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    40 views4 pages

    Helen Leung - Yellow Earth

    Uploaded by

    Mimi Chiahemen

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    ILMS IN FOCUS < Ft by iro te osading Vide and sand Lei is Helen Hok-Sze Leung te probaly Danish Woiters an atts ical Cine type vrs an sings within hem a works which ale he sss, ie he ih os erly prov 0), I-48}; a0d sia sd inpelshent tate ad seg sl Naive ‘ean thei ow satan. Ya the eae iyo thee raw ates over fie nt irate a a hat serve the people al he Viewing Mao Zedong, Till re In-La Aan Lira’ 0942) Chis Berry a the Yodan Rau on thee: Me The sa haynes down behind theo ory and Ci Ay mouth ss nothing bt np eats rn sly ava Misha anid cow sto enor pur ue By Me,Cuigito! Ah, he fro song in Vos Base (Chen Kaige, 1980 1F)Miao were to ave his cultural workers ‘transform Cuigiao’ song, the bitter assertion that these moni ‘ain songs cannor save Cusgiao! would probably be the first line to attract the eltorib attention, The stion that folk. $0 the best way 10 Sawalken she masses fine thean with cnthwsiasay and ianpel them to unt and sinagale to rransform their own situation’! Yer, the very "ase lossness of Cuigian’s song, wich ealls attention tho limits of the singers ag other Kivsls of transformative possibilities. Chem Kaige’ remarkable is fil tells the story of an encounter between Ga ing Army. and the peasants whose songs fe is supposed 1 cultural worker fiom the Bighth Rote to collect and transform. ’The film is at once x cti~ tique of Mav's dysfunctional poltieal project and an embextiment of the desire such a project inspires but is unable to all. 24 Yellow Earth: Hesitant Apprenticeship and Bitter Agency Since its controversia relese in 1984, followed the Hong Kong Joterwational Hilo Festival in 1985, Yella Fst has sparked! a numer af important debas the study of Chinese cinema, but wore generally in the consideration of Chinese cult, nationalon ant the ambivalent lyaey af the Communist Revolution, The langely comprises of literal interpretations that focus nitial ertieal reaction ta the film in China ‘on questions ab historical accuracy and she image of By the peas ontrast critics in the West sent vost i te fil’ fggatve aspects which appear to conceal fur mune thom Yhey rove For many critics, the elusive character of the film's symbolism eteates a mpure i che tests dimension ‘oF otherness tat resists the Fs dominant struc and ideology ‘non-porspectival presentation of landscapes whic Pather Ya locates this orhemess inthe re wn instigates a Daoist aesthetic ‘contemplation that woxlerets the nastative strands oF the txt andl yesits er onen“Western analyse’, Ma Ann Bay aagnes that the film's ‘lan at develops this argument farther and sounds of silence ase Figntes for the repressed and ignoned Daoist principle of yin the dearth of whieh results ina cosmie and seasonal disorder" Wary of aatibuting too hustly a Chinese difference’ to the film, Rey Chow calls atention to the scene of the Fils wn lemme: how to represcot China through the arguably non-Chinose technology of the ‘énema,” Chovy suggests tha the fils Aieting notions of efown: the file image ha polities of Mntny while music, hi athe ehan anchors thei alhles wa polities oF difference." iia more recent aatcle, Stephanie Dosald also seeks to loc “points ‘of disruption’ in Yollew Barth by analysing, the Bil ldscape as a lemon lover that devours the object ‘fins passion and the agency ofits vale 19 ‘These figures of otherness, whether interpreted as blank spaces, silence, musi, or the landscape, are pitched aguinst the ideological rigidity of the Maoist project, apparently signified by Gu Qing. Chow cchaeacteries the soldiers presence in the village as symbolic of a ‘politics of record’ that ‘signifies the thorough natuce of political interventio lite.