ACROSS4SEAS.COM

Sarah Wu

The storyline of both “Mona Lisa Smile” and “And the Spring Comes” follows the journey of two middle aged women who are struggling with societal standards whilst pursuing their professional dreams. Two primary themes in both films that go hand in hand are marriage and women’s empowerment. As the women prioritize their careers over marriage and try to achieve their professional goals, they are faced with challenges due to the stigma surrounding being a single woman.

In “Mona Lisa Smile”, Katherine Watson moves across the country to work at Wellesley, an extremely conservative and traditional women’s college. Because she possesses more liberal views, she is constantly challenged by her students and other university faculty. The student’s attend this esteemed university to receive a well-rounded education, but Watson soon finds out that after graduating, most of the students plan to be housewives. Although this is the appropriate lifestyle for women at the time (li), she does not understand the rationale and is constantly challenging her student’s step outside of the box and be like Van Gough as he “refused to reform his ideas to popular taste.” She is very vocal about her opinion and feelings on women’s roles in society and is constantly fighting for a change. At one point in the movie another professor, Bill, tells hers that she didn’t go to Wellesley to help people find their way, but to find her way.

In “And the Spring Comes”, Wang Cailing works as a music teacher while pursuing a future as a famous singer in Beijing. She is considered ugly by the people around her, and as a result, it is difficult for her to find success both professionally and romantically. This is one difference between the American and Chinese films. It appears that physical beauty is highlighted more in “And the Spring Comes”. In the film, it is mentioned that how one looks may not matter for a man, but for a woman to succeed, she needs to be beautiful. Throughout the course of the movie, Cailing comes into contact with three different men who present the idea of marriage with her, but all for the wrong reasons. Although marriage would make her life easier and be the appropriate choice (li), she declines all of the men’s offers because she cares more about love than having an easy life.

One noticeable difference between Chinese and American culture that is exemplified through the films is the atmosphere of the story. “Mona Lisa Smile'' had moments of lies and heartbreak, but generally, a positive storyline. Watson got along with her students, was offered to work another year at Wellesley, and eventually went to Europe to pursue her dreams. “And the Spring Comes'', however, has the opposite type of storyline. Although Cailing eventually reaches her happy ending, her entire journey throughout the movie was difficult. She had to deal with being criticized for being “ugly”, being lied to by a girl that pretended to have cancer, have a man pretend to love her for her connections in Beijing, and more.

American stories often follow themes of happiness, whereas the Chinese storyline was more realistic regarding things not always working out and being perfect. This is also evident through the lighting in the movies. “And the Spring Comes” generally holds a darker tone; many scenes take place at night or indoors with dark lighting. “Mona Lisa Smile”, on the other hand, has brighter and lighter scenes. Despite these contrasts, both movies conclude in similar endings where the women end up single, focusing on their own lives and careers rather than marriage. Although the Chinese and American films had similar messages, their execution was different and it showed the contrast between their cultures.

Dear Sarah Wu,
I am glad to be able to appreciate your article and know your views on these about two films, which has inspired me a lot. I have some personal opinions below, and I'm very glad that you can continue to read it.
First of all, the context of this article is clear. It successively expounds the life experiences of Catherine and Wang Cailing, compares their different lives, and tells the story of their struggle with social prejudice while chasing their own dreams. In the end, the different endings of the two person also reflect the social and cultural differences between China and the United States.
Secondly, this article explores the theme of the two films very deeply. Catherine left school for Europe for her ideal, while Wang Cailing gave up her musical ideal to become a butcher. On the one hand, it reflects the injustice and prejudice against women in society at that time, and on the other hand, it also reflects the differences between Chinese and American film cultures. American stories usually follow the theme of happiness, while Chinese stories tend to be realistic. The main purpose is to arouse people's resonance through this tragic ending, so as to promote feminist freedom and equality.
Finally, this article describes the storyline and theme of the two films at length, and the final part also compares the scenes and lights of the two films, which enriches the content of the article and makes the film review more professional.
This film review extends to the differences in film culture between China and the United States, perhaps to a deeper level of social and cultural differences between China and the United States. After all, the social background time of the two films is roughly the same, so it may be possible to make a comparison. Of course, this is just my opinion, and I look forward to your reply very much.
All in all, this film review is very good! I am honored to be able to read this article, and please let me know your views and questions.
Yours,
Zhou hanying

Hi, Sarah Wu
I am so glad to have the opportunity to communicate with you about the movie review.
The plot of the two films is that middle-aged women need to resist huge external pressure when pursuing their career dreams. You clearly capture the subjects like women’s empowerment, social and physical mobility and the cultural difference. Amazingly, you've also noticed the effect of light and shade changes on the whole movie, which is a new angle when we are comparing two films.
To sum up, i am so impressed with your excellent movie review. When I watch two films, I also find some interesting things, such as characters’ clothes, makeups, accessories, gestures, etc. Sometimes it's just the inapparent clothes and make-up that shape the image of an excellent movie. I am looking forward to discussing these issues with you.
Yours,
Shuyou Xiao

