Two-Stage Sisters: How does this Film Depict the Changes in China - Movie Review Example

Running Header: TWO STAGE SISTERS (舞台姐妹WUTAI JIEMEI) Two Stage Sisters (舞台姐妹: Wutai Jiemei): How does this Film Depict the Changes in China? Name Institution Two Stage Sisters (舞台姐妹: Wutai Jiemei): How does this Film Depict the Changes in China? Introduction Two Stage Sisters is a great creation of the one Jin Xie who directed the movie in a way that revolutionalized the Chinese movie industry in its own right. The extent of the graphics used and the employment of corroborating evidence from other authorities that concern the same theme of the movie help make the authenticity of the movie justifiably credible under the harshest of scrutiny and criticism. The movie has been created in a way that has something for everyone: evil capitalists just as it suits sympathetic heroines; great musicians just as it suits those interested in revolutionary fervor (Marchetti, 1989). This paper discusses the film in detail bringing out with novelty all the ingenuity that is constituted in the making of the movie so that the way it depicts the changes in Chinese film industry and culture is highlighted and authenticated; this will constitute the highest level of interpretation as regards the uniqueness from its contemporary movies of the time. Purpose of Study This paper is written with the aim of discussing the movie Two Stage Sisters and how the film depicts the changes in Chinese culture. In discussing this, the essay will seek to establish the way(s) in which the film differed from the films of the Cultural Revolution that immediately followed its era. The essay also intends to serve as an introduction to the evolution of Chinese film in its cultural, literary and historical context. In so doing, the essay will discuss issues relating to modernization, cultural conflict, war, revolution and gender roles against a backdrop of Chinese history and politics. This therefore means that this essay will be a ‘position’ paper where a position will be taken in the Chinese film industry and culture and the film Two Stage Sisters will give analytical perspective to corroborate the presupposition. Synopsis of the Film Two Stage Sisters is set in pre-Revolutionary China where it is presented as a strong Hollywood-styled melodrama that has very strong and convincing political undertones that have been deliberately included in the plot for a specific reference to issues of governance and political leadership of the time (Marchetti, 1989). The film begins with a runaway peasant girl called Zhu Chunhua (Xie Fang) who is taken by an opera troupe for nurturing and in the process meets the kind hearted Xing Yuehong (Cao Yindi) and her father called Master Xing. After a short time of happiness in the family, the father dies of some bizarre illness and this forces the two new found friends cum-actresses to travel to Shanghai. While in Shanghai, they perform in the prestigious Shaoxing Opera where their brilliant talent makes them come out the favourites in the performance pageant and this immediately starts drawing attention to them. In the process, they topple the top ranked former singer, Miss Shang (Shangguan Yunzhu), and as it would be expected, the ousted singer, grows great hatred and resentment against her manager (Master Tang) whom she accuses of sidelining her for the new-found youngsters (Sheldon & Lu, 1997). As events unfold, it becomes clear that the two talented actresses are going places with their talent and therefore their friendship appears to be taking them places. It however becomes clear sooner than anticipated that Yuehong and Chunhua are headed in different directions as regards their personal social lives and even their career. Chunhua soon after the short-lived merry and stardom gets immensely interested in a revolutionary cadre which she finds solace in and therefore devotes her life more to it. In the process, the revolutionary cadre points out how women are oppressed and exploited and this exploitation is surmised to be due to the fault of not only bosses but also Americans (Sheldon & Lu, 1997). Chunhua’s continued interest in politics and matters of revolution compel her to attend substantial political meetings thereby becoming involved in the Revolution while Yuehong has little interest in political matters and straightway marries Master Tang after a short relationship. After the marriage, Yuehong and Tang live a stylish lifestyle that is heavily characterized by western mannerism and culture such as Western clothes, elaborate headdresses, high heels and makeup. At some point Chunhua refuses to stop a play that is objected to by the bosses and owing to this she gets assaulted thereby coming face to face in court with Yuehong who due to her social status and status quo, is forced to testify against her. This sets in a stage for a great dramatic climax. At the end of 1949, they both return to the countryside albeit in different light: Yuehong, to edge a living after being abandoned by her husband that she once cherished while Chunhua, with a traveling Communist theatrical troupe where she had devoted her life completely (Sheldon & Lu, 1997). At the end of the film, the sisters reunite albeit Yuehong’s fate remains somehow uncertain in spite of the film’s general optimistic resolution. Indeed in Marchetti Gina’s words (1989, p.45), “powerful