Fate and Freedom

[Xie J.]

Fate and Freedom
A review of Mona Lisa Smile and And the Spring Comes

180212 金协 Xie Jin

Mona Lisa Smile starring Julia Roberts as Katherine Ann Watson, written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, directed by Mike Newell, released in 2003, tells a story of the girls who break the chains and set themselves free with the help of a free-spirited teacher in 1950s in America.

And the Spring Comes starring Wenli Jiang as Cailing Wang, written by Qiang Li, directed by Changwei Gu, released in 2008, tells a story of several people of a town who cherish dreams of art finally lost their ways in 1980s in China.

The two heroines of the two films are both out of tone with their surroundings. They fight against their fate and fight for freedom or dreams, but finally comes to extremely different ends.

Katherine is a new woman who crave for free life and spirit, pursue personal independence and fight against conservatively rotten ideas. She seems to be strange. She doesn't marry or aspire for marriage although she is not that young. When her students ask she why doesn't she get married, she only responds:" Just because I don't." She teaches the students modern art in a extremely conservative college and assertively leaves the college when forbidden from anything out of the syllabus.

Cailing is a music teacher who looks plain and ugly in a small town. As she says,"I am poor and ugly. What God gives me is only a good voice." Though born in a backward town, she loves for singing opera, which never makes sense to the other people in the town. She dreams to leave this town to Beijing and sing opera in the Paris Opera.

At the beginning, the stories are doomed to difference. Katherine herself is well educated, beautiful and wise also. She is clear about her life. However, Cailing is just a woman born in a backward city who seems to happen to cherish a dream of art. Katherine is the leader in Mona Lisa Smile, she leads her students to fight against their fate which is traditionally defined at that time. She has the ability to "save" others. But Cailing doesn't. She is helpless all the time. She can not even "save" herself, let alone save others who have dreams of art too. What she can do is only seeing one and another failure to the fate and finally the failure of herself. Mona Lisa Smile is a little bit idealistic while And the Spring Comes is totally realistic.

At the end of Mona Lisa Smile, Katherine is going to Europe to chase her dream of art, as the girls in her class eventually find their own happiness. It is a victory for freedom. At the end of And the Spring Comes, Cailing gives up her dream of singing opera, lives as an ordinary woman in the small town, as other main characters also lost their dreams of art and drift apart in the course of time.

The two fights for fate and freedom come to two ends, one is victory while one is failure. Neither is actually better, as they all have their values. The happy ending of Mona Lisa Smile indicates that fate can be defeated. It conveys a belief of the pursuit of freedom and dreams to the audience –– There is no so-called the character which we are born to be in people's life. We have the right to choose what kind of person we what to be. The bad ending of And the Spring Comes also show an esteemable and valuable spirit of pursuit of freedom and dreams. People's fights against the fate may finally fail, but it does actually exist. Just as the name of the film, the winter goes and the spring comes. As long as everyone keep their pursuit, one day the spring must come. It is the numerous failures that eventually lead to a victory.

As the distinct ends of the films, the styles and tones of the two are different too. You may moved to tears when watching Mona Lisa Smile, for its wonderful plot and vivid emotion. But when watching And the Spring Comes, you will never laugh or weep. You will only feel repressed. The tone of the film is pale and feeble, just as the fate of the main characters.

However, there are silent eruptions in despair in And the Spring Comes. Although born in such a backward town, they cherish dreams of art, which are unacceptable to other people at that time in that very town. Their desires for dreams and freedom can not be ignored or forgotten. Cailing told the story of worms’ breaking cocoons into butterflies to her daughter while the little girl was holding a magnifying glass to see a worm. The worm was struggling, just as the main characters were struggling from their fate during their life time. However, they will no longer have any chance to become butterflies. The reality is cruel and they finally failed to the fate. However, It is a great and beautiful tragedy. At the end of the film, Cailing is singing opera in the Pairs Opera. She must have imaged the scene for many times. The lyrics of her singing are questioning the fate,"I offer the sound of my song to you. Oh! Lord! In moments of despair, why, oh why, my Lord? Why are you so cruel and unkind?" It is solemn and stirring. The main characters went on in the desert until finally they lost their ways. In the face of the irresistible fate, they make desperate resistance which is of great beauty.

