Discuss in 3 paragraphs the relationships you see between Last Train Home and The Story of Qiu Ju and Beijing Bicycle. If you have watched any other Chinese films, you may add them for a little extra credit. I want you to discuss cinematically differences and similarities in how cities, migrant workers, the countryside, relationships (between parent/child, neighbors, etc.), or any other topic you are interested in exploring. Discuss how these topics are presented cinematically through at least 3 of the cinematic techniques we've covered in this course.
Due: Friday, February 8, 2013
There are many similarities and differences in the cinematic portrayal of cities and the countryside and the migrant worker. The elements that will be discussed will be the shot composition/camera movement, editing, and mise-en-scene.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the shot composition/camera movement is very similar in the three Chinese films were watched. They all contained similar styles and techniques. While the migrant workers were in the city, the shots contained much kinesis inside the shot. The camera was generally further away from the subjects being recorded in The Story of Qiu Ju and Beijing Bicycle. This was not the case in Last Train Home, because there was much more kinesis with the camera itself and it would be closer up to the subjects. I feel that this difference between the films was due to the fact that Last Train Home was a documentary and the film makers obviously wanted to show the reactions of the people as certain events, such as their train being delayed, waiting in line for a train ticket, and more. The longer shots used in The Story of Qiu Ju and Beijing Bicycle provided more space for the city to be seen. The characters were small in the giant city. This is the same case with the portrayal of the countryside, but in The Story of Qiu Ju, there is much more empty space in the countryside, while the city shots were full of buildings and people walking in multiple directions. The reason for this is that these directors wished to show the contrast between the extremely busy and cramped city and the empty, almost deserted, countryside. Last Train Home did something similar, but did this through the kinesis on screen and the stability of the camera. For the city shots, the camera and things moving in the frame were much more chaotic than the shots of the countryside. For Beijing Bicycle, the countryside was not shown, but this holds some significance, because in the other films, there was a contrast between the city and countryside. Beijing Bicycle does this for a reason, because it shows how this migrant worker, Guei, has left the countryside behind him, to pursue a better life in the city. This reveals how there was much migration from the countryside to the city going on in China just a few years back.
The editing remains very continuous and calm. There are not many cuts, leaving the shot lengths to be quite long and allowing the audience to know exactly what is going on. There were more cuts in Last Train Home, especially during the parts when the family would try to get on a train and buying a ticket. There would be a shot of them getting ready to board the train, then them waiting for a line to move, them moving a bit, then them waiting. This was used to show the audience how difficult and repetitious the situation was. In The Story of Qiu Ju and Beijing Bicycle, the continuous editing gave the film a very calm and peaceful mood. There was much editing back and forth of Qiu Ju in The Story of Qiu Ju between her going back and forth from the city to the countryside, trying to find justice for her husband. This represents how she peacefully does this, going back and forth. She has no choice. This is similar to Last Train Home, because the parents must go back and forth, not that frequently though, from the city to the countryside, because they have to if they want what they are looking for. Qiu Ju wants justice, while the parents want to provide for their children. Although Guei in Beijing Bicycle does not go back and forth from the countryside to the city, he remains at peace, because he is doing what he needs to do to accomplish the goals that he has. He wanted work, so he left his home in the countryside to work, end of story.
The mise-en-scene is essential in all of these films and many traits in it overlap in each film. The cities are always busy with people, usually wearing nicer clothing than the country folk, lots of cars, shining lights, and shops everywhere. The countryside usually has nothing except fields, dirt, and the people who live there look more raggedy and filthy. The city also looks more modern while the countryside looks traditional. This portrayal of the city and countryside is not just to be authentic, but also to foreshadow the future, in a sense. The city is the place to be. It is the place where everything is happening and it is modern and convenient and has the best offer of jobs, while the countryside is old fashioned. No one wishes to farm anymore, it is all about getting a suit and working at a desk. This also shows China’s migrant workers moving from the countryside to the city. The migrant workers knew that the city offered the best jobs, the best pay, and would provide them with the best chance to give their children a better future. There is something very important with the fact that the countryside is not shown in Beijing Bicycle. This is the most modern movie from the Chinese films discussed, which probably plays a role in there not being a countryside shown in the film. Certain migrant workers leave the countryside never to return to the countryside. There was much immigration from the countryside to the city going on in China and by 2008, when this film was made, China was mostly industrialized and when migrant workers did wish to return once a year for Chinese New Year’s which was shown in Last Train Home. Guei is no longer desires to be a country boy. He is trying to become part of the city. He does not wish to go back and forth, but stay in one.
ReplyDeleteThese films, in my opinion, are all very similar cinematically. They contain similar techniques and styles with minor differences.
The countryside in The Story of Qiu Ju and in Last Train Home is tranquil in comparison to the city. In rural scenes, both films have minimal diegetic sound. In Last Train Home, the dinner conversations or scenes in which characters are doing chores around the house are quite a contrast to scenes such as the one in which the daughter is dancing in a club to loud music or scenes of the mass migration home in which thousands of people are speaking. In The Story of Qiu Ju, rural scenes generally only contain dialogue by one character at a time which is a contrast to the loud city diegesis of traffic. Similarly, in Beijing Bicycle the delivery boy from the countryside probably struggles to adjust to the dense, loud traffic around him as he rides along the street.
