Film Analysis: The Yellow Earth

Film Analysis: The Yellow Earth

The film Yellow Earth is among the many of the Chinese films that have been produced to reflect different aspects of Chinese culture. In particular, this film explores the elements of Chinese culture before the civilization era. Regardless of directing the movie in 1984, Chen Kaige explores the production of an aesthetically moving film, that is composed of the various aspects of the film to enhance its realism as well as the aesthetic point. Over the years, the changes that have been noted in the film industry have been associated with the incorporation of technologically advanced methods of enhancing the world of art and entertainment. However, factors such as the western aspects of the film were evident in films such as the Yellow Earth, and this is also evident in modern films. Ideally, conducting an analysis of this film for the identification of the specific elements of films that enhance the aesthetics of this film contribute to the audience’s understanding of the construction of the film.

First of all, Kaige explores the common themes that are evident in most of the Chinese culture and films. For instance, he presents to the audience the aspects of forced and arranged marriages which was done regardless of the age of the girls. Marriage was not based on love or affection, and the people who were married without paying dowry or run away from their homes so that they cannot be married off were seen as a disgrace to the family. Kaige supports that “the girls must be worthless if they would just get up and go with a man” (18:56). Gender roles that are constructed by the culture are also evident in the film. The film digs deep into the core of the Chinese culture.

Through the characters, Kaige shares with the audience the thin reasoning capacity of the Chinese culturalists in the days before the civilization. In this light also, the director explains the cultural activities that these people were involved in. Unlike modern times, the traditional Chinese culture was mainly sustained by subsistent farming and different aspects of pottery and artworks. Arguably, most of these people survived by agriculture. After harvesting, most of the food would be stored in granaries for consumption. The role of the women as depicted by the film included taking care of the children and the home. The men, on the other hand, were responsible for fending for the family, and they were always out in search of food. Similar to all other traditions, the model of education at this time was informal.

The mice n scene that Kaige employs in the film is useful in complementing the setting and the storyline of the film. One aspect of mice n scene that can be seen through the film is the costumes. For example, the farmers are mostly bare chests, and as they are garlanded. This costume is effective in reinforcing the characters being peasants. Additionally, the fact that they are with the breasts bear is reinforcing the fact that the Yellow land is dry and this can be seen later as the peasants pray for rain to fall. According to the New York State writers institute, “The peasants in The Yellow Earth struggle hard to survive against the hardships of the land, as they have done throughout history”. The harsh weather conditions cannot only support the growth of vegetation, but is too hot for the farmers, and they have to stay without their shirts. There is an ironic aspect that the director of the film presents in this context. This is because the land is given as suffering from drought in the opening of the film. However, there is a river, from which Cuiqiao fetches water daily, which has a high flow of water to the point that no one can cross it. On this instance, Kaige beats the logic of the audience since the farmers can draw water from the river and irrigate their plants. Additional aspects such as the river and the mountain and plantations that the director captures in the editing of the film contribute to the development of the realism of the film to fit the description of a Chinese landscape. Additionally, the characters in the movie have been expertly constructed to depict the nature of the Chinese culture in which the fate of the women is on the men’s hands. Cuiqiao, for instance, is among the few women who are against the arranged marriages and her attempts to defy the customs to join the communist party lead to her death eventually. This incident of her death is used in this case to reinforce the beliefs of the Chinese community that people who defy the culture and traditions do not live long.

Moreover, the editors of the film have productively invested in the cinematography of the film to enhance its aesthetic aspect. The editors of the film employ the application of the panoramic shots in the opening scenes of the film to show the audience the nature of the land. At the running time, 2:05, the editors of the film employ the use of long-shot camera angle, and through this, the audience gets to see the landscape in its totality. The incorporation of the sounds of the birds also contributes to making the film seem real in that the audience can effectively relate it to their society. At 2:12, these editors use close up shot, to show the audience the communist soldier who is travelling as they came to learn later as the film continues (New York State Writers Institute). From this camera angle, these people can see the side view of the soldier, and one can tell that he is determined to reach wherever he is going. At this scene also, the editors have incorporated the sound of the wind that is used in this case to reinforce the fact that he is standing on a hill and the land is plain with nothing other than some few rocks and sand. The sound makes the audience feel like the location is plain, and the ground is dry, just as it was explained later in the film.

The lighting that the editors employed in different parts of the film also enhance the visibility of this film. Ideally, the opening scene employs the use of deem light to reinforce the fact that it is in the evening, and the sun is about to set. Lighting is an essential element of film editing since it contributes to the visibility, clarity and the overall aesthetics of the film. In support, Piazzolla and Gribaudo explains that “by the interaction of lights shadows, brightness, darkness and colours, the cinematographic space acquires a meaning, dramatizes itself and becomes a constitutive element of narration” (1). Ideally, lighting is used in the film to enhance the flow and promote the aesthetics that are seen throughout the movie. Most parts of the film are made using dark lighting, which in this case, is reflective of the period before modernization were in the night, there was no electricity, and these people would use lamps and lanterns for vision at night.  Even so, the light, especially in the scene at the running time 18:35 has focused on the characters. As such, the audience can see the people who are conversing and the camera has also zoomed to ensure that they can see the facial expression of these people.

Conclusively, the production of the film, Yellow Earth, is effective in reinforcing its thematic constructions as well as it is set. The director explores the themes of communism and chauvinism in the Chinese culture to enhance the flow of events in the film. Through the construction of the characters, the directors of the film create their way of promoting the flow of the movie through these characters. Additionally, the director and the editors work together to create a compelling movie through incorporating sounds and camera shots that enhance the clarity and at the same time, give the audience a better view of the film. Arguably, regardless of being a 1989 film, Yellow Earth is created in such a manner that it yields the aesthetic aspects of film in the western culture.

 

Works Cited

Chen Kaige “Yellow Earth 1984”. YouTube. Uploaded by Annabella Schnabel

New York State Writers Institute. “Film Notes – Yellow Earth.” University at Albany – State University of New York, www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/filmnotes/fnf05n9.html. Accessed 28 Mar. 2020.

Piazzolla, Pietro, and Marco Gribaudo. “Teaching the Aesthetic of Lighting in Cinema.” Teaching and Learning, 2008. -, 2008.