Someone may say that Mona Lisa Smile is too much idealistic. But a bit of idealism is not bad but necessary. Without the former's idealism, the world would never be today's world. Mona Lisa Smile happens in a traditional college for women, but the film is charged with a sense of freedom, which is only waiting for the moment when it is the time to break out. A plot which is Joan's choose to give up the Yule and get married is controversial. But I don't define it as a failure. Conversely, it is also a victory. Just like the fate, freedom isn't something can be decided by other people. Freedom is a very life wholly controlled and decided by a very individual. Joan chooses to get married and it is her freedom too.

People can not decide their fate, but they can strive their freedom no matter when. Whatever the outcome, the pursuit of freedom, dreams and dignity is of unassailable greatness.

[Sang K.]

Hi Xie J,

Very well written! I really enjoyed your essay learning your perspective on the movies. You have very well delivered the idealistic features of Mona Lisa Smile and the harshly realistic features of And the Spring Comes in a cohesive way. Reading your essay, I've strongly agreed with your interpretation of freedom and fate. Nevertheless, I believe there's still room to broaden your perspective by giving a little twist. On the surface, Cailing seems to be the one who is deprived of her freedom by constant failures and unable to be freely in control of her life throughout the entire movie. On the contrary, Katherine is deemed a brilliantly capable woman with a free will and open mindedness. Is it necessarily true? Undoubtedly, Katherine is a capable woman. However, her thought process and decisions are majorly centered on her mission statement that 'every woman is better off when they are independent'. When Bill said "you didn't come to Wellesely to tell people find their ways, I think you came Wellesely to find your way", this signifies how much her freedom is bound by a single thought she blindly believes. On the other hand, in my opinion, Cailing's decisions and behaviors aren't truly bound by surroundings albeit hardships. She fully makes decisions in her life that are not necessarily subordinated to social norms, beliefs, and even her own sake. This might in the end be parallel with the course of thoughts presented in your essay, but this ironical feature of freedom of two characters could be considered to deepen your essay.

[Ryan I.]

Dear Xie,

I appreciate you spending the time to share your reflection and analysis on these two films. I enjoy how you have taken two major principles - namely, fate and freedom - and shown how they are interwoven throughout both films. You are careful, also, in drawing contrast between the two protagonists’ outcomes, demonstrating that each movie on its own requires a unique review. You make this distinction clear in your thesis statement, which you have helpfully isolated as its own sentence.

You do a fine job in demonstrating that the “savior” status of both women differs significantly across both Katherine and Calling. You also do a fine job describing the differences between their ultimate outcomes, as suggested in your thesis statement. I also think you accurately capture the tones of both films, though I believe it would be helpful to point out more specific details across the films in order to provide evidence of how each tone is created. Your description of Cailing’s resistance against fate is intriguing as well; I would incorporate further analysis of the song lyrics in the final scene of the movie to help support your assessment. I appreciate how you noted, with respect to Mona Lisa Smile, that although Joan did not follow through on Katherine’s conception of freedom, she still expressed her freedom in deciding not to go to Yale (it is Yale, by the way, rather than “Yule”).

I also appreciate that you notice that the changing of the seasons in And the Spring Comes plays a role, though ultimately Cailing fails to achieve her aspirations, so I am perplexed by your conclusion that the spring indicates a “victory.” It may be helpful to expand upon this claim. Additionally, I would spend more time on the theoretical end when it comes to defining freedom and defining fate. I believe it would be useful to your essay to state explicitly what you mean by freedom and what you mean by fate so your reader understands precisely what definitions you are working with. There is also a movie detail you describe that I wish to point out because I believe it is inaccurate to the plot. You claim Katherine “doesn’t…aspire for marriage,” though that is not necessarily true, by my view. She certainly refuses to emphasize marriage as a necessary action in a woman’s life, but she does evidently have an interest in romantic pursuits toward the goal of marriage (even though her pursuits have failed).

