Movies and Books

[Anonymous]

I do use this novel in literature circles in my 11th/12th grade elective. As long as the group is willing to tackle such a long text (they can choose it, it is not assigned), it has been very successful for me.

[Anonymous]

Adeline Yen Mah also wrote Falling Leaves. The story is the same ... Chinese Cinderella is a lower level of reading (middle school) and Falling Leaves is more appropriate for high school students. This story has stayed with me for years ... highly recommended reading. Students who have read it for their independent reading book (for an ethnic author unit I teach) agree.

[Anonymous]

An excellent book about growing up under the brainwashing of Mao and the Cultural Revolution is Red Scarf Girl, a Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji Li Jiang. I read it to determine if it would be a good supplemental 6th grade book. I loved the book, but cautioned that it would need a quick history of China under Mao to be understood by our middle school students -- who have no knowledge of the era. The book does have a helpful 12 page glossary of terms in the back.
It is well-written, showing Jiang's confusion about who to put first: family or state? The brainwashed side of her fervently loved Mao, who she saw as a god-like, benevolent figure , whose orders she should unquestioningly obey. But, when the state's teachings became personal, demanding that she turn against her grandmother because she was a landlord's (translate, hated and evil) wife, dilemmas and despair became the norm. Her parents were arrested , her teachers were humiliated at public struggle meetings, she was urged to be remolded by the state instead of her family. How she resists the pressure and survives with her soul in tact kept me reading.

[Anonymous]

The Asian version of the film _Shall We Dance_ was more effective than the American one. Richard Gere's struggle was no comparison to the lead character in the Japanese film. Both movies were incredible but the level of angst in the lead characters is not nearly the same. In American culture, men may struggle a little to get "out of themselves" enough to do something less than macho like learning to dance, but it doesn't seem nearly as difficult as for the Japanese male lead. The level of tension does not come across the same.

[Anonymous]

For the first time in my life, I enjoyed the movie more than the book. I read an excerpt from this book a year or so before the movie came out. Then I saw the movie and fell in love with it. The movie inspired me to read the book but I didn't enjoy it as much. The characters were just not as rich in the book. And the story also was a little bit different.

[Anonymous]

I just finished Pang-Mei Natasha Chang's Bound Feet and Western Dress. What I loved about it was the idea that an American granddaughter attempts to tell her Chinese grandmother's story, and in the process, discovers her own Chinese identity. The grandmother, Yu-i, had such a rough life--promised to Hsu Chih-Mo for marriage, Hsu Chi-Mo was cold to her from the beginning, then asks her for a divorce, something unheard of at the time period. (Hsu Chih-Mo considers himself modern and Yu-i too traditional, in spite of the fact that Yu-i is the first in her family not to have bound feet.) Yu-i survives alone, even travels to and lives in Germany--she is a true survivor in spite of all the traditions oppressing her. In spite of her divorce (and Hsu Chi-Mo's remarriage), Yu-i ends up still caring for her in-laws--talk about filial piety. And, in spite of Hsu Chi-Mo deserting her, she still does not have a bad thing to say about him. Wow! In addition to this compelling story, it includes Natasha's plight as a modern Chinese-American woman. Great read.

[Anonymous]

Natsume Soseki

I am wondering if anyone has seen a film of Kokoro...please post if you have, I would like to see it, and my searches have been less that productive...Kokoro

[Anonymous]

I just watched a movie set in contemporary China--directed by the same director as Raise the Red Lantern, called Happy Times. Zhao, a fifty something man, is attempting to get married for the 18th time. This time, he had decided to go for a "chunky" woman, since he claims that he hasn't had luck with the skinny ones. The start of the movie finds him trying to find ways to raise money for his wedding; he tells his fiance that he runs a hotel, but it is actually an abandoned bus in the park that he and his friend consider charging young lovers to enter. His fiance has a blind stepdaughter living with her, and Cinderella-esque fashion, the fiance makes her step-daughter work and gives her nothing (but instead gives all to her son, who is reminiscent of a wicked stepsister). Zhao's fiance insists that Zhao give Wu-Ying (the step daughter) a job at his hotel. Zhao goes to great lengths to give Wu-Ying a job: at his real job in a warehouse, he and friends set up a room that looks like a massage parlor, and set Wu-Ying to massage clients (since her stepmother said she had that skill); since Wu-Ying is blind, they can use scrap materials that feel, but don't look, like the real thing to set up the room. Since they have no clientel, Zhao's friends become the clients, presenting cut up paper as pay. Quite the friendship develops between Zhao and Wu-Ying--he acts as her father, unlike the father who deserted her with the stepmother. Even though Zhao and his friends are poor, they seem to have happy times together; they make Wu-Ying happy also. I don't want to reveal the end, but Wu-Ying does something totally selfless as a thank you to Zhao and his friends. Really likable characters here, with the exception of the step-mother. The film really could be set in America--someone pretending to be rich to get a woman; a woman using men for money; and, on a more positive note, happiness found among friends and friends going to great lengths to help their friends. It might be a good film for students to see as a way of connecting China with America--to compare--what are the universal themes? You'd have to preview it though--it's PG, I believe, so I think it's okay. You'd need to decide if it's appropriate for your students.[Edit by="tsprague on Dec 2, 10:42:19 AM"][/Edit]
[Edit by="tsprague on Dec 2, 10:47:52 AM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