and involving, Two Stage Sisters is an important film and a rare treat for the senses”. Short History of Jin Xie as regards Two Stage Sisters and his filmography The inception of the film into the Chinese film industry in 1964, came with some level of aesthetic thrust within the Chinese cinema in the post 1949 era. At this time the film’s director, Xie Jin had already made a name for himself as of a formidable reputation for making and directing films that had strong female protagonists and revolutionary themes. The movies that contributed most towards Xie’s reputation included two of his most successful works: Woman Basketball Player #5 (1957) and The Women's Red Army Detachment (1961). He came into focus at a time soon after the Revolution and when the new People’s Republic of China had just come into effect and leadership of the country (Xia, Semsel & Hou, 1990). To edge a name for himself in the Chinese cinematic world, Xie blended elements of Soviet socialist realism, Hollywood melodrama, folk opera traditions pre-war with Chinese critical realism in the Two Stage Sisters which he designed in such a way that it could be looked at as an answer “to what a peculiarly Chinese socialist film should look like especially as regards events in China after the Sino-Soviet split in the late 1950s” (Xia, Semsel & Hou, 1990, p.71). Xie Jin a native of Shangyu, in the Zhejiang Province and born in 1923 received the much coveted education in classical literature and Chinese opera which spurred him into his career in 1938 in Shanghai. He opted to further his education under the pedagogy of the dramatists Hong Shen and Cao Yu in the State Theater Institute where he was exposed to Western cinematographic and dramatic forms. After this he studied in 1950 the theory of Marxism at the Political Research Institute in the Northeastern Revolutionary University. Having acquired these skills, Xie began his career humbly as an assistant director to the well-to-do film personality Junxiang Zhang in 1948 and ever since then he has been directing his own films in Shanghai (Pang, 2002). His defining moments were in the 1950s and 1960s when he wrote and directed movies and films that received wide acclaim. Such films included Hongse Niangzi Jun (translated as Red Detachment of Women, 1960), which won best feature film and best direction prizes at the 1st Hundred Flower Movie; Festival, Nülan 5 Hao (translated as No. 5 Woman Basketball Player, 1957), which also won a silver medal at the 6th World Youth Festival; and the famous Wutai Jiemei (Stage Sisters, 1965), which won the annual prize from The British Film Society during the 24th London International Movie Festival, among others (Semsel, 1987). Xie has predominantly dominated Chinese cinematography because of his captivating themes that he addresses consistently in all the movies he directs and continues to feature throughout his career. One of the most reverberating themes he addressees in many of his films is the focus on women’s lives, artists, workers, and/or students, and uses a style that is “an aesthetic crucible that ground together Soviet socialist realism, Hollywood classicism, indigenous Chinese folk opera forms and Shanghai dramatic traditions” (Marchetti, 1989, p.60). After making Two Stage Sisters, Xie Jin was denounced as a "bourgeois humanist." It was this broad and bold approach at film direction and the way he articulated political issues that were considered abhorrent in the Revolutionary times that caused his later imprisonment for several years during the first few years of the Cultural Revolution. He re-ventured back into directing films in 1975 making a few influential political melodramas in the 1980s that included: “Tianyunshan Chuanqi (Legend of Tianyun Mountain, 1980), which won the 1st national Golden Rooster Award in PRC and the Best Feature at the first Hong Kong Film Festival; Hibiscus Town (1986), which won out at the 7th Golden Rooster Awards in 1987 and the Grand Prix at the 26th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in Czechoslovakia; and Yapian zhanzheng (The Opium War, 1997), which won the 17th Golden Rooster Award in China and an award at the Montreal International Film Festival” (Pang, 2002, p. 109). Xie used the lives of young women in an all-female Shaoxing Opera troupe to represent all foreseeable changes that the Revolution brought. He worked from an original script which was and is still unusual in an industry that bases most or all of its productions on literary works that are well known and appreciated in the society. He also used the setting of the film as a way of exploring the tremendous cultural, aesthetic and social changes that he found to have gripped modern China (Marion & Jefferson, 1997). Apart from the positive view of revolutionary change brought out in the film, it also addresses issues of cultural and political dominance that are as intriguing as they are bold. Despite all the flambouyance and pomposity that the film was received with during its prime times of inception into the Chinese cinematic forum, it was greatly suppressed during the Cultural Revolution and only really managed to be freely screened in the late 1970s. In fact, the film was banned immediately after its debut criticized for "bourgeois humanism", and this ostensibly made the reactionary sister to seem entirely sympathetic. In addition, the film’s