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Questioning the Strength of the Human Spirit:
Representations of the Revolution and The Blue Kite
[Page 1]
Director Tian Zhuangzhuang’s 1993 film, The Blue Kite, is a courageous and forceful work in the extremity and profundity of its critique of the Chinese governmental policies during the period of the early 1950s to the late 1960s. By focusing on the span of time from 1953 to 1968, the director captures an interval of stunning tumult that provides a dramatic backdrop for his characters’ lives. Through stylistic detailing, actors’ performances and their roles as allegorical figures and symbolic undertones, Zhuangzhuang skillfully presents a scathing criticism of the means and message of the Communist Party and the socialist project with a careful balance of subtlety and staggering forcefulness. A certain sense of absurdity pervades the film on multiple levels; this being represented specifically by scenes of punishment and persecution in the implementation of government decree. These scenes actualize Zhuangzhuang’s clear frustration and disapproval of the policies of the governmental regime of this time or at least the way in which they were carried out. He uses The Blue Kite to reveal the deep contradictions and shortcomings of the socialist project in the way in which its messages and policies were (mis)interpreted by both those in charge, as well as those receiving commands. At the center of the film is a deceptively simple narrative. The audience is introduced to a family, beginning with the marriage of Chen Shujuan and Lin Shaolong and subsequently, their son Tietou and other members. The Blue Kite follows their lives through what turns out to be one of the most turbulent periods in Chinese history. At a deeper level, the film is much more than a story of a family caught up in intense times. Rather, the film is about the futility and fallibility of the human spirit in conflict, against an era and society of blind mass obedience to an unrealistic voice and doomed cause, the shattering effects of oversight, underestimation and inconsideration and the power of the authority over the people for the worse. Zhuanzhuang utilizes key historical moments of the period to structure the narrative flow of the film. The Blue Kite cannot claim to be a pure history lesson, however; through the experiences of the characters, the director is able to convey some degree of accuracy and aids in audience understanding of the events and outcomes of the times. The story of this family begins in 1953, four years after Chairman Mao stood up in Tianenmen Square announcing the advent of the Revolution. The influences of the event manifest at numerous points in the film. The figure of Mao is omnipresent in The Blue Kite. The viewer sees his image on walls, buttons and in photographs, hears his voice on the radio, his name in songs and witnesses his pronouncements in the actions of the people. His propaganda pervades everywhere, even into the games of little schoolgirls. At their 1953 wedding, Chen Shujuan and Lin Shaolong bow to a picture of Mao and sing patriotic songs about “life getting better every day, our workers love labor, production grows and grow and peasants work together to harvest ever more.” They are not political activists; they are a normal, hard-working family that believes in Mao and his plans and expectations for China. Their allegiance and patriotism seems apparent and unquestionable. However, soon after this happy day, things change rapidly and profoundly for them. Despite their apparent loyalty, in time, they are under constant attack by local authorities and colleagues alike. The repressive regime and ideologies of the era tear the family apart. With the 1957 One Hundred Flowers Campaign policy, the government encouraged the people to verbalize their concerns and criticisms of the current system. The campaign was supposed to reinvigorate the nation by letting scholars and intellectuals speak out about the state of the union; the idealized expectation being that the government would learn from the people. This is presented in the film with large banners and parades motivating the people to help the Party by speaking their opinions. There is a highly symbolic scene in The Blue Kite where Shujuan is walking through a hallway in school where his colleagues are hanging banners with urging messages such as “Help the Party Rectify Itself” as part of the Hundred Flowers Campaign. As he walks underneath two men putting up a banner, it drops on him. They all laugh, but the moment is hauntingly portentous of what is to come in terms of the government coming down on the participants in the policy, specifically Shujuan and his family. As a schoolteacher and a librarian, Shujuan and Shaolong, like many others, oblige this request to give their opinions, only to have the government reverse its stance. As a result, Shujuan is persecuted and sent to labor reform for being a “Rightist” simply because he spoke his mind and the truth. He was only making suggestions; there was nothing aggressive about his comments. Additionally, Shujuan’s brother, Shuyan, suffers a similar fate for similar behavior, however his punishment and sentence are far greater. In time, the entire family feels the impact of this extremist and somewhat fanatical political system that plays on paranoia, back-stabbing and arbitrary ostracism. Repeatedly we see people’s loyalty to the government betrayed. The country is so anxious to root out supposed traitors that they give the weapons of political ostracism to anybody who finds it convenient to use it. In one chilling sequence, schoolboys are tired of school so they accuse their teacher of being disloyal and have her humiliated and dragged away. It takes little to be accused of being disloyal and once accused there is little chance of being vindicated. (Leeper) The family is ravaged by the political system in place, even though they appear to be sufficiently loyal to the country and its causes. While the governmental policies are severe, the people themselves take them to an excessive level.
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