Sexual Imbalance in Society as Depicted by Zhang Yimou
- “As Dai Jinhua observes, heroism, collectivism, and optimism characterize socialist cinema, which functions primarily as a historical discourse designed to legitimize the Chinese Communist Party regime.” (Yingjin Zhang, 2004). Discuss with reference to The Song of Youth and Li Shuangshuang.
- Michael Berry describes as the “key themes” of Zhang Yimou’s film-making “a fascination with colour, a penchant for literary adaptation (especially works set in the pre-liberation era), political engagement, voyeuristic gazes, and bold depiction of (often repressed) desire.” Discuss with reference to at least three of Zhang’s films.
SAMPLE SOLUTION
Zhang Yimou is considered a legend in the Chinese film production industry. As a producer, he is considered one of the renowned Fifth Generation producers in China, since he was able to study film and produced quality Chinese films that were watched within and beyond China (Tikkanen, 2014). One of the greatest strengths of Zhang Yimou, as noted through his films, is his ability to use colors to emphasis specific themes in his productions at a time when only few producers understood how the colors could be used (Wei & Ke, 2009). Nonetheless, the ability to capture specific societal issues like male domination and female subjectivism cannot be ignored. In his films like
,
and
, the entire storylines illustrate strong gender imbalances that even seem to appeal to the male audience as the active gender. Laura Mulvey (1975) asserted that “in a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female”. This paper supports this assertion by noting that although Zhang Yimou has always aimed at capturing the different aspects of society as they are, these depictions through his films also appeal mainly to the male while confirming women as the passive or subjects in the society.
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