Overall, though, I believe you interacted with the text thoughtfully and offered some novel interpretations which I find insightful. Adding more clarifications and expanding on your analyses would enhance what is already a well-designed respond. Thank you again for your commentary.

Sincerely,

Ryan Insley

[Xie J.]

Hi Xie J,

Very well written! I really enjoyed your essay learning your perspective on the movies. You have very well delivered the idealistic features of Mona Lisa Smile and the harshly realistic features of And the Spring Comes in a cohesive way. Reading your essay, I've strongly agreed with your interpretation of freedom and fate. Nevertheless, I believe there's still room to broaden your perspective by giving a little twist. On the surface, Cailing seems to be the one who is deprived of her freedom by constant failures and unable to be freely in control of her life throughout the entire movie. On the contrary, Katherine is deemed a brilliantly capable woman with a free will and open mindedness. Is it necessarily true? Undoubtedly, Katherine is a capable woman. However, her thought process and decisions are majorly centered on her mission statement that 'every woman is better off when they are independent'. When Bill said "you didn't come to Wellesely to tell people find their ways, I think you came Wellesely to find your way", this signifies how much her freedom is bound by a single thought she blindly believes. On the other hand, in my opinion, Cailing's decisions and behaviors aren't truly bound by surroundings albeit hardships. She fully makes decisions in her life that are not necessarily subordinated to social norms, beliefs, and even her own sake. This might in the end be parallel with the course of thoughts presented in your essay, but this ironical feature of freedom of two characters could be considered to deepen your essay.

Dear Sang,
Thank you for your feedback! Your inyerpretation of the other feature of freedom is really novel and insightful. It makes me think that what exactaly freedom is. I would say that in my essay, I define freedom as people's doing what they want to do and achieve what they want to achieve. But freedom is also about spirit and truth. Katherine is still confused with her pursuit while Cailing has a clear understanding of herself. However the ultimate outcome is a reversal. Katherine found her real freedom but Cailing failed. I will deepen my essay by futhering the description and explanation of freedom.
Thank you again!

[Xie J.]

Dear Xie,

I appreciate you spending the time to share your reflection and analysis on these two films. I enjoy how you have taken two major principles - namely, fate and freedom - and shown how they are interwoven throughout both films. You are careful, also, in drawing contrast between the two protagonists’ outcomes, demonstrating that each movie on its own requires a unique review. You make this distinction clear in your thesis statement, which you have helpfully isolated as its own sentence.

You do a fine job in demonstrating that the “savior” status of both women differs significantly across both Katherine and Calling. You also do a fine job describing the differences between their ultimate outcomes, as suggested in your thesis statement. I also think you accurately capture the tones of both films, though I believe it would be helpful to point out more specific details across the films in order to provide evidence of how each tone is created. Your description of Cailing’s resistance against fate is intriguing as well; I would incorporate further analysis of the song lyrics in the final scene of the movie to help support your assessment. I appreciate how you noted, with respect to Mona Lisa Smile, that although Joan did not follow through on Katherine’s conception of freedom, she still expressed her freedom in deciding not to go to Yale (it is Yale, by the way, rather than “Yule”).

I also appreciate that you notice that the changing of the seasons in And the Spring Comes plays a role, though ultimately Cailing fails to achieve her aspirations, so I am perplexed by your conclusion that the spring indicates a “victory.” It may be helpful to expand upon this claim. Additionally, I would spend more time on the theoretical end when it comes to defining freedom and defining fate. I believe it would be useful to your essay to state explicitly what you mean by freedom and what you mean by fate so your reader understands precisely what definitions you are working with. There is also a movie detail you describe that I wish to point out because I believe it is inaccurate to the plot. You claim Katherine “doesn’t…aspire for marriage,” though that is not necessarily true, by my view. She certainly refuses to emphasize marriage as a necessary action in a woman’s life, but she does evidently have an interest in romantic pursuits toward the goal of marriage (even though her pursuits have failed).

