ACROSS4SEAS.COM

Heidi Gogel

After watching both films, it was easy to see the immediate difference in culture. Chinese culture and American culture are very different, yet they hold some similarities. It was interesting to follow Cailing Wang’s story because of these stark differences in culture. I have never watched a movie with this kind of storyline. As a music school teacher, Wang dreams of being an opera singer and of using her talent to stand out from the crowd. What "And the Spring Comes" tries to convey are the hopes of artists, misfits, and visionaries alike, all stuck in hopelessly dead-end situations, especially considering women’s empowerment. A story very bleak, but the movie offers the occasional light-hearted moment (Wang shown with a cast after surviving her fall) to break the heaviness of the main story. With several roadblocks and emotional ties to people who do not particularly respect her in the way she respects them, she gets caught on several occasions where she ends up disappointed. The man she thought she loved, the painter, uses her for the trip to Beijing. The way that she gets treated because of her looks stood out to me because it made people disregard her.

I would say one aspect of Chinese culture that stood out to me is the way this movie is filmed. It uses several different camera angles to capture different well put together scenes. Chinese film culture uses different techniques I have never seen before. For example, the representations are mostly dark to emphasize Wang's unhappiness with her seeking surroundings. I also noticed some scenes are filmed from lower points, closer to the ground, and some are further far away, creating a different mood. Another aspect of cultural difference I noticed was food. There were several scenes where food was a way of forgiveness or a stage of togetherness. Food is integrated into the daily life and culture of Chinese people. They celebrate festivals by food and offer sacrifices to ancestors with delicious meals. Food is present in American culture, of course, but Americans do not value the gesture or importance as much as Chinese people.

In the American movie, Mona Lisa Smile, Julia Roberts portrays an art history professor teaching at the all-female Wellesley College in 1953. She is not an obvious choice as Wellesley is an exclusive institution where its faculty, students, and alumni are generally snobby. Katherine Ann Watson tries to teach her students to have a mind of their own and inspires them to reach their full potential. This film uses the past as an emphasis on Katherine's modernized character for her time. This modernism is present in both films to portray the problematic pursuit of these women's dreams. I am used to American movies, so it was easy to see the clear difference between them. This kind of American film always seems to follow along the same plotline, a beautiful woman working hard, inspiring others, and she finds someone to fall in love with, conflict, then leading to a happy ending.

Dear Heidi,

Hello, Nice to meet you!

We have read your article in great detail. To be honest, you make a wonderful work. This is a multi-angle film review. In your article, you mentioned a variety of perspectives, such as cultural differences, the shooting angle of the film, and the wonderful culture of food. In the comparison, you choose the comparison method of object-object. The advantage of this method of comparison is that it can describe the characteristics of each comparative thing in detail. We also see that you wrote about the unprecedented shooting angle of And the Spring Comes and started to write about cultural differences from the image of food, which is a very novel point of view! Chinese people have a very deep emotion for food, and it is also an important part of Chinese culture. (We can communicate later)

But the deficiency is that the points you write are scattered, and the structure of the article is not very clear. The comparison of this kind of film reviews between the two films is more suitable to use the subject-subject comparison method, which makes the comparison more obvious and the point of view more concentrated. There is also a point we think that this article lacks a summary end! If there is an conclusion, it will be even more perfect!

In addition, do you have a personal email address or Wechat? we can continue to communicate in the future!

Guo/Liang(This review is written by my companion and me.）

Hi Heidi,
I am glad to read your article. You say that the story line of the two films is quite different. I feel the same. The Spring Comes is a typical Chinese art cinema that needs audiences’ patience to learn the connotation. You notice that the way the movie is filmed is different. Besides, you have mentioned the Chinese film techniques. I think it would be better if you can figure out the American film techniques.
Then in your first and last paragraph, you mention the plot of the two films, but you separate the two films. You can try to make some comparisons in plot. By reading this article, I know a lot of details that I ignored before. For example, in And the Spring Come, the emergence of food also has something that filmmakers want to express to us. In addition, you also have a strong ability to grasp the theme. I really appreciate this point.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
Cao Biqin
Li Boxin

Hello Guo and Liang!

Nice to meet you too. Thank you for your thoughtful comments! I appreciate your comments on my views on the way the movie was filmed and the cultural aspects of the movies. This was an interesting assignment to complete and your input will help me greatly with the revision of this essay. I realize I have to fix the format, write a better summary, and provide a clearer theme to my paper. Also, my personal email is heidigogel@gmail.com!

Thank you and it was nice working with you!
Heidi Gogel

Hello Cao and Li,

Thanks for your comments! I thought it was interesting how you mentioned "And The Spring Comes" needs the audience's patience to learn the connotations. This is an interesting concept that I haven't thought about and I agree. The movie brings us along with Cailing's life and lets us experience her frustrations along with her road to success. I think you're right that I should also include American film techniques to compare the two.