Hello Zhou Hanying,
Thank you for your response on my paper. It is nice to hear from you.
You summarized my essay well and highlighted the main points that I wanted to get across.
Thank you for your suggestion on looking more into the social and cultural differences and similarities at the time. Your comment gave me the idea to mention that although these movies take place at different times, they have similar social backgrounds. It is very interesting that these films take place a few decades apart, but the people in the films have similar social standards and views on women and marriage. From the film I gathered that the importance of physical beauty might have been cultural difference. Are there any other cultural differences highlighted in the films that I may have missed?
Your comment about how Katherine left for Europe and Cailing gave up her musical dream to become a butcher was also helpful. I mention in my essay that they movies have similar endings, but I think your observation made me realize that it is important to highlight the differences between the endings as well. Katherine was no longer a teacher, but she was still able to do something that she wanted. Cailing, on the other hand, had to completely abandon her dream, and this is an important point.
Thank you so much for your comments and let me know if you have any other thoughts.

From,
Sarah Wu

Hi Shuyou Xiao,
Thank you for your notes on my essay. It is nice to get a response from you.
I liked how you used the word "pressure" to describe what the women were going through. Although I had the general idea, I feel as though that is the best word to describe what they were experiencing in the moves, and something I can incorporate into my paper.
The lighting was one of the main differences that I noticed in the movie, but it is interesting to hear that you spotted differences in other aspects as well. Would you be able to elaborate on some of the things you noticed regarding clothes, makeup, and gestures?
Thank you for your comments and please let me know your views and if you have any other questions.

From,
Sarah Wu

Dear Sarah Wu
I am very glad to have the opportunity to read your movie review and communicate with you. After reading your article, I found your point refreshing. Because in my article, I attribute the theme of these two films to the influence of the historical background on personal pursuit, and I think these two films are about personal pursuit, which is different from your point of view. Thus, your point of view interests me very much, and I quite agree with you. However, there are some points that I think are biased. For example, you may conclude from the analysis of the two films that "American stories are usually themed on happiness, while Chinese stories are more realistic". There are some generalizations. Because this is just one of many Chinese and American movies, it can not represent all the themes of Chinese and American movies. There are also many Chinese movies with the theme of happiness and dreams. Meanwhild, I think the different endings of the two films are largely influenced by the historical background and cultural atmosphere, because the time and country of the story are different, which will be influenced by many realistic factors. So I think thinking from these aspects will make the article more profound. I look forward to your comments on this and to your reply.
Yours
Zhang Peiyun

Hi Sarah Wu,
As for the color, clothing and accessories that I mentioned last time, I'd like to share my opinion on the film spring with you. The atmosphere of the whole movie is just a section of the special era node after the reform and opening up. The description of the condensed life state in the movie is the tragedy of the era. At that time, the color of clothes was dim, especially the clothes people wore in winter were heavy, which would bring us a very depressing impact on the vision.
When Wang Cailing went home for the new year, she saw her mother setting off firecrackers. Finally, she felt the happiness of her hometown and family, which was never given by her ideal. Red represents the meaning of festivity in China, which also brings a trace of vitality to the cold and harsh reality.
This is my personal superficial view. I hope you can point out my inappropriateness.

From,
Shuyou Xiao

Dear Sarah Wu,
I am very glad to receive your reply, and I feel very honored that my ideas can give you inspiration and thinking.
As for the similarity of the social background of the two films, I think it is still due to the prejudice against the status of women at that time. At that time, both China and the United States were very strict with women, and Westerners valued what women's knowledge and ability could provide for their husbands. For example, in the Mona Lisa's smile, the etiquette teacher taught the female students that you should give your husband selfless help, and your behavior affected the change of your husband's position.
On the other hand, China seems to pay more attention to the appearance and status of women. Chinese men always tend to be young, beautiful and respectable women, and the ugliness of Wang Cailing's appearance is also a factor that leads to her not getting the happiness she wants.
The above is just my understanding of the views of China and the United States on women. I am very glad that you can accept my previous comments, and I look forward to having more exchanges with you.
Yours,
Zhou hanying

Hello Zhang Peiyun,
I'm happy to have this chance to communicate with you and am glad to hear your input on my essay.
Based on people's comments thus far and reading some other essay, I find that you are correct when you say that much of the themes and action sin the film are attributed to historical context. Because I am not very knowledgeable on the historical and/or cultural background of China at the time when the film takes place, I am unable to make certain claims about what did and did not influence the movie. However, I would be glad to hear any information that you have to offer about it if you have some.
You are right when you say my claims are generalizing films in China. I may have to reword my essay in a way that does not suggest all films are the same, and comment that these two specific films with similar message are different in that way. Thank you for you comments and I look forward to hearing more from you.

From,
Sarah Wu

Hello, Sarah,
It's a great honor to have your approval. Through this kind of communication, we all gained something new from each other's articles, which made us both benefit a lot. In addition, I have a question about the article layout. Because Chinese students usually write articles with topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph to highlight the key words and to be logical between paragraphs. So when I write a film review, I tend to do it in this way. So does American students do the same? I feel in your article that the writing is quite casual and lacks some logic. I hope you can think about how to make it more logical in the revision of the article. Do you agree with me? Looking forward to your reply.
Yours
Zhang Peiyun。