Read Culture By Movies

Read culture by movies

Movie is a portrait of the world from an artist’s perspective, having its root in life and beyond life. Sometimes when we are totally immersed in a familiar environment, it is not unusual for us to take those extraordinary things in it for granted. Though we have been living in this country for years , speaking the language, learning its tradition value and code of conduct , we may not truly understand what Chinese culture really looks like , not aware of what is happening around us every day, just as a fish which cannot feel the existence of water. So today what I am going to talk about is not American blockbusters or Koren films ----instead , it is about movies shot by Chinese ,

Perhaps in foreigners’ eyes , Chinese films equal to Jacky Chan’ s kongfu movies and established directors money-wasting big hits , such as <<Crouching tiger , hidden dragon>>, <<hero>>,and<<the promise>> .It is true that those films involve kongfu culture , and reflect certain philosophy and beliefs shared by Chinese people, as well as aesthetic preference revealed in Chinese ancient poems. However it also conveys some misunderstanding , as if we are only concerned about those unrealistic heroes and beauties and fights . I would rather choose more meaningful stories , which gives you a vivid picture of real life during a certain period. <<Farewell my concumbine>> is a good choice---though it was also a conceived story mixed with lots of subjective understanding of the writer, it did provide a wonderful review of the past 40 years , during which great changes took place in Chinese history and made enormous impacts on individuals’ lives. There the essence of Chinese traditional art __Peking opera .was presented in a beautiful way.

Another movie I strongly recommend is <<Peacock>>, which is an epic about the struggling of lower-class ordinary people, their dreams and failures. The director tells the story in a very peaceful tone , even if tragedies fall on the characters.