells the story of Wang Cailing and other young artists struggling in the contradiction between dream and reality in a small county in the 1980s.
Mona Lisa Smile is a movie directed by Mike Newell, written by Lawrence Konnor and Mark Rosenthal, and starred by Julia Roberts. It was first showed in the United States on December 19, 2003. The film tells the story of America in 1953. The time was changing. Catherine (Julia Roberts), who graduated from the University of Berkeley which advocated open-minded education, went to Wellesley College to teach art history and challenged the old teaching system boldly.
The backgrounds of these two films are similar. We will analyze them in two aspects: the conflict between ideal and reality and the social definition of women.
The Conflict between Ideal and Reality
The time background of And the Spring Comes is from the end of 1980s to the end of 1990s. During the ten years, there occurred ideological convergence and rapid economic development between the East and the West. In the 1980s, China set off an artistic trend. Some people began to yearn for western forms of artistic expression. During that era, many artists had the thought that art as a pure and noble spiritual concept, was closely connected with ideal. In And the Spring Comes, Wang Cailing' s appearance was ugly, but she had the talent of singing opera. Together with the amateur painter Huang Sibao (Li Guangming) and ballet teacher Hu Jinquan (Jiao Gang), they recklessly pursued great ideals, but they didn't imagine whether their ideals matched the environment or not. When they perform their art in front of the public, the audience are only puzzled, which means young artists are doomed to not be recognized by most people. Romaine Rolland said: “he ideal of being divorced from reality is no life.” In the 1980s, people in Chinese northern towns were generally plain which was different from those who publicized art. The artists pursued their dreams which caused the consequence that they were irreconcilable from the reality, and this is doomed to their final tragic fate. On the contrary, although Zhou Yu (Wu Guohua) had a dream of recitation, he quickly gave up his great dream because of love frustration and yielded to reality.
The story of Mona Lisa Smile happened in 1953. At that time, the United States was in the cold war period, there were many national democratic movements in America, and the times were changing. Some advanced molecules produce advanced ideas. Catherine (Julia Roberts) graduated from the Open University of Berkeley. Influenced by the liberalism and rebellious spirit of Berkeley University, she was full of ideals and enthusiasm and determined to make a career in Wellesley College. However, her dream of spreading freedom met many troubles here because the school's stereotypes had reached intolerable levels, such as encouraging students to get married and become housewives while they were in school; the students are proud of their love at school. Moreover, at that time, the whole American society was also committed to persuading the women who went out of their homes and became independent in the World War II to be housewives again. Catherine's ideal was to promote woman's freedom and innovate educational ideas, which was contrary to the reality of the United States, so it was doomed to fail. At last she chose to leave school.
The Social Definition of Women
Whether in And the Spring Comes or Mona Lisa Smile, the social definition of women is still very narrow. This also indicates that no matter in the eastern or western countries, the traditional culture is dominated by male chauvinism, which has formed a pattern of thinking. In both films, the definition of women is immobilized, requiring women to marry and have children.
In the 1980s, Chinese women were brought up to behave conservatively, but the spread of western ideas allowed them to keep an open mind. But it is not hard to see that most Chinese people held the view that the primary duty of women is assist her husband and bring up children. For example, Miss Zhang (Dong Xuan) in And the Spring Comes looks really pretty, but she is void of independent thinking and ideals. And she was preoccupied with the pursuit of sweet love and a happy marriage. Not only that, the reason why Wang Cailing's parents persuade her to get married quickly, was that she would be gossiped about by her neighbors if did not marry. Therefore we can find that the Chinese society restricts women to the framework of marriage and birth in that era.
In 1953, the woman's liberation movement was raging in the United States. Although woman's social status has improved a lot, their self-consciousness has not been awakened. We can see it in Mona Lisa Smile: various advertisements praising women as housewives; Wesleyan college, an elite school, teaches its students how to be a good wife rather than knowledge; the students, led by Betty, believed that women were born to get married and have children; Betty is required smile when she was indulged in the throes of her husband's betrayal, like Mona Lisa... Catherine advocates that girls should value their independence and freedom, and step out of the narrow space between husband and family. Love and career can coexist. There is no doubt that it is very difficult to such ideas in a campus that has been poisoned by traditional dross. Fortunately, Catherine eventually won the respect and affection of her students. And girls have learned that women can do what they want.
These two films reflect the tragic reality that the feudal thoughts of China and the United States in the old era bound human beings to the depth, and that the advanced people with avant-garde thoughts were regarded as alien and could only yield to reality. Western society only restricts the pursuit of woman's ideals but not man's. However, the society's rejection of artistic ideals is gender-neutral in China in the 1980s. Besides, the awakening of female consciousness in Mona Lisa Smile was much earlier than And the Spring Comes. After all, western thinking was always more advanced than China during that period.
Fortunately, in modern society, the pursuit of art and ideals has become an accepted and popular thing. It turns out that women who lose themselves in the pursuit of love are likely to be betrayed. Thus female consciousness is wakened and feminist thought also flourished. As Catherine said, modern women can choose their own life and should work harder for their dreams.
And the Spring Comes is a movie directed by Gu Changwei and starred by Jiang Wenli. It was showed on April 11, 2008. The movie tells the story of Wang Cailing and other young artists struggling in the contradiction between dream and reality in a small county in the 1980s.
