23 - Always be ‘Spring’

[Qiulan G.]

It seems that both two movies focus on women, to criticize or to praise.Indeed, 'Mona Lisa smile' is characteristic of feminism. The conflicts between women' marriage and career, love and betrayal, freedom and fetters are shown to us explicitly. Should women just learn to be a good housewife rather than an educated individual? Should women struggle more for their rights or just let it be?Should new thoughts take the place of some old traditions? From the above,we could obviously see 'Mona Lisa Smile' focuses on the feminism.

Whereas, the movie 'And the spring comes' is more of praise for certain noble characters than feminism. The director chooses a woman as the leading role but it will make no difference if a man is chosen.That's because what he want to do is to praise one group of people. Wang Cailing once says ' I would rather have one bite of a fresh peach than the whole basket of rotten ones. ’Well, that is what the director appreciates. Those like Wang who are loyal to music always follow their hearts when making choices in love, in life. So I could say ‘And the spring comes’ s motivation for creation differs from ‘Mona Lisa Smile’.

It's the very differences in theme that determine their points of view.

'Mona Lisa smile' demonstrates typical feminism. Thus, it looks things from the whole woman’s perspective in 1950s , tending to appeal to the public for something. Let's take the girls' love stories as an example. Betty, the earliest one who gets married, files for a divorce because of her husband's betrayal. Joan's fiance is caught flirting with a girl. Giselle always gets hurt in love. Only Connie finds the right man.

On the other hand, the film 'And the spring comes' looks at things from just one group of people’s perspective. Wang Cailing’s experience is a picture of those artists’ life at that time. They are given no chance to perform. Even though they have, they do not have audience who can appreciate. They are a group of lonely artists.

I don't know whether you have noticed that the colors of the scenes in these two movies are so contrary. 'Mona Lisa smile' tends to be brighter while 'And the spring comes' tends to be dim, grey and dark. Do the directors arrange deliberately?

I think they do. Both bright and dim colors correspond to the themes. As I put it, 'Mona Lisa smile' is trying to appeal. An appeal must end up with inspiration, confidence or excitement. Brighter colors are of great help to it. A scene formed by colorful nature, colorful clothes and colorful buildings can absolutely rouse people easily.

'And the spring comes' chooses dim colors ,which is wise as well. Dim, grey and dark colors easily depress others but at the same time calm the audience down, making them think calmly and deep. Nonetheless, a contrast between the dim scenes and Wang's bright inner thoughts can highlight her noble character.

Last but not the least, learning certain background information will help us have a better understanding of other country’s cultures.

Why the producer named the film “Mona Lisa Smile” ?To answer it, we need to know the portrait--Mona Lisa’s hidden symbolic meaning. This masterpiece, painted by Leonardo Da Vinci, the famous artist during the Renaissance, is seen as a symbol of humanism. The Renaissance called for human’s liberation, which, to some extent, corresponds to the movie’s theme --- women’s liberation. The movie aims at appealing to women in the 1950s to free themselves from traditional rigid thoughts .

In “When the Spring comes”, We can’t believe that it is so hard for a nobody to pursue her own dream until we learned it’s in the 1980s ,a transitional period for China. I think this is also the significance of an exchange activity.

These two movies both end up with the season, spring, which means hope .Katherine and Wang are just like the spring, positive and bright, no matter how different they are.

[You L.]

Hi Qiulan
I really like how you notice the difference in the scene colors between two movies. I agree with you that directors arranged it deliberately. You pointed out that in the ‘And the Spring Comes’ the color is dim and grey because it wants to establish a strong contrast between dim scenes and Wang’s bright inner thoughts or noble character. However, I am not sure that Wang is a noble character. I believe, Wang is just an ordinary and contradicted person who wants to be famous and successful but it is impossible for her to achieve her goals because of her ugliness and social background in that era. She takes illegal action to buy the 户口（Hukou） in order to make a living in Beijing. She has sex with Huang when Huang passes out. However, she is a virtuous person when she helps the fake cancer girl to win the vocal competition. It is hard to put the noble label on Wang Cailing.

[Christian E.]

Hi Qiulan,
I agree with your analysis on the color schemes of the two movies. I noticed this as well, the dim grey color scale in And the Spring Comes matches with its theme and tone. I am not sure about you, but I considered And the Spring Comes to be very pessimistic about the prospects of being an artist or singer. The grey colors matches that tone. In contrast, I thought the final tone of Mona Lisa Smile was very optimistic and bright as the young women learned their full potential and independence. The brighter, more vibrant color scales reflect that.
Just curious, but do you view And the Spring Comes to be an accurate portrayal of society in China in the 1980's?

[Daniel Z.]

Hi Qiulan,
I thought your contrasting between the two films was very good. Though you write otherwise, I do believe that Cailing being a female has impacts into her success as an artist. In the movie, the male is ridiculed for his art--Western ballet. However, Cailing is celebrated for her art; she is ridiculed for her appearance. The director suggests that while man may be criticized for skills they can cultivate and posses, a female can do nothing if she is not beautiful. For the female, a necessary criterion to success is outward beauty. This same notion is not suggested for the success of the male author. I also found it interesting how you believe both films end in a "positive and bright" aspect of the spring. I found this especially interesting because of the contrast you drew between the lighting in both films. Although the dream sequence at the way end of "And the Spring Comes" is bright, can we really say that the movie ends in the same positive and bright aspect of the spring that Mona Lisa Smile does? Or is there another aspect of the spring that the director is attempting to showcase?