Overall, though, I believe you interacted with the text thoughtfully and offered some novel interpretations which I find insightful. Adding more clarifications and expanding on your analyses would enhance what is already a well-designed respond. Thank you again for your commentary.

Sincerely,

Ryan Insley

Dear Ryan,
Thank you for your feedback! Your suggetions are really helpful. I will use more examples to show the tones of the films and their functions. I will further the analysis of the lyrics of Cailing's singing. Also, I will futher the definition and explanation of fate and freedom.

You mentioned that the "spring and winter" is perplexed. So I would like to explain what I mean by the reasons. Normally, spring symbolize new life and while winter symbolize death. One is positive while another is negetive. So I use them as a metaphor. Cailing failed at last and this plot is like the winter. But the spring comes after winter. It is about the history of China. The context of And the spring comes is China in 1980s. At that time, the economy and society of China just
began to develop. Therefore, high art was too far from most people that they didn't understand it at all, let alone appreciation. As And the spring comes, it was a harsh winter for art and people who pursue it. However, after roughly a decade, art had been developed in the progressive country. And that was the spring came after the winter.

Thank you again. Good luck!

[Ryan I.]

Dear Xie J.,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my confusion over the symbolism of spring and winter in your analysis. Your consideration is intriguing that the Winter season and tones of Winter persist throughout the film, and symbolize the struggling economy and lack of artistic interest (at least Western artistic interest) in China in the 1980s. It seems to me, based on that understanding, that "And the Spring Comes" is an aspirational phrase, something that is to be longed for, but something that in the film is never achieved. In other words, all the characters are awaiting the moment when the Spring finally arrives and yet are trapped in the confines of a dismal Winter. I think you could wrap this concept into your analysis of the lyrics of Cailing's operatic dream sequence at the conclusion of the film. You could also tie this in to your criticism of Mona Lisa's Smile being too idealistic, not reflecting the realities of Winter but rather the dreams of Spring.

Sincerely,

Ryan Insley

[Xie J.]

Dear Xie J.,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my confusion over the symbolism of spring and winter in your analysis. Your consideration is intriguing that the Winter season and tones of Winter persist throughout the film, and symbolize the struggling economy and lack of artistic interest (at least Western artistic interest) in China in the 1980s. It seems to me, based on that understanding, that "And the Spring Comes" is an aspirational phrase, something that is to be longed for, but something that in the film is never achieved. In other words, all the characters are awaiting the moment when the Spring finally arrives and yet are trapped in the confines of a dismal Winter. I think you could wrap this concept into your analysis of the lyrics of Cailing's operatic dream sequence at the conclusion of the film. You could also tie this in to your criticism of Mona Lisa's Smile being too idealistic, not reflecting the realities of Winter but rather the dreams of Spring.

Sincerely,

Ryan Insley

Dear Ryan,

Thank you for your suggestions. They are really helpful for me to futher my essay.

I also find that the names of the two films are really intriguing. As you say, "And the Spring Comes" is something never achieved in the film but it sublimates the theme of the film. Also, "Mona Lisa Smile" seems not that linked to the plot of the film. But I believe that it indicate some ideas though I cannot explain them clearly now. I think that I can make a exploration of what "Mona Lisa Smile" exactly indicates. Could you please share with me if you have any idea about it?

Thank you again!

-Xie Jin

[Sang K.]

Hi Xie J,

I appreciate your feedback on my comment. It is very true that freedom is about both spirit and truth correlated, and the truth that Cailing faces in the end definitely seems like a failure. However, the very last scene of the movie and its title "And the Spring Comes" threw me a question. "what does 'Spring' mean to Cailing in the movie?" Most of the audiences would simply say that the spring means the success that she desperately desires but never actually happens in her ilfe. However, if we try to view this from a different perspective, spring could mean that she finally belongs to the society and her winter, the struggles and unfair adversities she experiences through her challenges against social constraints, has finally passed. I know you already seem to have all your thoughts together and are ready to improve your essay. I just thought it could add another perspective on your paper. Good luck!

