serenity
Posted by wangbo in life in Beijing, tilting at windmills on April 14, 2008
Lately events in far-off lands have been bugging me. There’s stuff I want to write about, but this frustration, disgust and anger with events far away which have no direct impact on my life and which, of course, I have absolutely no control over, has made it difficult to focus on what I’d rather be spending my time doing.
blind mountain
So we picked up a few DVDs yesterday afternoon, among which was 李杨/Li Yang‘s 《盲山》/Blind Mountain.
I’m wondering if this is going to turn into a “Blind” series, each film exploring another of modern China’s social ills. If Li Yang is not careful, he might end up like Zhang Yimou, being criticised by the more narrow-minded of China’s people for making films to show foreigners the bad sides of China. Yes, I’ve heard that criticism before.
Anyway, it goes like this: A young, university-educated, but naïve, very naïve, woman by the name of Bai Xuemei is kidnapped- but through trickery, not violence- and sold as a wife to a man in a remote mountain village. She continuously tries to escape, at one stage managing to get on a bus from the county town into the city, but never succeeds. She tries to get a message out to her family, and eventually succeeds, thanks to a child she takes on as a student, and her father comes with two cops to rescue her, but…..
The ending is very sudden, very brutal, very sharp, yet leaves you hanging. You’re left with absolutely no idea how the story actually ends.
And why can’t she escape? Well, all the wives in the village were bought in against their will, and all the villagers see this as perfectly normal. The older wives have even reached some kind of accomodation with, if not acceptance of their situation, to the point where they even help the village men keep the younger women in line and in the village.
Blind Mountain is filmed almost like a documentary. Li Yang makes no judgement about the villagers, he simply presents the village as it is, warts and all.
And there’s no Hollywood melodramatics. Not even any background music. We are left to respond simply as we respond. And it’s a good thing too- I can’t stand how so many filmmakers insist on telling us when we must laugh or cry or whatever. I hate being emotionally manipulated by a soundtrack.
And the result is a quietly brutal film. It doesn’t smack you in the face like the battle scenes in 《集结号》/Assembly. It simply, quietly presents the facts of life in this village, the horrific situation Bai Xuemei finds herself in. And it is subtly infuriating. And it’s not just the men of the village you find yourself hating- actually, you don’t find yourself hating or even really angry with anyone in the film. Your rage and anger are at the situation, not any of the people. How can you hate the people when for each and every one of them, this is simply the way life is and always has been? And yet, you can’t really sympathise with Bai Xuemei, either. Her naïveté is just too frustrating. You want to be on her side, you want to sympathise with her, but she just keeps cocking it up.
Horrible, I know, but that’s how it is. lzh spent a fair bit of the film telling Bai Xuemei how she should go about escaping and getting frustrated with her when she got it all wrong. Again.
And yet, I can’t help but suspect Li Yang of sneaking a few subtle value-judgements into the film. Books, for example. Books and education seem to set up a hierarchy of, ummm, “humanness”, with the villagers being little better than animals, the village school teacher and village chief (both of whom are locals, but with a slightly higher level of education) being a step above, and Bai Xuemei the only character shown as fully “human”.
In a way, Li Yang has a point: Ignorance does tend to keep people stuck in the rut of “the way things have always been”; education does tend to lift people out of that rut and give them the tools to explore other possibilities. However, those are only tendencies and don’t necessarily apply to real people in the real world. I mean, some of the stupidest people I’ve ever met have PhDs. Some of the brightest people I’ve ever met never finished high school.
And having said that, better education would be one key to ending the buying of kidnapped brides in this village, but only one key. You can’t change “time-honoured” traditions so easily.
About halfway through the film, lzh pointed out that all the village children were boys. Not a girl in sight. And then, of course, there was a scene in which the village chief had to fish an abandoned baby out of the river. One of the dimmer village wives said, “Oh, it’s a girl!”
“Of course it’s a girl,” chimed in an older, wiser wife, “Who’d throw away a boy?”
And then Bai Xuemei, who had been gotten pregnant by then (pregnancy and babies were not just about producing a son and heir; they were also about control of the wives), was, naturally, worried about what kind of child she’d produce. “Don’t worry,” says a lesser-educated wife she’d made friends with, “Your belly’s so pointy, it must be a boy.” And fortunately, it was a boy. Another sneaky little value judgement?
lzh said, “Well, of course they have to get wives in from outside if they throw away all their girls.” Yeah, sure, but if they produced enough girls to satisfy the local men, the result would be terrible inbreeding.
And the ending? This is not confusion, an explosion and 王宝强/Wang Baoqiang walking away with a big grin on his face à la 《盲井》/Blind Shaft. No, there’s not even the suggestion of a resolution, let alone a happy ending. You’re left hanging, wondering what happens next to Bai Xuemei, her husband and her father.