director was imprisoned at the start of the Cultural Revolution (Marion & Jefferson, 1997). Impact of the film in China’s Filography Two Stage Sisters represents a novel eclectic aesthetic that perfectly blends what can be referred to as the "revolutionary romanticism" of the arts that developed in Yenan which was a Communist Party of China’s stronghold during the World War II. The film overtly has a Hollywood flavour which in is necessitated any way by the virtue that it deals with the occasions of the glamorous world that accompanies the opera stage and the flambouyancy of its stars’ stardom. The film also addresses the gritty details of urban life. Looking at the film from Yenan, the film succinctly shows how the revolutionary process elevates ordinary people and how the process is overtly interested in folk aesthetics and folk life and often has clear undertones of ethereal quality that looks like a fairytale. This graphic description that can clearly be traced throughout the film comes from an artistic blend of the political idealism with the folks’ roots (Pang, 2002). The film is also grounded in Soviet Cinematic culture from its sobriety in discussing historical moments, feudal gender relations, the nature of class oppression, the Japanese occupation and nationalism all of which are addressed within a dialectical framework (Pang, 2002). The film permeates all areas of societal opulence and lack: from the poor villages of Zhejiang province straight to the grandeur of the Shanghai opera stage and this expansive coverage of societal realities puts it “within a tradition of epic socialist dramas made in other post-revolutionary societies” (Silbergeld, 1999, p.123). There is something very interesting and captivating in the way the film is staged and is portrayed that has always captivated scholars’ and artists’ reviews. This is the mirror structure that is mingled so articulately in the film’s characters’ and the world stage. This is seen in the elaborate mirror structure of the movie which astutely and creatively uses the cinematic world of the stage as an aesthetic reflection of the transformation and changes that take place in the lives and attitudes of the characters in the film as it progresses. A good example is found in the Shaoxing opera stage, “which represents an inverse reflection of the feudal world of the countryside” (Silbergeld, 1999, p.111). There is a juxtaposition that in its sarcasm depicts warrior heroines (beautiful and charming) and their romantic relationships with young and opulent scholars which despite their opulence, overly brings to mind the impoverishment, pauperism, constant humiliation and oppression that these actresses live in. While in Shanghai, Two Stage Sisters shows a totally different kind of opera emerging which is based on the work of the author Lu Xun. This opera transcends the fantasy of romance and the realm of highly stylized heroines in addition to its many attributable themes to deal with the homeless and the poor. It is not overly romantic but succinctly features the gritty, everyday life of contemporary Chinese culture and life (Sheldon & Lu, 1997). Finally, Two Stage Sisters also features opera that was there after the Revolution with a snippet from The White-Haired Girl, which may be considered a perfect and well-known revolutionary play in its own right to have ever emerged from Yenan. The play consists of the critical sensibilities of Xun Lu and the folkloric roots of Shaoxing which are all artistically blended together “within a fantasy which features an everyday woman who becomes a revolutionary heroine” (Zhang & Xiao, 1998). The three of these aesthetic traditions are overly represented in Two Stage Sisters and serve as markers of historical change. They further give the viewer a unique opportunity to bask in the synopsis with an ironic distance from the drama which also enables him to place the film's fiction within a broader cultural and political context. It should not be perceived however as though the film merely documents social and aesthetic changes by incorporating alluring opera allusions but it also chronicles its own roots, affording the “viewer a rare glimpse of the history behind Chinese film aesthetics of the mid-1960s” (Zhang & Xiao, 1998, p.37) In fact, Marchetti Gina’s on this point says: It is as a document of this unique Chinese socialist cinematic sensibility that Two Stage Sisters is particularly important to an understanding of Chinese film culture as well as socialist cinema aesthetics in general (Marchetti, 1989, p. 118). The preceding discussion and analysis of the film Two Stage Sisters presented herein is a clear and astute show of the impact that the film had in the Chinese cinematic culture and trend. This film was staged in times where there was no freedom and privilege of free expression for actors and directors in the film industry hence the reverberating cases of imprisonment for many directors and actors/actresses that featured in many of the then films. It was among the pioneer films that preceded the generation that was referred to as the Fifth Generation of Chinese Filmmakers. This era came with increased popularity of Chinese films and cinema abroad (Zhang & Xiao, 1998). Two Stage Sisters details trends within the Cultural Chinese locals from the paupers of Yenan to the opulent stardom of Shanghai. It takes a step-by-step look