The Emperor and the Assassin: Changing Roles of Women in Chinese Cinema
Despite of development regarding Chinese film making, the role of women in the film is the same until the new aged films. Mostly, in some previous films in western countries and even in the orients, the roles of women could be a typical mother, an old maid, a battered wife or a sex symbol, while men usually get the pleasant roles like good father, an emperor, and a hero or warrior saving his countrymen and hi country, though also some of the films in Chinese cinema depict weak male characters. The reason is that, in nature, women are weak. That is the perception of some of us regarding the characteristics and capabilities of women. That is why before, this perception was also applied in the cinema especially in Chinese films. The roles of the women became limited compared to men. And even in the previous time, Foster (1999) reported that filmmaking for some major studios have been almost exclusively the realm of men. This is the reason why feminists groups disagreeing in this kind of treatment to the women especially in the film industry.
In Chinese film, the ideological pressures between the Eastern and Western feminism have often been trumped by visual splendor and interpretation of melodramatic female suffering. General images of female suffering are common through classical East Asian Cinema. It is not a simple thing to relinquish suffering as the entire cultures are established upon aestheticizing it, and other established upon ignoring it, it lingers forever the lowest common denominator of entire human experience. It is now apparently impossible to remark on the image of women in rural Chinese films without placing that commentary within a frame of transitional consumerism and orientalism. Frequently, these are rural narratives that idealize a magnificent aesthetic of rural female suffering as an exportable vision of a China, framing its history in premodern rural as an international cinematic commodity.
Cinemas often reflects situation by means of both narrative and authors. Movies that featured women, told from a feminine point of view and directed by women are becoming numerous in China. Few well-known female filmmakers joined by some new voices. Although from the beginning, women have participated in the development of Chinese cinema, it was only in the 80s that the feminist theme started to emerge. And after that, many female authors have pursued the forerunners of women’s cinema. Films dealing with women from a feminine point of view are scrupulously devoid of sentimentalism. They are usually stories that are dramatic about the difficulties of women have the asserting their personal individuality and collective dignity.
Films are often the reflection of a certain individual and even a particular society. These may have sense since most of the films tackle love, relationships, frienships, and even serious problems such as poverty, government problems and even the relationship between countries. It also means that some of the films featured women reflects their current situation in the society. But as the time change, and another era comes, the role of the women in the cinema may change, as the new breed of filmmakers create a new impression towards the role of women not just in film but also in the society.
But in the decade of the nineties, the role of women in the cinemas, especially in the filmmaking, had significantly changed. In this time, the women film directors were more visible for the first time since the early days of filmmaking. Chinese actresses change their attitudes to gain better roles which they deserved. Like Gong Li, a Chinese actress, used her charm, talents, sexiness, and natural beauty to accomplish the roles she wanted. And in fact, Gong Li is as revered as the Julia Roberts of Chinese cinema.
In our present time, the role of the women in the cinema became momentous, especially in the genre of action films, where Zhang Ziyi opened a new opportunity in the international arena for Chinese actresses. Because mostly, some of action stars in this genre were dominating by men such as Jet Li and Jacky Chan. These Chinese women in Chinese cinema were in demand in the international films. Their kind of acting especially in the field of action films was useful enough to change the stereotype regarding the roles of women in the film industry. And also, their combat moves in the action cinemas were also used by other foreign actresses and actors as well. These are good indications that women can be competitive in the Chinese cinema. And according to Maria Barbieri (2002), the year 2002 was unquestionably the year of immense female performances of Chinese actresses and interesting characters of females.
Many Chinese directors are acknowledged for creating ongoing relationships with actresses who characterizes the filmmakers’ concerns and give entrée into other realm involving women, the female psyche, and the issues regarding feminine subjectivity. Concerning this, Chan develops a connection with Lindzay Chan in these two features that allows him to explore not only the subjects of cultural hybridity but also issues involving women and their apprehensions. As the time pass by, Chinese films have tended to depict weak male characters facing identity crises, like the film “The Missing Gun” by Lu Chuan (2001) and the film “I Love Beijing” by Ning Ying (2001), and female characters are much stronger. The stereotype of the feeble, miserable woman doesn’t work anymore, because female characters are tormented but do not anticipate the resolution to their existential problems to come from male characters.
These things are good signs for the women in the film industry where the roles of the female were not typical anymore. It is truly amazing that the roles of women in Chinese cinema are evolving. It is an indication that women, especially Chinese are becoming competitive and breaking the traditional roles of women in Chinese cinema industry. It also means that aside from the role of the women in the cinemas, their roles in the society also evolved into a greater height and ready for more challenging roles they will encounter in the near future.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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