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Yellow
Earth
viewed March 24, 2000 on video
For full
information about this film, click
here
Yellow Earth is the film that put
Chinese cinema on the map.
It was the first film from China to be noticed on
the world festival circuit, and brought to attention two
figures who are now synonymous to Chinese films: the
director, Chen Kaige; and the cinematographer, Zhang
Yimou. The
film equally belongs to both of them, and offers an
interesting starting point to consider their storied
careers. Rich
in imagery and music, it may be the purest work of
cinema that either has made.
The film is essentially Communist
propaganda, but with a dark edge, showing the emotional
and familial sacrifices of those who dedicated
themselves to the Revolution in a way that is not so
much critical but regretful.
Wang Xueying is a PLA soldier who ventures
through desolate hilltop villages to find folksongs to
turn into motivational Revolutionary tunes.
What he finds is a lifestyle that is far more
complex than his glorified concepts of simple peasant
life. There
is hardship, labor, tradition, rigid codes governing
family and village, and songs that are too emotionally
intense to be expressed in the jingoistic melodies of
Communist worksongs.
Although Wang fails in his project, he is
enamored of the people and their struggles, which he
interprets as the struggle of all people of the world.
He leaves the village to rejoin his
army, but not without leaving his impression in the
heart of Cuiquiao, a village girl who is already
betrothed but who finds her true love in Wang and his
ideals and sense of purpose.
The only real conflict of the film is in
Cuiqiao’s torn state of devotion to both her village
duties and the higher aspirations of the Revolution.
Even through this tension the film moves
gradually. Most
of the time it is busy taking in its gorgeous rural
surroundings and allowing a lot of room for the songs.
The sheer quantity of songs in this film could
easily categorize it as a musical and each one tells
a story or gives insight to the overall narrative,
though not in the overt manner of western musicals.
Reverberating against the breathtaking mountain
backdrops, each song is an ode to the land and its
people.
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