at the cultural issues reminiscent with both of these societal realities. One area that the film comes closest to reality is when it indicates how young girls and men who have just been overshadowed by stardom mostly appear to want to eschew any association with poverty and life of hardship and yet that is exactly what the stories of their lives tells in reality (Zhang & Xiao, 1998). The imprisonment of the film’s director and banning of the film in the Chinese cinema halls is another indication that the film created a breathing front for many films that would later spring up. It was at a time when Revolution temperatures would not allow freedom of expression especially on political matters. The Chinese government that was in place then was intolerable to any political insinuations and inclinations that were not popular within the government’s policies (Xia, Semsel & Hou, 1990). The movie had this overt undertone in its approach to the prevailing issues which were steered towards the rejection of the socialist-realist tradition in the Communist era. The era that came after the staging of this film is what has been referred to as The Sixth Generation Era which began in early 1990s and late 1980s to the present. This era has also been referred to as “the return of amateur filmmakers’ due to the influence of state censorship policies which have led to some sort of underground film movement. The characteristic of this era is that the films are cheaply and quickly shot giving them a documentary feel with hand-held cameras, long takes and ambient sound. These characteristics give them an Italian Neorealism and Cinéma Vérité (Marion & Jefferson, 1997). In addition to this, many of the films in this era are usually joint projects and ventures with international investment. Two Stage Sisters just by the virtue that it belongs to the Fifth Generation, is virtually different from this era’s films. The area where it is overly different is in the way the Sixth Generation films are more individualistic with anti-romantic perception paying more attention to contemporary urban life more so for those films that are affected by disorientation (Semsel, 1987). Many of the films in this Generation highlight the negative attributes it associates with China’s entry into modernity and modern capitalist market. Conclusion Two Stage Sisters is indeed a novel creation that shows Xie’s ingenuity and professionalism in his career as a director. The way it addresses women’s issues and revolutionary moments of Chinese Revolution makes it bold and forthright in its reference to the prevailing issues in the then Chinese political moments. The position that has been taken for this paper and one that has been discussed throughout the paper has been that this film was a great inspiration and ice-breaker in the industry bringing in boldness in criticizing political misnomers and frustration through films as well as increasing the freedom of expression within the industry. The importance of this strike at political freedom cannot be underestimated since it is owing to such imperforations in tyrannical leaderships that the way for a political freedom and proper governance based on democracy and respect for fundamental human rights of political opinion was realized (Zhang & Xiao, 1998). The paper also has shown how the film appreciably differed from films of Cultural Revolution which immediately came after its era. In addition to this, the paper has also served the purpose of being an introduction to the evolution of Chinese film in its cultural, literary and historical context. This has been shown by the discussion of the coming up of Jin Xie and his career as a director. His growth and education through the industry is a clear indication of the way Chinese film culture hails education and professionalism as tenets that are imperative for the industry (Marchetti, 1989). The paper has also examined issues related to modernization, cultural conflicts, revolution, war and gender roles in the film industry against the backdrop of Chinese historical politics. All these have been instrumental indeed in surmising, and quite justifiably, that indeed Two Stage Sisters was instrumental in opening space for Revolutionary freedom of expression especially as regards political issues and women empowerment roles in the political arena. References Marion, Donald. & Jefferson, London. (1997). Chinese Filography: The 2444 Feature Films Produced by Studios in the People's Republic of China from 1949-1995. Pang, Laikwan. (2002). Building a New China in Cinema: The Chinese Left-Wing Cinema Movement 1932-1937. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. Semsel, George. (1987). Chinese Film: The State of the Art in the People's Republic. New York: Praeger. Sheldon, Hsiao-Peng & Lu, Honolulu. (1997). Western-Language Chinese Film Bibliography Transnational Chinese Cinemas: Identity, Nationhood, Gender. University of Hawaii Press. Silbergeld, Jerome. (1999). China into Film: Frames of Reference in Contemporary Chinese Cinema. London: Reaktion Books. Zhang, Yingjin & Xiao, Zhiwei. (1998). Encyclopedia of Chinese Film. London: Routledge. Xia, Hong, Semsel, George, & Hou, Jianping. (1990). Chinese Film Theory: a Guide to the New Era. New York : Praeger. Marchetti, Gina. (1989). Two Stage Sisters: The Blossoming of a Revolutionary Aesthetic. Jump Cut, 34: 95-106. Read More

