The Blue Kite
Encyclopedia
The Blue Kite is a film directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang
Tian Zhuangzhuang
Tian Zhuangzhuang is a Chinese film director and producer.Tian was born to an influential actor and actress in China. Following a short stint in the military, Tian began his artistic career first as an amateur photographer and then as an assistant cinematographer at the Beijing Agricultural Film...

 in 1993. Though banned by the Chinese government upon its completion (along with a ten year ban on filmmaking imposed on Tian), the film soon found a receptive international audience. Along with Zhang Yimou's
Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum....

 To Live and Chen Kaige's
Chen Kaige
Chen Kaige is a Chinese film director and a leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema. His films are known for their visual flair and epic storytelling.-Early life:...

 Farewell My Concubine, The Blue Kite serves as one of the quintessential examples of China's Fifth Generation filmmaking, and in particular reveals the impact the various political movements, including Anti-Rightist Movement
Anti-Rightist Movement
The Anti-Rightist Movement of the People's Republic of China in the 1950s and early 1960s consisted of a series of campaigns to purge alleged "rightists" within the Communist Party of China and abroad...

 and Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...

, had upon directors who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s.

The film won the Grand Prix at the Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo International Film Festival is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biannually from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter...

, and Best Film at the Hawaii International Film Festival
Hawaii International Film Festival
The Hawaii International Film Festival is a film festival held in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It was started in 1981 by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko and has been held annually in the fall for two weeks...

, both in 1993.

Synopsis

The story is told from the perspective of a young boy (Tietou) growing up in the 1950s and 1960s in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

. Three episodes – Hundred Flowers Campaign
Hundred Flowers Campaign
The Hundred Flowers Campaign, also termed the Hundred Flowers Movement, refers mainly to a brief six weeks in the People's Republic of China in the early summer of 1957 during which the Communist Party of China encouraged a variety of views and solutions to national policy issues, launched...

, the Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...

 and the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...

 – show the family members evolving, e.g. from the real father, the "loving patriarch," to the protective but unemotional stepfather.

Father

The first episode, entitled "Father," begins with a wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...

 between Lin Shaolong and Chen Shujuan in the early 1950s, shortly after the Communist victory. The wedding draws the whole neighborhood, a happy moment that will soon serve as a stark contrast with the years to come. The house and courtyard
Courtyard
A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....

 are shown in a warm bright light as children play happily together.

The couple soon give birth to a son, Tietou, meaning "iron head." In these early years Tietou's father creates for him a blue kite, a symbol that will remain throughout the film as a sign of better days. The father meanwhile, who works in a library, unbeknown to him, submitted "advice" through a well-meaning colleague to the Party as per the Hundred Flowers Campaign
Hundred Flowers Campaign
The Hundred Flowers Campaign, also termed the Hundred Flowers Movement, refers mainly to a brief six weeks in the People's Republic of China in the early summer of 1957 during which the Communist Party of China encouraged a variety of views and solutions to national policy issues, launched...

. Another colleague, Li, also named in this document, was coerced into giving statements against Lin. Meanwhile, Chen Shujuan's brothers and sister find themselves swept up by the events of the day: Her older brother, an army pilot, begins to lose his eyesight, and loses his girlfriend to powerful party leaders seeking her company; her youngest brother leads a "critique of the party" that he feels is in line with the "Hundred Flowers Campaign"; while their oldest sister, a revolutionary from China's civil war, seeks to keep them in line with party doctrine and party thinking. This soon returns to haunt all of them as the Hundred Flowers movement is followed by the Anti-Rightist Movement
Anti-Rightist Movement
The Anti-Rightist Movement of the People's Republic of China in the 1950s and early 1960s consisted of a series of campaigns to purge alleged "rightists" within the Communist Party of China and abroad...

. We soon find out that Shujuan's older bother was going blind, and will soon be forced to leave the party. The girl he loved also resigned over her refusal to meet with senior party members in clandestine affairs. Without given cause, simply that she was flaming "counter revolutionary thoughts", she was taken away to prison. Shujuan's youngest brother, an art school student, was called to task for his "critique" of the party and shown standing before his fellow students as they rally against him.