# Donald also understends Gu Qing to be an ‘agent of the Party’ whose agency disappears as he becomes integrated into nacnee, because he ‘cannot move forward as a successful agent of the Party’ ‘when he occupies « harmonious position inthe ci culation ofthe naeucal wot? The Maoist project s thus perceived to be absolutely incompatible with the films trope of alterty: an outmoded historical moment that is supevseded and displaced by the Ins new aesthetic. While my xeading of Yellow Barzh owes a great deal to these insightfal analyses, Twish to address the relative inattention they pay to the proximity between the deste of the Maoist project and that of the fit itself Chen Kaige, fike most of the intellee= twals, writers and artists of his generation, had spent parts of his early adulthood in the countryside as a sent-down youth, Mao’ injunction in this campaign to ‘apprentice’ urban youths to the peasantry was dsiven by ideological assumptions very similar to those behind Gu Qing’s assignment. Like many of his contemporary film-makers and writers, Chen often returns to the scene ofthis early ‘cass appren- ticeship’ in his works, most explicitly in King of the Children (1987). In fact, C1 he and hie cinematographer Zhang Yimou prepared For the filming of Yelloto Barth i eusiously reminis- cent of Gu Qing’ sojourn in the village: "We went ro the area where we were going to shoot for a month We stayed with the peasants, lived with them, ate with them. We didn't have a car or a bus, We walked." The actual practice of making Yellow Earth, which involves the film-maker’s apprentice ship to his films subjects, thus repeats the soldier's narrative. Like Gu Qing, the film-maker wrestles with the problematic but utopian desire to undo the fixity of one’s class origins through a radical cultural practice. Throughout the history of Communist China, such desire has haunted the lives of many intellectuals (who in the Party's eyes are as likely to hold on to ther class privilege as they ane to ‘defect? 's description of how CHINESE FILMS IN FOCUS tw the side of the masses) as they struggle to live up to che demands of the revolution. Yet, the film neither documents por instantiates the fulilment of this desire for what Gayatri Spivak has, in another ‘context, provocatively termed ‘class deconstruction.” Rather, the files elusive tropes of otherness, ne. of shat remains persistently desized, masks the impossi- bility of fulfiment. I will show thae the flare of| both Gu Qing’ and the film's enterprise is a necess- nd precisely the tad of the logic ofthe en ary corollary ~ MUTUAL APPRENTICESHIP AND. “THE MASS LINE Yollew Barth begins with an encounter between sound and image. We hear a short fll rune, followed by the sound of wind blowing, x8 a short description of the film’s setting serolls down the screen. The accaic seciptof the text reclls the irsmense histori- cal significance of the Shaan-Gan-Ning border region as the cradle of easly Chinese cvilisition and, subsequently, the heartland of an imperial culture, While this four-thousand-year-old culture’ provides A powerful ideological symbol for a ‘national culture, the resolute iconaclasm in Chinese nationalism also condemns it asa burden of tradition that stands in the way of modernity. The very incongruity of an archaic calligraphy scripting a story about the Com- ‘munist Revolution ironically recalls the charge Chen ‘Dusia levied on the ideographie seript as ahome of rotten and poisonous thought’ which i incapable of communicating modern ideas."* In this opening scene, folk culture (the musical tune) is associated with nature (the sound of wind) and orality. Ie remains marginal to the image of the written text and functions asa possible cesolution to the contra diction exemplified by the image. Gu Qing’ assignment is an example of Mao’s attempt to creste a national and madern culture that is at ehe same time revolutionary in character. Mao does not advocate the abandonment of al traditions, but rather an ‘issimilation’ of the ‘democrat’ aspect of traditional euleuce: A sped ld calere wie crested daring the lng psd ‘of Chinese feadal acer To study the development of thiol elrre, to ect eda dross and asilate its danocrais eonce isa neces codon fr davel- ‘oping our new national culture and inereasing our YELLOW EARTH ational el conidenes, bt we hold nee svn anything and everything nce Kis inpertos to separate the fine old clr ofthe people which had a sno o es dentate tl eon care Fm allehe deeadance ofthe old Fenda ing clas. ‘The injuneton to separate the ine old culture ofthe people’ from the ‘decadence of the old fel ruling clas’ would privilege Shaanei folk songe over Tang. guably also ‘indigenous’ to the ) as the defining ingredient of «national cule ture, Unlike Tang. poetry, which is the fiuit of innperial glory, eis fie od culare ofthe peopl’ has in fat been ourtured by adversity and oppression When Gu Qing naively aks the ol peasint how it Js possible for people to remember 30 many folk songs, the peasant replies that one