As events unfold, it becomes clear that the two talented actresses are going places with their talent and therefore their friendship appears to be taking them places. It however becomes clear sooner than anticipated that Yuehong and Chunhua are headed in different directions as regards their personal social lives and even their career. Chunhua soon after the short-lived merry and stardom gets immensely interested in a revolutionary cadre which she finds solace in and therefore devotes her life more to it.

In the process, the revolutionary cadre points out how women are oppressed and exploited and this exploitation is surmised to be due to the fault of not only bosses but also Americans (Sheldon & Lu, 1997). Chunhua’s continued interest in politics and matters of revolution compel her to attend substantial political meetings thereby becoming involved in the Revolution while Yuehong has little interest in political matters and straightway marries Master Tang after a short relationship. After the marriage, Yuehong and Tang live a stylish lifestyle that is heavily characterized by western mannerism and culture such as Western clothes, elaborate headdresses, high heels and makeup.

At some point Chunhua refuses to stop a play that is objected to by the bosses and owing to this she gets assaulted thereby coming face to face in court with Yuehong who due to her social status and status quo, is forced to testify against her. This sets in a stage for a great dramatic climax. At the end of 1949, they both return to the countryside albeit in different light: Yuehong, to edge a living after being abandoned by her husband that she once cherished while Chunhua, with a traveling Communist theatrical troupe where she had devoted her life completely (Sheldon & Lu, 1997).

At the end of the film, the sisters reunite albeit Yuehong’s fate remains somehow uncertain in spite of the film’s general optimistic resolution. Indeed in Marchetti Gina’s words (1989, p.45), “powerful and involving, Two Stage Sisters is an important film and a rare treat for the senses”. Short History of Jin Xie as regards Two Stage Sisters and his filmography The inception of the film into the Chinese film industry in 1964, came with some level of aesthetic thrust within the Chinese cinema in the post 1949 era.

At this time the film’s director, Xie Jin had already made a name for himself as of a formidable reputation for making and directing films that had strong female protagonists and revolutionary themes. The movies that contributed most towards Xie’s reputation included two of his most successful works: Woman Basketball Player #5 (1957) and The Women's Red Army Detachment (1961). He came into focus at a time soon after the Revolution and when the new People’s Republic of China had just come into effect and leadership of the country (Xia, Semsel & Hou, 1990).

To edge a name for himself in the Chinese cinematic world, Xie blended elements of Soviet socialist realism, Hollywood melodrama, folk opera traditions pre-war with Chinese critical realism in the Two Stage Sisters which he designed in such a way that it could be looked at as an answer “to what a peculiarly Chinese socialist film should look like especially as regards events in China after the Sino-Soviet split in the late 1950s” (Xia, Semsel & Hou, 1990, p.71). Xie Jin a native of Shangyu, in the Zhejiang Province and born in 1923 received the much coveted education in classical literature and Chinese opera which spurred him into his career in 1938 in Shanghai.

He opted to further his education under the pedagogy of the dramatists Hong Shen and Cao Yu in the State Theater Institute where he was exposed to Western cinematographic and dramatic forms. After this he studied in 1950 the theory of Marxism at the Political Research Institute in the Northeastern Revolutionary University. Having acquired these skills, Xie began his career humbly as an assistant director to the well-to-do film personality Junxiang Zhang in 1948 and ever since then he has been directing his own films in Shanghai (Pang, 2002).

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