In one of the film's most chilling scenes, the Lin Shaolong's workplace has convened a meeting on the issue of who they will have to report to the Communist Party as a "rightist" in order to meet Mao's quota. The father quickly leaves for the bathroom. When he returns, all eyes are on him, it is clear who his colleagues have selected. Realizing his terrible mistake of leaving, the father briefly mistreats his son. Tietou, just a small boy, is still bitter when his father is sent to a work camp. Shujuan's youngest brother was also sent to a reeducation camp. The chapter ends when Tietou's mother receives a letter; his father has been killed by a falling tree.

Uncle

The second episode of the film is entitled "uncle" and deals with Tietou's mother's courtship by Li, her husband's former colleague, and subsequent remarriage to "Uncle" Li. Li felt haunted by his role in sending his friend to the work camp which resulted in Lin's death. Li spent every moment helping out the mother and child, and every penny in easing their distress in the rapidly declining society.

The episode begins with a group picture during a wedding, with the men wearing blue work uniforms. Much of the episode's palette seems to follow this opening trope as both the courtyard and house are shown in a cold blue. Uncle Li cares for the boy's material needs and desires but it soon grows clear that his health is failing. Li wants to become a party member, and is working feverishly at his job. Soon, malnutrition during the Great Leap Forward takes its toll and Uncle Li dies due to his poor health.

Stepfather

No wedding ceremony, no feelings shown at all. This marriage is just to save the mother and son from poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...

, and to give them protection. They move in with the stepfather (Lao Wu). The house is so big that everyone has his own room, no family life at all.

Meanwhile, the Cultural Revolution is about to break forth led by adolescents seeking to "rebel" against those who seek to reign them in: their parents, teachers, and even party members the central government deemed dangerous. The stepfather, a prominent party member about to be disgraced, worries about saving his wife and stepson and does what he can to provide a safe life for them before it is too late. He offers them money and to divorce Shujuan. Perhaps unable to see another husband taken from her, Shujuan returns to her husband's home as he's being lifted out of his home by the rebelling Red Guards. The last scenes are of Tietou's mother being dragged away by Red Guards, who also beat Tietou. At the end the boy is lying on the ground, bloodied. In a voice over he tells of his stepfather's death from heart failure, his mother is sent to the work camps, but his own fate is left unknown. The camera pans out from his bruised body as he lies there looking up to see a broken blue kite hanging in the tree.

Themes

The film shows a series of patriarchal figures in Tietou's life. Each of the fathers somehow offends the party, and each fails to provide a happy life for his family. Many symbols are used to show that the party is usurping the father, the mother and the family itself. The more the party takes control, the less emotions are shown and the more depressed the characters are. The party is also shown reaching out for those who seek to undermine it and no one can escape: not the student, not the ordinary librarian, and not even the soldier who fought for those very ideals.

Banned in mainland China

Because of its content, it was banned in mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...

 by the government.

Awards

  • Hawaii International Film Festival
    Hawaii International Film Festival
    The Hawaii International Film Festival is a film festival held in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It was started in 1981 by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko and has been held annually in the fall for two weeks...

    , 1993
    1993 in film
    The year 1993 in film involved many significant films, including the blockbuster hits Jurassic Park, The Fugitive and The Firm. -Events:...

    • Best Feature Film
  • Tokyo International Film Festival
    Tokyo International Film Festival
    Tokyo International Film Festival is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biannually from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter...

    , 1993
    1993 in film
    The year 1993 in film involved many significant films, including the blockbuster hits Jurassic Park, The Fugitive and The Firm. -Events:...

    • Grand Prix
    • Best Actress Award – Lu Liping
  • Independent Spirit Awards
    Independent Spirit Awards
    The Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit...

    , 1995
    1995 in film
    -Top grossing films:-Events:* March 22 - The Dogme 95 movement is officially announced in Paris by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.* March 28 - Actress Julia Roberts and singer Lyle Lovett announce their plans for separation....

    • Best Foreign Film nomination

See also

  • Hibiscus Town
    Hibiscus Town
    Hibiscus Town is a 1986 Chinese film directed by Xie Jin, based on a novel by the same name written by Gu Hua. The film, a melodrama, follows the life and travails of a young woman who lives through the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution and as such is an example of the "scar drama" genre that...

    — another Cultural Revolution
    Cultural Revolution
    The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...

    drama, made several years prior to The Blue Kite.
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