This article analyzes scenes of media and redemption in Zhang Yimou＇s 张艺谋 film Qianli zou danqi 千里走单骑（Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, 2005） as a critique of Romantic Orientalism. Whereas in Western Rom...This article analyzes scenes of media and redemption in Zhang Yimou＇s 张艺谋 film Qianli zou danqi 千里走单骑（Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, 2005） as a critique of Romantic Orientalism. Whereas in Western Romantic poetry, the themes of retreating to nature and journeying abroad are strengthened by imagining the Orient and appropriating the local voice, Riding Alone negates that motif by depicting the divided subjectivities of Kenichi, a historian of Oriental Art at Tokyo University, and his failed redemption during his journey to China. The film offers his father Takata＇s alternative journey, which involves the foreign traveler losing his subject position before asserting his own, leading to the revival of the Lord Guan story. Much of the historical myth-making of Lord Guan in Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian religious practices involves a reinvention of a cultural tradition as a response to foreign threat; all share the features of what Prasenjit Duara calls ＂the apotheosization of a hero and his role as guardian＂ in a process of the ＂superscription of symbols.＂ By contrast, Riding Alone is secular and forward-thinking while reenacting several meanings of the Lord Guan myth such as repentance, sacrifice, redemption, and guardianship. The film interpolates the Japanese into a new ＂Oriental＂ subject position that has to lose its Western Orientalism as well as the negative impact of industrialism while retaining democratic subjectivity, and the Chinese into a new democratic subject position that maintains autonomy.展开更多
PEOPLE like to say ZhangYimou is an“excellent andfantastic talent.”For the di-rector of many successful films,thiscomment is succinct and appro-priate.Zhang Yimou was born in Xi’an,capital of Shaanxi Province,in 19...PEOPLE like to say ZhangYimou is an“excellent andfantastic talent.”For the di-rector of many successful films,thiscomment is succinct and appro-priate.Zhang Yimou was born in Xi’an,capital of Shaanxi Province,in 1951.During his childhood he was lookeddown upon because of his familybackground.His father was a grad-展开更多
As an indispensable element in films, father has always been the object of the film narration. In the early film creation of Zhang Yimou, there are two conflicting images of the contemporary self and the traditional f...As an indispensable element in films, father has always been the object of the film narration. In the early film creation of Zhang Yimou, there are two conflicting images of the contemporary self and the traditional father. The thoughts of Zhang Yimou in this period on history, nationality and cultures are the most profound, so the performance of the ＂patricide＂ theme in the films of this period is the most obvious. In this article, starting mainly from Zhang Yimou＇s early films, the author carries out the annotation and interpretation of the ＂patricide＂ theme in the early film creation by Zhang Yimou, as well as the main reasons behind the act of creation.展开更多
文摘This article analyzes scenes of media and redemption in Zhang Yimou＇s 张艺谋 film Qianli zou danqi 千里走单骑（Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, 2005） as a critique of Romantic Orientalism. Whereas in Western Romantic poetry, the themes of retreating to nature and journeying abroad are strengthened by imagining the Orient and appropriating the local voice, Riding Alone negates that motif by depicting the divided subjectivities of Kenichi, a historian of Oriental Art at Tokyo University, and his failed redemption during his journey to China. The film offers his father Takata＇s alternative journey, which involves the foreign traveler losing his subject position before asserting his own, leading to the revival of the Lord Guan story. Much of the historical myth-making of Lord Guan in Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian religious practices involves a reinvention of a cultural tradition as a response to foreign threat; all share the features of what Prasenjit Duara calls ＂the apotheosization of a hero and his role as guardian＂ in a process of the ＂superscription of symbols.＂ By contrast, Riding Alone is secular and forward-thinking while reenacting several meanings of the Lord Guan myth such as repentance, sacrifice, redemption, and guardianship. The film interpolates the Japanese into a new ＂Oriental＂ subject position that has to lose its Western Orientalism as well as the negative impact of industrialism while retaining democratic subjectivity, and the Chinese into a new democratic subject position that maintains autonomy.
文摘PEOPLE like to say ZhangYimou is an“excellent andfantastic talent.”For the di-rector of many successful films,thiscomment is succinct and appro-priate.Zhang Yimou was born in Xi’an,capital of Shaanxi Province,in 1951.During his childhood he was lookeddown upon because of his familybackground.His father was a grad-
文摘As an indispensable element in films, father has always been the object of the film narration. In the early film creation of Zhang Yimou, there are two conflicting images of the contemporary self and the traditional father. The thoughts of Zhang Yimou in this period on history, nationality and cultures are the most profound, so the performance of the ＂patricide＂ theme in the films of this period is the most obvious. In this article, starting mainly from Zhang Yimou＇s early films, the author carries out the annotation and interpretation of the ＂patricide＂ theme in the early film creation by Zhang Yimou, as well as the main reasons behind the act of creation.