[Ryan I.]

Dear Xie,

Yes, I'd be happy to offer my thoughts on the title. The phrase "Mona Lisa Smile" appears near the conclusion of the film in which Betty Warren is perusing a print in a textbook of da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" (at approx. the 1:44:41 mark in the film). Her mother arrives to address her concerns over her divorce and asserts that Betty will not go through with it. She responds, "Look at this mother...She's smiling. Is she happy?...She looks happy. So what does it matter?....Not everything is as it seems." This is a powerful point in the film because it evokes what I believe is one of its main themes. Namely, it evokes the understanding that simply because women have status, aesthetic (make-up, fashion), and appear to be living put-together, perfect, orderly lives, they truly are not. The reality is much more harsh, stifling, problematic. Issues are buried (in this case, divorce) that should be brought to light. And the only way the issues affecting women will be addressed (namely, a patriarchal dominance over their lives and thinking) will be if we look past the surface and expose the more deep-seated troubles. The Mona Lisa portrait itself is used to demonstrate this because, while there is a smile on her face, there is something much more deep, ominous, suggestive about her disposition, demeanor, visage as depicted by da Vinci. I hope this helps! Best of wishes.

Sincerely,

Ryan Insley

[Xie J.]

Fate and Freedom
ーA review of Mona Lisa Smile and And the Spring Comes

Final Fraft

180212 金协 Xie Jin

Fate is something determinded by a supernatural power and beyond people's control while freedom is the power of self-determination attributed to the will, or the quality of being independent of fate. In these two film, the main characters are the prisoners of fate. Other people believe that to achieve happiness, they should be resigned to social norms and the so-called fate. However, just as in Mona Lisa Smile, Betty said,"She's smiling. Is she happy?" Definitely the answer is no. Fate deprive their freedom so that they must fight against the fate for the freedom. In And the Spring comes, the main character suffered an harsh winter in their life and finally failed, but the failure is a prelude to the spring.

Mona Lisa Smile starring Julia Roberts as Katherine Ann Watson, written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, directed by Mike Newell, released in 2003, tells a story of the girls who break the chains and set themselves free with the help of a free-spirited teacher in 1950s in America.

And the Spring Comes starring Wenli Jiang as Cailing Wang, written by Qiang Li, directed by Changwei Gu, released in 2008, tells a story of several people of a town who cherish dreams of art finally lost their ways in 1980s in China.

The two heroines of the two films are both out of tone with their surroundings. They fight against their fate and fight for freedom or dreams, but finally comes to extremely different ends.

Katherine is a new woman who crave for free life and spirit, pursue personal independence and fight against conservatively rotten ideas. She seems to be strange. She doesn't see marry as the most important thing of her life although she is not that young. When her students ask she why doesn't she get married, she only responds:"Just because I don't." She teaches the students modern art in Wellesley, a extremely conservative all-female college, and assertively leaves the college when forbidden from anything out of the syllabus.

Cailing is a music teacher who looks plain and ugly in a small town. As she says,"I am poor and ugly. What God gives me is only a good voice." Though born in a backward town, she loves for singing opera, which never makes sense to the other people in the town. She dreams to leave this town to Beijing and sing opera in the Paris Opera.

At the beginning, the stories are doomed to difference. Katherine herself is well educated, beautiful and wise also. She seems to be clear about her life. However, Cailing is just a woman born in a backward city who seems to happen to cherish a dream of art. Katherine is the leader in Mona Lisa Smile, she leads her students to fight against their fate which is traditionally defined at that time. She has the ability to "save" others. But Cailing doesn't. She is helpless all the time. She can not even "save" herself, let alone save others who have dreams of art too. What she can do is only seeing one and another failure to the fate and finally the failure of herself. Mona Lisa Smile is a little bit idealistic while And the Spring Comes is totally realistic.

At the end of Mona Lisa Smile, Katherine is going to Europe to chase her dream of art, as the girls in her class eventually find their own happiness. It is a victory for freedom. At the end of And the Spring Comes, Cailing gives up her dream of singing opera, lives as an ordinary woman in the small town, as other main characters also lost their dreams of art and drift apart in the course of time.