I just watched a movie set in contemporary China called The Shower. The movie explores the struggle between modern and traditional life in China. Mr. Liu owns a bathhouse that he runs with his mentally challenged son, Erming. At the opening of the film, the other son, Darming, arrives from Shenzhen, for a visit. (Erming had sent Darming a postcard with a drawing that showed their father laying down; Darming assumed that he was ill). It is instantly apparent that Darming doesn't fit in: he wears a suit; his family, casual jogging suits; he prefers a shower, his family bathes; he has a high powered, high paying job, his family runs a traditional bathhouse. Eventually, Darming finds the charm of his family's simple life, and when something happens to the father, he realizes his responsibility for his brother and decides to stay at the bathhouse. However, the bathhouse and the whole district in which it resides, is scheduled to be torn down and replaced by a shopping mall. So it is ironic--just when Darming is rediscovering the simple, traditional life, this life is being destroyed by modernization efforts. So while the movie seems to support a traditional, simple life, it is also presenting the idea that this life will not exist much longer--modernization cannot be stopped. A powerful film--it is PG-13: there is a little profanity and nudity (since it is a bathhouse)--you'd need to get it approved to recommend to students; perhaps students could just view a portion of it? Lots of interesting issues to explore.[Edit by="tsprague on Dec 2, 10:46:20 AM"][/Edit]
[Edit by="tsprague on Dec 2, 10:48:40 AM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

聯通

The tenuous border between the so called real world and the also elusively recognized spirit world forms the narrative template for Lao Zhai Zhi Yi written by Pu Song-Ling. The link of the spirit to reality, whether it be in the practical form of belief (that takes its form in Taoist priests), or the more fantastic magical manifestation of reincarnative spirits (such as the fox spirit tales, or the magical creatures, or magical world tales) is the essence of all the elaborated 'zhiguai' that populate the collection. The stories, some five-hundred in total, (winnowed down to an essential few in the Victor H. Mair translation), are separated into three distinct genres: biji (notes/journal entries), zhiguai (tales of the supernatural and/or phenomenal happenings), and zhuanqi (prose romances).

While the imaginative exploration is truly splendid, it is Pu-Songling's magnificent ability to merge the fantastical tales into strong allegorical expressions that makes the work remain as important (and entertaining) today as it was three hundred years ago.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reminder--I use Red Scarf Girl as a part of literature circles, and even in high school, the students struggle with it. I think that they are so unfamiliar with the time period and the culture that they have trouble connecting. You're right, the glossary helps, but they definitely need an "into activity" to help them through. It is such a powerful story--I think that Ji-Li is so brave to support her parents in spite of the pressures placed on her by the Communist party.

[Anonymous]

Just in case you're as excited as I am, you can view an exclusive avanced screening of Memoirs of a Geisha on December 7th at the Sony Studios. The information is as follows:

Date: December 7th
Time: 7:00 pm refreshments; 7:30 pm screening
Location: Sony Studios, 10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90232
Cost: $25. Seats are limited. Registration on first come first serve basis.
Phone: 213-613-9934 Extension 24

[Anonymous]

I'm looking forward to seeing the movie but my boyfriend refuses to see it with me. He is Japanese and is disgusted that the producers used Chinese and not Japanese actors for the main characters. He says that all Asians are not the same !! Any body know why they did this?

[Anonymous]

I remember reading something about this quite awhile back. It seems the producers/directors did not not feel there was a Japanese actress with enough "renoun" to carry off the role. Because of the "Crouching Tiger" success, that actress was chosen. Chinese throughout the world were very upset. There is just so much money riding on films today, I guess they cannot afford to take a chance.
I read the book several years ago, and can't wait to see the movie.
Have you seen the merchandising tie-ins with perfume, Banana Republic, etc? It's really interesting.

[Anonymous]

I can't wait to see it also, but I am tied up on Friday night. Is it not opening in several places on Friday? I thought "The Grove" was one of the early release theatres. I will probably go see it Christmas Day. It should be in our local area by then.

[Author]

Posts