ReplyDeleteLife in the countryside is apparently simpler, as are the people who inhabit the countryside. The director of SOQJ presents this through mis-en-scene. Qiu Ju and her sister buy clothes in the city in an attempt to fit in but with no sense of what is acceptable in the city, come out looking ridiculous. With the same obliviousness, the two buy oranges and a tacky picture to present to an official. The enormous buildings in the city are quite different from the small, primitively heated homes in the countryside, where cows are more common than cars. In Last Train home, a shot of the daughter using a simple tool to cut up plants in the field in an open frame is contrasted with a shot of her working at a sewing machine amongst several other people in a closed frame with significantly more diegetic sound. The city life is strange and uncomfortable for the countryside boy in Beijing Bicycle, signified by an abrupt cut with a sudden shift in diegetic sound as he begins to take a shower he does not want in the hotel and then by an uncomfortable long take in which the confusion on his face grows as he is told he must pay for the shower he didn’t want.
Things appear to be generally more unpleasant in the city as it is represented by these three films. The director of LTH uses a number of closed frames that convey a sense of claustrophobia and desperation his characters feel in the city. Such scenes as the one of characters in a crowd of people pushing to get on the train or scenes in which the members of the family are working in loud, crowded factories are quite different from the open frames of their home in the countryside. In the city, the naïve countryside boy is terrorized when he attempts to steal back his bike in Beijing Bicycle. After his first attempt, he sleeps in front of his former workplace, still covered in flour from a truck he ran into while escaping and clinging tightly to his beloved bicycle. This idea is also present in Suzhou River. The film opens with a character’s voiceover narration which tells the viewer about the dreary life along the river and is accompanied by various shots of the polluted river and the poor workers along it. The wild camera movement and abrupt cuts fit the unrefined qualities the narrator attributes the city along the river with.
All three films depict lower-class members of Chinese society. All of the characters in the films are either migrant workers from the countryside attempting to adjust to life in the city, or people from the city who try to cover up their low social statuses. The family from Last Train Home and Qiu Ju are examples of the former character type. The maid and bicycle theif in Beijing Bicycle are examples of the second character type. These are characters always seem to be at odds with their city environment, which always seems to overwhelm them (shown visually by massive buildings and large crowds of people). There are strained relationships between parents and children in many of the films (the family in Last Train Home, the father of the bicycle thief in Beijing Bicycle).
ReplyDeleteAll three films are also filmed in a cinema-verite style. This is done to bring a sense of realism to the stories, which is also presented with the plots and characterization of the films. The films make sparse use of colors, and attempt to create a gritty atmosphere in scenes detailing both the city and the countryside. As previously mentioned, many shots in all of these films are composed in a way so that it appears that the characters are dwarfed by their environments, to depict how overwhelmed and out-of-place they are.
Last Train Home, Beijing Bicycle and the Story of Qiu Ju all tell the stories of the disaffected lower class of rural China. While Qiu Ju has a more positive lighthearted depiction of the lower class exploring the city, all depict the rural workers as being neglected by the upper-class and unable to flourish in the city. Camera movement is integral to establishing the difference between rural life and city life in both films. While the rural scenes, with Last Train’s family washing clothes in a river and eating dinner and Qiu Ju’s family lying at home, are filmed with static or slow-moving shots, the city scenes have fast-moving cinema verite camera movements. When Qiu Ju is going to court the camera moves fast in an apparent hustle to catch up with her amid the flow of Chinese residents. Similarly, when Last Train’s family waits outside to get on a train home for Chinese New Year, the camera pans wildly, depicting the intense concentration of people attempting to do the same and waiting for days to board the train.
ReplyDeleteShot composition also plays a large part in depicting the characters’ struggles to adapt to city life. While rural scenes show Qiu Ju and Last Train’s family in intimate detail, the city scenes have extreme wide shots designed to show how “small” the characters are in a foreign city environment. In a scene in Beijing Bicycle where the protagonist migrant worker runs through the city in search of his stolen bike, one can barely detect him in the frame, as he is made to look anonymous amid the crowd of people. Similarly, in the scene where Last Train’s family waits to board the train the cinematographer several times actually loses track of the family while filming, and appears to be searching for them in the crowd of people.
Sound design also separates the rural life from the city life, particularly for Last Train Home. When the young girl in Last Train Home sets off to the city and starts work as a club maid, the previously quiet non-diegetic sound of the film is suddenly intensely loud, as the dance music played at the club soundtracks scenes of the teenage girl scrubbing floors and serving drinks. Similarly, when Qiu Ju reaches the city the previously traditional acoustic nature of the non-diegetic soundtrack is replaced with high-intensity Chinese pop music. All three films are about the differences between rural life and city life for Chinese people, and the way that rural workers face tremendous culture shock when faced with the largeness of the city.