[Qiulan G.]

Hi,You L
First of all, sorry for the delayed response. I hope you don't mind.
Yes, indeed, technically speaking, Wang can not be seen as a noble character. I think I misused the word 'noble' before I really figure out its exact meaning. She may not be a woman with integrity, but Wang does have some features that Gu thinks highly of, like her persistent attitude toward love. Even if she is no longer at her best age to get married, she doesn't compromise at all cause she hasn't find 'the one'. Nobody is perfect, so is Wang. Leave her flaws aside, you would probably find that she possesses certain admirable charactor no one else has.
And I am wondering if you could give me more comment on my essay, which would a tremendous help to me. In my essay, I try to argue how different they are in points of views. However, my teacher and classmates say my analysis is not convincing, hard for them to accept. And I would like to know how do you feel after reading that part. You can feel free to say anything because I am really eager to know about that. Thank you so much!

[Qiulan G.]

Hi Christina,
Indeed, ‘And the Spring comes’ generally depressed the audience through its dim colors. In the end, Wang fails her dream and has to come down to earth, raising a child as a regular woman. But I think Wang never gives up her dream in mind throughout the movie. And that’s why I say there is a contrast between the dim color and her bright inner thought.
About your second question, I would like to divide into two aspects to answer.
The director, Gu, is the one who used to live in 1980s, China. So from the characters’ dressing style, buildings, ect, I can say that is exactly what the society looks like at that time.
Whereas, the theme that Gu wants to convey in this movie is not one of the main features in that era. Wang is just an ordinary person who struggles for her music dream. This could happen to anybody for any period of time. But if you recall Huang Sibao’s experience, you will find something closely associated to that era. Huang started his own business and ‘succeed’ after leaving Wang. Actually, that is when the government encouraged people to do business, which rarely can be seen before 1980s. It reflects our country is in a transition from planned economy to socialist market economy. Maybe you have already known about that.
Also I am very curious about the feminist movement in the US. America has been the best known country that achieves great success in feminism so far. China should learn a lot from America, I think. Then what other things do you think we women should do to protect our rights?
Looking forward to your reply, friend.

[Christian E.]

Qiulan,
I think it is very intriguing that you say America is the best known country for feminist successes, it feels like we ourselves have so far to go. For example, the attitudes seen in "Mona Lisa Smile" , such as woman should just be good wives, still very much exist in certain parts of America, mostly in rural/religious areas though. Additionally, many woman do not get paid the same amount as their male coworkers, even though they have the same jobs or are equally productive. Finally, currently in America there is a large movement called the MeToo movement. It addresses workplace sexual assaults and many famous American celebrities have been implicated in some of the allegations. So America may appear that we have a lot of success for the women movement, but at the same time America has a long way to go. Now I am curious about feminism in China, are there any feminist movements? I may be wrong but I believe Mao was the one who said that women hold up half the sky.
照顾
-Chris

[Qiulan G.]

Hi Christina,
I know about the MeToo movement which was reported by the media. In China, seldom have we heard about the phenomenon of getting paid unequally. What women complain most is that many companies prefer male to female applicants because companies do not want to pay for their allowance during the period of giving birth to a child. Our laws protects pregnant women’ right of getting paid, though they are not at work and stay at home.
Maybe I should say we women still have a long way to go to struggle for our own rights.
As far as I know, we don’t have a very large movement on feminism. But as a woman in China, I haven’t felt like being treated unequally. As long as you are capable, irrespective of your gender, you will get promoted and be respected by others. No one would pay much attention to the fact that whether you are a man or not, we care more about your ability.

[Christian E.]

Qiulan,
Just as a disclaimer, I am a man (Chris) so I am observing the feminist movement as somewhat of an outsider. That being said, it seems to me that often it is just as you said and that regardless of your gender, people will respect you and your work as long as you are capable. However, it would be wrong to say that biases still exist in American society. I think these biases are mainly owned by the older population. Time will tell as older generations die off if that is true, but my guess is that women's rights will only increase or get better in America as the younger generations come into power. Is there a generational discrepancy similar to this (feminist or anything else) in China?
Look forward to your reply, I always find them interesting.

-Chris

[Qiulan G.]

Chris,
After several rounds of communication with you, I sometimes feel like we are both like kind of culture disseminator, not only trying to inform others of your own country’s culture, but also clarify something misunderstood. I am happy you point out my misunderstanding of the biases. But in fact, no one can separate the older generation from the society, although they might not be right in thought.
In China, there is a generational discrepancy in parenting styles between the younger and older generation. The older generation’s parents tend to be strict about their children, requiring them to act well in all aspects. However, the younger parents tend to be more tolerant and supportive.
Of course, this difference can not be equivalent to the problem of women’ rights. Whereas, in my opinion, even if the older generation die off eventually, we still can not promise the society will get better. The most important thing is not the age but what is done.