remembers when life is hard. The unique character and the most dynamic radicalism of the Communist Revolut was also fostered in die mat pliying Mao's belief thae backwardness isan act, rather than an obstacle othe building of socialism, Yasian polities, which deviated frm more orthodoe Comintern principles, was characterized by an emphasis on the revolutionary potential of the spon tancous conseiousness ofthe masses and a deep sus- picion of the rigid onganisational structae of the Leninst vanguard party. The notion of the ‘as lnc = which provides the motive for the Gu Oing’s assignment in he film ~ was developed ae this ime. Mark Selden describes the'mass line in these ters ial condi “Mass ine coneptions ef eakeship broght hone and seas within the grasp of every youth oracle who wae repel o devot himself wholeheartedly to the evel roma ens, regardless of his chs, feral aning, oF faily Inekgzound. 1 pes cul ist leadership through strug and election, tes bars, ane rdiinal elite elements col essa by means oft the ils! and production campgnsto ite with and lead the people within the confine of he wlags Ia clther case, leadership implied brea withthe ets ofthe past and dhe acceptance ofa muiplisty of role hich tedionally had boon separate and dnc ™ Gu Qing’s assignment is thus supposed to serve & double purpose: to ereate & new national culture by ‘assimilating’ the ‘democratic essence’ of the culture of the region, as well as to foster the ‘mass line’ 185, through culural worker’ efforts to "unite with and lead" the peasants. The collection of folk songs is important both in and of itself, and as a process through which communiry may be built on ‘the acceptance of a multiplicity of roles which tradition- ally had been separate and distinct. ‘The insistence on mucunlty presents some sug: sestive problems. In a talk delivered to the cultural workers of the Shaan-Gan-Ning region in 1944, ‘Mao refers toa dilemma Gu faees in the film: (Our cate isa people’ culture; or cll workers rst act in acconance with the neds and wishes ofthe nase. All work ne forthe masses mast eto their ces and not fom he dese of ny inves, hover ‘well-intentioned. Iroften happens chat objectively dhe asses nec contin change bat aubjesiny they ae net yet conscious ofthe need, not yet willing ot determined ‘make de charge In such ess, we shou wat paten- Ay We should not ake the change uni wor, mst of the masses have buxom conscious ofthe ocd and ne wilng aed detereined to cary iro. ough our For Mao, consciousness-raising is necessary because class location and chs identification do not necess~ asily ~ or even usually ~ coincide. The Party collects and transforms flk songs as» means to instil a ‘sub jective consciousness in the peasantry. At the same time, Mao realises that cass identification en imposed from without, leat of all by members of another cass. In the fin, Gut Qing follows this demand faith- fally 2s he constancy engages che peasant on isswee of revolution and womens emancipation, bue refrains from actively intervening in Cuigiao’ situation, Gu is committed to lesrning from the peasants at the sme time that he tries to educate them. The most provocative lesson arises, however, when what Gu earns netuslly disproves the fundamental assump= tions of his enterprise. What ifthe peasants aro‘sub- jective’ thoroughly conscious of their ‘objective! needs bur are sill not impelled to follow the ‘objec tive’ eolutions prescribed by the Party? What if the arty’ solutions do not always satisfy the masses? neds, but metely instigate their desire to find other solutions? What ifthe truly radical implication of a ‘mutual apprenticeship’ between the Party and the masses demands that che Party relinquish its own authority as a representative of the masses? ot be 18a BITTERNESS AND AGENCY These questions are most clealy raised by the fol lowing scene, which takes place when Gu cats with the pessant’s family after ploughing the fields together Peasant Young officer, what watt you sid ase night shat you came here to collect? Gu: Ti collecting fll songs Loin from Shana. Peasant (ough) What fll songs, they've jus biter tee Lean ger {Gu Do you ano howto sng them, Uncle? Psat: Tin neither happy wor sad, what the pein of ie? (Gu Thee are 0 many ak songs how do people remember them a eas When if fia, yout member. Why ace you collecting biter une? in segion- Tellme ‘Gas Te put new words to them, so that soles of Cig age en ng