And always in the back of your mind is the knowledge that this story could well be all too true.
It’s not a film that has much positive to say. It tells a horrific story, and the quiet, non-judgemental, documentary style- and the knowledge that this sort of thing actually does go on in some of China’s more remote regions even today- just adds to the horror. It is very well made, though. I won’t say I liked the film, but I would recommend it- not as a “must-see”, but as a “worth-seeing”.
better?
So what do you reckon? Is this theme better? Grey text on white background…. should be a better contrast, right? Still not a huge difference between links and regular text, but sufficient, I think. And am I right in thinking the font is larger?
The key question, of course: Is this more readable?
suggestion
cc left a suggestion in the comments here, and I thought I’d see if I can get any other opinions. With this current dark theme, is this blog difficult to read? I mean, there’s not a huge difference between the background and the text, I know, and although it shows up fine on my computer, I can see how it would present difficulties for others. So, is a change needed to make this blog more readable? Comments and suggestions are most welcome.
sanity
Posted by wangbo in ranting, tilting at windmills on April 11, 2008
Thanks to a tip-off from the Ji Village News in a comment on this post, here’s a little sanity, some putting-in-perspective, of the farce the torch relay has become. And while I’m at it, I recommend Haidong Ji’s post on this issue as well.
Now, could the Western world please grow up?
interesting headlines
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study, news, ranting, tilting at windmills on April 11, 2008
So I’m trying to delay going to the office to mark tests- which desperately need to be got out of the way so I can focus on HSK prep (hahahahhahahhahahahahaha!) and I don’t get swamped with the next round of tests coming- oh, straight after HSK. Anyway, I thought I’d delay that by opening up the Southern Daily, and I came across two interesting headlines.
The first is quite provocative:
穷人再给富人让路?
Poor people are giving way to rich people again?
I don’t really want to try translating the whole article, because skimming through it would seem to require more local knowledge of Guangzhou than I possess. Yeah, I’ve been there. Once. Years ago. I spent all my time at either the East Station or main railway station or travelling between the two. No, twice. The first time was transferring from a flight from Changsha to a flight to Bangkok. Anyway, it’s about an apparent proposal to limit, if not ban, tricycles- judging from the picture, the taxi version of tricycles. “Giving way again” refers to the fact that electric bicycles and motorbikes have already been banned in Guangzhou. The subtitle tells us:
限令还在拟订中 三轮车已经被扣
Limit order is still being planned. Tricycles have already been confiscated.
Oh dear. It could be interesting to see how that pans out, although I’d have to leave it up to those who actually know Guangzhou to provide any intelligent commentary this issue may deserve.
The second is about an issue I’m very rapidly tiring of:
“在巴黎，我们护卫圣火” 西方媒体称圣火护卫队是暴徒
“In Paris we’re protecting the Olympic torch”. Western media call torch guards “thugs”.
Well, I haven’t seen the word “thugs” used by any media in reference to those guarding the torch. I can think of others who deserve that title, but they’re the darlings of the Western liberal establishment, so they get a thoroughly undeserved free ride. I’m starting to think my village in Yanqing won’t be far enough away from the sick circus some people seem determined to turn the Olympics into, I’m starting to think about Mongolia. Far, far, outer Mongolia, somewhere out on the grasslands in a yurt herding sheep to pay my way… At least for the summer.
留法的中国学生自发组织守护圣火传递，与藏独分子拼口号、斗旗阵
Chinese students studying in France organise their own protection for the torch relay, match slogans and banners with T1b3t indie pen dance supporters.
And good on ’em, too.
Southern Daily’s Zhong Yuedong and interns Ma Yan and Yuan Ding report:
他们不是圣火护卫团的武警，也不是手擎火炬的一员。他们是中国在海外的留学生。在英国，他们自发地组织起来守护圣火；在法国，他们同样坚持。圣火在传递， 一个国家到另一个国家；留学生们也在传递，将守护圣火的任务从一国留学生传递给在另一国的留学生。当火炬在巴黎熄灭，留学英国的中国学生就生气地斥责留学 法国的中国学生“没有保护好圣火”，护卫圣火似乎成为他们的使命。
They’re not the armed police of the Olympic Torch Escort Squad, nor are they torch bearers. They’re Chinese students studying overseas. In the UK they organised themselves to protect the Olympic Torch, in France the continued the same way. As the torch relay moves from country to country, the overseas students are also relaying, shifting the duty to protect the torch from one country’s overseas students to the next country’s overseas students. When the torch was extinguished in France, the students in the UK denounced their French counterparts, saying they “had not protected the torch well enough”, as if protecting the torch has become their mission.