Mona Lisa Smile is a movie directed by Mike Newell, written by Lawrence Konnor and Mark Rosenthal, and starred by Julia Roberts. It was first showed in the United States on December 19, 2003. The film tells the story of America in 1953. The time was changing. Catherine (Julia Roberts), who graduated from the University of Berkeley which advocated open-minded education, went to Wellesley College to teach art history and challenged the old teaching system boldly.
The backgrounds of these two films are similar. We will analyze them in two aspects: the conflict between ideal and reality and the social definition of women.
The Conflict between Ideal and Reality
The time background of And the Spring Comes is from the end of 1980s to the end of 1990s. During the ten years, there occurred ideological convergence and rapid economic development between the East and the West. In the 1980s, China set off an artistic trend. Some people began to yearn for western forms of artistic expression. During that era, many artists had the thought that art as a pure and noble spiritual concept, was closely connected with ideal. In And the Spring Comes, Wang Cailing' s appearance was ugly, but she had the talent of singing opera. Together with the amateur painter Huang Sibao (Li Guangming) and ballet teacher Hu Jinquan (Jiao Gang), they recklessly pursued great ideals, but they didn't imagine whether their ideals matched the environment or not. When they perform their art in front of the public, the audience are only puzzled, which means young artists are doomed to not be recognized by most people. Romaine Rolland said: “he ideal of being divorced from reality is no life.” In the 1980s, people in Chinese northern towns were generally plain which was different from those who publicized art. The artists pursued their dreams which caused the consequence that they were irreconcilable from the reality, and this is doomed to their final tragic fate. On the contrary, although Zhou Yu (Wu Guohua) had a dream of recitation, he quickly gave up his great dream because of love frustration and yielded to reality.
The story of Mona Lisa Smile happened in 1953. At that time, the United States was in the cold war period, there were many national democratic movements in America, and the times were changing. Some advanced molecules produce advanced ideas. Catherine (Julia Roberts) graduated from the Open University of Berkeley. Influenced by the liberalism and rebellious spirit of Berkeley University, she was full of ideals and enthusiasm and determined to make a career in Wellesley College. However, her dream of spreading freedom met many troubles here because the school's stereotypes had reached intolerable levels, such as encouraging students to get married and become housewives while they were in school; the students are proud of their love at school. Moreover, at that time, the whole American society was also committed to persuading the women who went out of their homes and became independent in the World War II to be housewives again. Catherine's ideal was to promote woman's freedom and innovate educational ideas, which was contrary to the reality of the United States, so it was doomed to fail. At last she chose to leave school.
The Social Definition of Women
Whether in And the Spring Comes or Mona Lisa Smile, the social definition of women is still very narrow. This also indicates that no matter in the eastern or western countries, the traditional culture is dominated by male chauvinism, which has formed a pattern of thinking. In both films, the definition of women is immobilized, requiring women to marry and have children.
In the 1980s, Chinese women were brought up to behave conservatively, but the spread of western ideas allowed them to keep an open mind. But it is not hard to see that most Chinese people held the view that the primary duty of women is assist her husband and bring up children. For example, Miss Zhang (Dong Xuan) in And the Spring Comes looks really pretty, but she is void of independent thinking and ideals. And she was preoccupied with the pursuit of sweet love and a happy marriage. Not only that, the reason why Wang Cailing's parents persuade her to get married quickly, was that she would be gossiped about by her neighbors if did not marry. Therefore we can find that the Chinese society restricts women to the framework of marriage and birth in that era.
In 1953, the woman's liberation movement was raging in the United States. Although woman's social status has improved a lot, their self-consciousness has not been awakened. We can see it in Mona Lisa Smile: various advertisements praising women as housewives; Wesleyan college, an elite school, teaches its students how to be a good wife rather than knowledge; the students, led by Betty, believed that women were born to get married and have children; Betty is required smile when she was indulged in the throes of her husband's betrayal, like Mona Lisa... Catherine advocates that girls should value their independence and freedom, and step out of the narrow space between husband and family. Love and career can coexist. There is no doubt that it is very difficult to such ideas in a campus that has been poisoned by traditional dross. Fortunately, Catherine eventually won the respect and affection of her students. And girls have learned that women can do what they want.
These two films reflect the tragic reality that the feudal thoughts of China and the United States in the old era bound human beings to the depth, and that the advanced people with avant-garde thoughts were regarded as alien and could only yield to reality. Western society only restricts the pursuit of woman's ideals but not man's. However, the society's rejection of artistic ideals is gender-neutral in China in the 1980s. Besides, the awakening of female consciousness in Mona Lisa Smile was much earlier than And the Spring Comes. After all, western thinking was always more advanced than China during that period.
Fortunately, in modern society, the pursuit of art and ideals has become an accepted and popular thing. It turns out that women who lose themselves in the pursuit of love are likely to be betrayed. Thus female consciousness is wakened and feminist thought also flourished. As Catherine said, modern women can choose their own life and should work harder for their dreams.
Indeed, we focused more on what the movies had in common and the difference is only mentioned at the end of the article. We will systematically explain the differences between the two movies. And could I get some methods of introduction or discussion from you? I am looking forward to talking to you again.