them, When people ear thm, they'll know why eye sullaing, why women are Town why workers nd peasants should ise up. When vy i nthe ight he ich an he Jpan= ce ren ore brave Cinna Mao and Coonmander Zh bot love stein co fll songs. Charman Mao doesnt ans en hawt ington trex ad te, He wanteall he people of Chinn to xt proper ‘The ordering of Gus wants implies that conscious- ness-tnsing (through singing, reading and waiting) i the precondition for material well being (eating properly), This belief assumes that when people's ‘consciousness is aise, agency follows, It is, however, a ‘directed’ agency: The songs should spur peopte’s sui to participate in a political movement organised by the Party, which would, in turn, ensure the material well-being of the people it presents, The insistence on such ‘direction’ means that any unde rected (i. unintended and unforeseen} consequences of the consciousness-raising project must be eri cated ata costs, The peasants response to Gu's questions illus trates a different understanding of the elation ess and agency. He does not understand why the soldier is so interested in folk songs, which to him ave just bitter tunes. The soldier tases the term singe, which refers to Yolk songs’ or ‘songs of the people’. By contrast, the peasant refers ‘between conscious CHINESE FILMS ocus to the songs as sna qufer: bitter tunes. This term rops out any mention of the ‘folk, privileges the songs’ melody over their Iti, snd draws attention to the element of lameat (bitterness). To the peasant, these songe are not important as part af a folk era~ dition or as raw material to be vevolati party. They are simply to be sung spontancously, ‘when one i happy or sad, and are emer “life is dificult’, Folk songs are, accondin peasant’ understanding, affective responses t0 one’s lived experience, They exist solely withi moment beyond, the immediate context of their spontaneous production. Jt would thus make no sense to collect” them. The film presents many woments of folk singing to il standing of ‘bitter tunes’ aad its eritical implications forthe soldier's project. ‘Worried that the soldier may be reprimanded by his leaders for not having collected enough folk songs, the peasant sings for him for the first and only time, This compassionate ‘performance’ on the eve of the soldiers departure suggests, in two distinct ways, that che peasant’s understanding of the world far ‘exconds the assumptions behind the soldier’ project. ft, the composition of the shot that shows this nized by the te thie under YELLOW EARTH performance draws attention to the peasane’s bitter compassion for his daughter, A close-up ofthe peas ant’s face is juxtaposed with a blucred image of Cuigiao in the bsckground, listening while she works. The song is a lament for the suicide of a ‘young widow. Prior to this scene, we have letnt that the peasant has arranged a marriage for Cuigiao to a smuch older man. Berween her mother’s funeral and savings for his litle brother's furue beide-price, these is little money left for 2 dowsy and hence the prospect of a good match. In Gu Qing’ eyes, the peasant isan unenlightened patriarch who dacs not understand his daughter's oppression. Yet, this song, ‘ostensibly a performance forthe soldier, also func ns asa lament for his daughter, whose future is likely to be sinilarly tragic. It shows tha, contrary to the soldiers belie, the peasant ie neither unconscious ‘of nor unsympathetic ¢o his daughters sizuation, ‘even though such awareness and empathy do noe in themselves lead to any action or change. The bitte ness’ of these songs thus derives not only from the sentimental music or the rage scenario depicted by the lyric, but moze fundamentally rom an awareness of a discontinuity between subjective awareness an ‘objective change. Second, the peasant sings forthe soldier even though, as the scene diseussed above clearly shows, he does not believe in the soldier's project. In fact, it is because the peasant des not believe that the collection of folk songs for revel- ‘tionary use is tenable that he stages this perform: ance for the soldier. The peasant understands with insight chat the projece will el. Ou of empathy and compassion, he sings for the soldier so that he would have something in his collection’ and not be repri~ ‘manded by his superiors. The actual moment of'col- lection’ thus belies the logic af the project. Yet, it should be valued precisely because it could