Thank you for working with me!
Heidi Gogel

Hello Heidi!

Thank you for your affirmation of our comments. Reading your article again, we think it is good to compare the two films from the perspective of Chinese and American culture.

Here, we would like to make two suggestions. On the one hand, maybe your space design is a little unreasonable. One and two paragraphs are about "Andthe Spring Comes", and the third paragraph is about "Mona Lisa Smile". For example, in the third paragraph, "so it was easy to see the clear difference between them", you can introduce some differences for us in detail. On the other hand, in the second paragraph, you mentioned the shooting techniques and Chinese food of Chinese culture. I think you can start from these two aspects, compare some of the differences between Chinese and American cultures in these two aspects, and also give us an intuitive and in-depth understanding of American culture.

Look forward to your reply!
Guo/Liang

Hello Guo and Liang,

Again, thank you for your comments! I realize my essay seems a little rushed and my structure is not organized well. I appreciate your feedback and will try to edit my essay accordingly to make it easier to read and more enjoyable. I will also try to include more of a comparison between American and Chinese culture to strengthen an understanding of American culture.

Thank you!
Heidi

Dear Heidi,
Thank you for the messages. I read your article again. Here, I would like to make another suggestion.
In the third paragraph, you mention "this modernism is present in both films to portray the problematic pursuit of these women's dream." To avoid any ambiguity, maybe you can some explanations about how the two movies display "modernism." You also can employ some plots to strengthen your idea. In doing so, your article will be more persuasive.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Cao Biqin
Li Boxin

Hi Heidi,
We are glad to have your feedback on our suggestion. After reading your article again, we think that there is one more point that you can improve, that is, when you comment on the Chinese film And the spring comes, you not only summarize the plot but also write about the shooting techniques and the Chinese culture shown in the film. We think that if you can also describe the way the film was made in the Mona Lisa smile comments, it will make the article more perfect. And if you can connect American culture with shooting techniques like the description of And the spring comes, it is also in line with the content of the cultural exchange between China and the United States that you mentioned at the beginning of the article.
Look forward to hearing from you again!
Guo/Liang

Cultural Essay
After watching the Chinese film When the Spring Comes, and the American film Mona Lisa Smile, it was easy to spot the differences in not only culture but the visual techniques used in the movies. It was interesting to follow each woman's story, and it was clear to see their similar positions as aspiring women in their societies. Striving for success and seeking to achieve their dreams is what these women are motivated by throughout their unique stories. What these movies try to convey are the hopes of artists, misfits, and visionaries alike, are all "stuck" in hopelessly dead-end situations, especially considering from a woman's perspective. With their journeys, women's empowerment is what I will be focusing on for this analysis to emphasize the struggles both women faced in entirely different cultures.
After watching American movies my whole life, naturally, I took notice that color signifies what mood a scene is trying to portray and what it wants the audience to feel. For example, warm colors usually represent a happier setting, while darker colors depict a more ominous, sadder mood. This is seen throughout both movies. In Mona Lisa Smile, Katherine Ann Watson is starting a new job at the prestigious all-girls school Wellesley College, and the scenes are mostly bright and ironically welcoming. I think this represents the false welcome the college instills while it encourages old views and mindsets, leading to the oppression of women not knowing how to use their voice. Watson is a modernized woman for her time, and she tries to teach her students to have a mind of their own and inspires them to reach their full potential. She faces several obstacles that steer her from this notion, but she remains consistent with her beliefs. Modernism is present in both films to portray the problematic pursuit of these women's dreams.
As a music school teacher, Cailing Wang dreams of being an opera singer and yearns to stand out from the crowd. She is a woman who, like Watson, faces several roadblocks that keep her from reaching her dreams, leaving her repeatedly disappointed from failure. Wang's story is bleak because of the way people treat Wang, and this is shown by the way this movie was filmed. I found this movie particularly interesting because of the scenes themselves as they were different from what I have seen. The representations are mostly dark to emphasize Wang's unhappiness with her seeking surroundings. Some sad scenes are filmed from lower points, closer to the ground, and some are further far away, creating a different distant mood. Another aspect of cultural difference I noticed was food. There were several scenes where food was a way of forgiveness or a stage of togetherness. Food is integrated into the daily life and culture of Chinese people. They celebrate festivals by food and offer sacrifices to ancestors with delicious meals. Food is present in American culture, of course, but Americans do not value the gesture or importance as much as the Chinese. Both movies successfully portrayed strong characters with determination to complete their goals and unique storylines to go along with them; while also providing a look into cultural differences.