The two fights for fate and freedom come to two ends, one is a victory while another is a failure. Neither is actually better, as they all have their values. The happy ending of Mona Lisa Smile indicates that fate can be defeated. It conveys a belief of the pursuit of freedom and dreams to the audience –– There is no so-called the character which we are born to be in people's life. We have the right to choose what kind of person we what to be. The bad ending of And the Spring Comes also show an esteemable and valuable spirit of pursuit of freedom and dreams. People's fights against the fate may finally fail, but it does actually exist. Just as the name of the film, the winter goes and the spring comes. As long as everyone keep their pursuit, one day the spring must come. It is the numerous failures that eventually lead to a victory.

As the distinct ends of the films, the styles and tones of the two are different too. You may moved to tears when watching Mona Lisa Smile, for its wonderful plot and vivid emotion. But when watching And the Spring Comes, you will never laugh or weep. You will only feel repressed. The tone of the And the Spring comes is pale and feeble, just as the fate of the main characters. The delibrately used dim light in this film is in complete contrast to the bright and soft light in its last scene, which is Cailing's singing opera in the Paris Opera. The another film, Mona Lisa Smile also uses bright and soft light to create a comfortable and hopeful atmosphere. In my opinion, the last sence of And the Spring comes indicate the looming victory. Just several decades after the 1980s in China, high art became acceptable and developed and the tragedy of Cailing will no longer happen. Although Cailing failed to achieve her operatic dream, she had been a psrt of the society and her struggles for the spring ultimately passed. This sence is the very spring for Cailing although it is a fantasy.

The tone of And the Spring comes is oppresive. However, there are silent eruptions in despair in this film. Although born in such a backward town, the main characters cherish dreams of art, which are unacceptable to other people at that time in that very town. Their desires for dreams and freedom can not be ignored or forgotten. Cailing told the story of worms’ breaking cocoons into butterflies to her daughter while the little girl was holding a magnifying glass to see a worm. The worm was struggling, just as the main characters were struggling from their fate during their life time. However, they will no longer have any chance to become butterflies. The reality is cruel and they finally failed to the fate. However, It is a great and beautiful tragedy. At the end of the film, Cailing is singing opera in the Pairs Opera. She must have imaged the scene for many times. The lyrics of her singing are questioning the fate,"I offer the sound of my song to you. Oh! Lord! In moments of despair, why, oh why, my Lord? Why are you so cruel and unkind?" It is solemn and stirring. Cailing made a lot of resolute decisions for her operatic dreams though it was a tough world out there. However the cruel fate still ultimately beat her out. She went on in the desert until finally she lost her ways. In the face of the irresistible fate, her desperate resistance is of great beauty.

Someone may say that Mona Lisa Smile is too much idealistic. The story of Kathrine seems to be completely contrary of Cailing's. Actually Kathrine was not that clear about what she herself exactly needed or wanted. And she seemed to blindly believe on something. She didn't clearly talked about her dream. As Bill said,"you didn't come to Wellesely to tell people find their ways. I think you came Wellesely to find your way." And she finally found her way and help her students to find their way. But a bit of idealism is acceptable. Without the former's idealism, the world would never be today's world. Mona Lisa Smile happens in a traditional college for women, but the film is charged with a sense of freedom, which is only waiting for the moment when it is the time to break out. A plot which is Joan's choose to give up the Yale and get married is controversial. But I don't define it as a failure. Conversely, it is also a victory. Just like the fate, freedom isn't something can be decided by other people. Freedom is a very life wholly controlled and decided by a very individual. Joan chooses to get married and it is her freedom too.

Both Mona Lisa Smile and And the Spring comes indicate the relationship between fate and free and how we should face them, in their idealistic or realistic way. People cannot decide the fate, but we can strive their freedom no matter when. And whatever the outcome, the pursuit of freedom, dreams and dignity is of unassailable greatness.