facilitate the ‘mutual apprenticeship’ Mao envisions Cuigito's songs also question the relation berwcen consciousness and agency. Her songs depict the condition of er oppression, yet they il 0 acic~ Uulete any possibility for change. Bitterness in song is not even considered an articulation in and of itself thus Cuigiao sings, 'T wish to speak my mind but T don't know how’, even when she has just spoken her mind in a song. However, Cuigiao’s desire to sing prompts her to search for something beyond both the songs and the soldier's promise. Gu Qing’ political ideals intially appeal to Cuigiao because they pro 195 pose equality for women. Gu argues with her father that women should’ be forced into arranged mar riages and should be given educational opportunities He shows off his sewing skill to Cuigito to demon- strate that men in the Communist Party share responsibilities thatare traditionally designated tobe ‘womens concerns. Howeves, these apparently femi- nist principles actually masginalse Cuigiao in their ‘own ways. The rhetoric of equality is under by a process of masculinisation that insribes the ideology of masculinity asthe norm in which every ‘one may equally parccipae. The fen ilsteats this process by contrasting the cinematic representation of Cuigiao’s singing with that of the waist-drum dlance at Yas'an, Cuigiao’s songs—as yee lated! by the revolution—are sung t0 sentimental ‘orchestral accompaniment and linked, by means of parallel editing, to images of nature which ae filmed in natural lighting apd exteeme long shots, minimally edited in slow panning long takes. Combined with the shadowy images of Cuiqiao’ solitary figure and markers of her ferinised labour (a water-bucket, spinning-wheel, a bellows), these sequences reinforce the association of pre-revolutionary’ folk cule with femininity, whieh is in eur associated with emotions sand nature. By contrast the waistdrum dance is filmed in a well-lit open space, edited ata frenzied pace, and foregrounds the male dancers expression- Jess faces and highly co-ordinated movement. The image of disciplined and masculine collectivity beaes s resemblance to the rain dance performed by male peasants at the end ofthe fil, The paeale suggests thar the ‘evolutionary transformation’ of folksongs :marginalises feminine ‘bitterness in the same way thatthe rural patriarchal ordes, in a desperate bid for survival (during a famine), also substitutes ‘bitterness with collective discipline. The pacticular feminist thetoric of Gu Qing’ assignment is thus unwittingly complicit with a suppression of femininity in the interest of organisational discipline and ideological “There is, however, one very important and sug gestive difference between the two scencs I compared above, In contrast to the high-angled long shots ‘which film the rnin dance as «spectacular upsurge of ‘mass energy the waist-dram dance is filmed in the style of hand-held motion photography. The system atic and co-ordinated movement of the dancers is incongruously represented in erratic and jerky shots. 195 A shot/counter-shot links this agitated perspective to ip of the hesitant and anxious expression of Gu Qing watching as an onlooker. When the waist= drum dance becomes the object of Gu Qing’s paze ~ in short, the gaze of someone who has submitted bimself to the Muoist pursuit of the ‘mass fine’ status a5 ‘revolutionary culture’ becomes extremely ‘unstable. Uncertainty and anxiety lurk beneath rev olutionary ardour and discipline. What has the sol dier learat from (the failure of) his assignment chat produces this moment of ansiety? What is the relation between his lesson and Cuigiao’? I shall consider this question by discussing the most promi= nent figure of clusiveness in the fil: nature. close RESPECT Images of natuse abound not only inthe film, but also in Cuigino's folk songs, the aesthetic of which is related to the fl’s cinematography. Cuigiao’s songs allways juxtapose a natural imagery (the frozen yellow river in June) with a social situation (being forced by fone’ father fo get married). There is, however, no semantic link that would compel che listener to make a specific correspondence between the two. [is thus impossible to establish whether the frozen river resembles the situation of forced matringe or the git!’ sorrow, or whether itis simply the scenery in front of her eyes when she sings. Similarly, the fi

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