Yeah, alright, I’m being bad: I’m refusing to render “圣火” as “sacred flame” because it’s not sacred. The whole bloody torch relay is just some ridiculous neo-pagan ceremony invented by the Nazis, and it really, really disturbs me.
And I don’t really want to translate the whole thing, as the Beijing Olympics are turning, like I said, into a sick circus. It’s ridiculous, and I can’t think of any other Olympics that has become so stupidly, absurdly politicised. Berlin, 1936? Maybe- but then again, there was a damn good reason to politicise that one. Moscow, 1980 and LA, 1984? Just the usual Cold War bollocks. Beijing, 08, however, has been hijacked by every self-righteous wanker with a bone to pick with China, and I can’t help but feeling that China’s fenqing actually have a point when they claim it’s about Westerners feeling threatened by China’s rise and trying to keep the heathens in their place.
And yes, I am uncomfortable with the rather nationalistic undertone to these Olympics, but at the same time I can’t see how any reasonable person could blame China for seeing this as an opportunity to celebrate 30 years of successful reform, opening up, development, and spectacular achievement. When I look at how far China has come and how much the Chinese people have achieved these past 30 years, I can only congratulate them- and I do so wholeheartedly.
I can tell you this much, though: After March’s blatantly racist violence and their antics in London, Paris, and San Francisco, I have lost any residual sympathy I may have ever had with a certain indie pen dance movement in southwestern China, and I am thoroughly disgusted with said movement’s self-righteous, hypocritical Western supporters. They hear “China” and start frothing at the mouth and madly shouting “Hugh man writes! Hugh man writes!” but their “principles” don’t extend to China’s 55 other ethnicities, least of all Han, and apart from a handful of celebrity d1ss1d3nts, their sympathies don’t extend to the plight of your average Zhou.
Gah. Long rant short: I’m thoroughly sick and tired of it all. If I could fast-forward to September and skip this sick circus, I would. Sadly, like everybody else, I’m going to have to sit it out.
But, strange as it may sound, and it sure feels weird to write this: On this issue, my sympathies lie with the fenqing.
So I say: 中国，加油！(Go China!) And go the overseas students, and all other Chinese scattered abroad. Get out there waving your five-star red flags, sing your anthem, shout your slogans, and be proud! Don’t be aggressive, though, please, we’re seeing enough of that shit from the other side, and you’ll never find me condoning violence unless it is truly a last resort in a case of genuine self-defence.
Wow, I’m surprised that rant came out of me. Anyway, time to stop and be all responsible like and get to work.
good
Here’s some good news: A man gets jailed for polluting. Now that’s the way things should be.
more fta
The NZ Herald needs to learn to put proper links into its articles, not just a dead, lifelessly printed address. This article about Phil Goff going on an FTA-promoting tiki tour around China mentions the address of this potentially valuable website. Of course, the Herald being stuck sometime last century, doesn’t actually make it a nice, convenient link, but whatever.
good on ya phil
Posted by wangbo in news, tilting at windmills on April 10, 2008
Good on ya Phil Goff for giving the most accurate description yet of Winston Peters’ ridiculous position on the FTA.
I’m inclined to agree with those who point out who absurd and stupid it is to have a foreign minister who has said he will criticise one of the government’s key foreign policy achievements when he travels around the world. Apparently he’s said he’d even tell the Chinese commerce minister what he thinks of the FTA New Zealand and China just signed. I don’t see how this is tenable.
Perhaps it’s time for Labour and National to cooperate to get rid of Peters? I dunno, form a Grand Coalition to get the government through ratifying the agreement and passing the enabling legislation before the election? Or at least, National pulling a Green and giving its support on confidence and supply at least until the enabling legislation is passed and the FTA in effect?
Trouble is, of course, that getting rid of Peters means he’ll play the martyr card along with the race/yellow peril card, and that will be enough to get him over the 5% threshhold and back into parliament. That will be enough because I see no reason to hope the other parties will find a way of undercutting his credibility with the “blue rinse brigade” and the other assorted xenophobes dumb enough to believe New Zealand ever was a nice little slice of England in the South Pacific. They haven’t so far.
ugh
Posted by wangbo in news, tilting at windmills on April 8, 2008
Winston is up to his old tricks. The only good news I can see in this article is this:
However NZ First’s opposition is not enough to endanger legislation ratifying the deal, which has the backing of National, ACT, United Future and the Progressive Party.
So the FTA is pretty much guaranteed to pass, which is good. The only thing that really concerns me about it is: Will New Zealand’s business community take advantage of the FTA and finally figure out how to do business here?
They’ve got until October to figure that out. I suggest they start by learning to properly value linguistic and cultural skills (give me a decent job, in other words).