The Use of Concepts of New Waves in Writing the Histories of World Cinema - Essay Example

The use of concepts of new waves in writing the histories of world cinema Introduction Different countries and societies are surrounded by many complexities, in their writing of cinematic history, due to the outlook of employing and challenging the theories of imagined communities and cultural identity. The exploration of the thematic emphasis of the histories reveals that there is the portrayal of the uniqueness that can be traced to the use of new wave or new generation concepts in world cinema. Much of the influence that is evident draws from a society’s native roots, including the historical intricacies of being a national of a given country, including the melancholy of being associated to a given society. The review of world and Taiwanese cinema, in particular, reveals that there is an inherent relationship between historical intricacies and the melancholy of being Taiwanese, as demonstrated by the films produced under the Taiwanese new wave of Cinema. The use of the new wave in writing the histories of Taiwanese cinema In particular, the 1980s and 90s were the years that the writers of Taiwanese film used the media to communicate the cultural identity of the people, and also the time that the new wave and genre came to the attention of the world. The historical identities revealed in the cinematic presentation include the country’s connection to China, including their divergence on the legitimacy of China as a culture and a nation-state. The historical relations reflected through the new wave of cinema include the relocation of MinTang’s government, after the defeat that took place during the 1949s in China. In the view of Lu and Yeh, it is necessary to explore deeply, the language used in cinema, as well as the issues that identify it, including symbolism and language.1 This approach is particularly applicable to the exploration of resistance movies, as these are predominant in the new wave of cinema produced in Taiwan. In essence, the concepts of the new wave were used, because cinema is a symbolic language that is fashioned using cimenatic codes. These codes include lighting, performance, editing, sound and camera shooting, among others. The combined usage of these codes makes cinema a highly effective channel for the expression of identities at the various levels, including cultural, political, national or individualistic. The second qualifier for the usage of cinema is that the language used in cinema can be used to express the identities of the people. For example, it can be used in highlighting the theme of historical instability, as a reflection of political communication or meaning. In the particular case of Taiwan, language is likely to be used to communicate a sense of hostility; to the promotion of regional or national unity, or in communicating a sense of distance for the communities in question. One of the TNC production that communicates the theme of political instability is the 1989, A City of Sadness, which can be classified as a resistance film. The film was mainly a resistance cinematic presentation, as it highlighted the social and the political concerns of the people, which they sought to overcome. The cultural intricacies of Taiwan, which form the basis for the new wave of cinema, include the change of the regimes that took place between the 20th century and the current time. Due to the influence of various political and historical attributes, the construction of the culture of Taiwan is intricate and complex. In ancient times, Taiwan was a part of the Chinese territory, the country’s systems and the people were influenced by the traditional frameworks of the mother territory, including Taoism. However, Taiwan’s history has also been shaped and influenced by the West, especially American values and also the culture of the Japanese. According to Stuart, there are different forms of identity, and they include that of being and that of becoming.2 In the first outlook, the identity of the Taiwanese embodies a culture bond and a sense of oneness that cannot be broken. This form of oneness masks all the other distinctiveness that is superficial, and it is the basic essence of the identification of the people of Taiwan, as shown in cinema. The second interpretation of identity, it is comprised of points of identity and recognition that are endless. This form is the one that points to the essential and current conception of the people of Taiwan, taking into account the complexity of their past. In this regard, the TNC wave was pointed out by Needham, as demonstrated through their depiction of identity, despite that it is often masked by the larger picture of Chinese cinema.3 In the context of politically-manipulated history, there is evidence of the repression of Taiwan’s indigenous history, local heritage and the country’s non-Chinese domination, during the era when it was dominated by the Dutch and also the Japanese. After the reduction of the political pressure exerted by external powers, during the 1980s, the survey and promotion of Taiwanese identity was taken up by various auteur directors. The common themes explored by their films included the issues of native origins for the country and its people, making highlighting their native roots one of their predominant ideologies.4 However, contrary to the dominant wave of cinema in Taiwan, directors like Anglee, used cinema to reach the wider international audience by producing films that were transnational. His auteur outlook is also an indication of promoting Taiwanese cinema as internationally reaching, starting with the works created during the 1990s.5 Needham, further, highlighted the necessity of being knowledgeable as an author of Asian cinema, as it is important for the pioneers to have lived through the experiences being communicated, for example colonialism.6 More specifically, the recognition of the ideologies and the structures that have shaped their experience may help in giving information about the contextual intricacies. It may also give information about the cultural pressures that led to the making of a film, or those leading to the emergence of the auteur. The identification of the context is particularly important for Taiwanese cinema, as more than two cultures interacted, including that of the Chinese, the Japanese, the West (America) and that of the Dutch. Apart from these traditional cultures that laid the foundation for the modern-day culture, the Taiwanese culture spring up, although it must have assimilated some of the influences of the cultures that came earlier. The pluralistic outlook of the culture of Taiwan is evident from the projections of cinema, especially during the 1980s, which demonstrated many links between the identities of Taiwan and China.7 One of the films that depict the usage of the TNC wave is the resistance film A City of Sadness, which is particular striking in the way that the producers of the film employed identifying cinematic language. The distinctive usage of language was used to give indications about the identities that were conflicting, and which give evidence of diverse resistance fronts and forms. Hollander and Einwohner pointed out that there has been a quick transmission of collegial work on resistance, despite that it is not a phenomenon that has been acknowledged universally.8 Across the different disciplines that have encompassed its exploration, including sociology and political science among others, it is conceived to mean the diversity of settings and behaviours, where the most overt depiction is military combat. Hollander and Einwohner emphasized that, despite the physical manifestation of resistance, there are other milder forms that will only be depicted through the symbolic behaviors and the talk used by film producers.9 From the film a city of sadness, there is the story of a Taiwanese homestead going through the turbulence that took place during the period between 1945 and 1949, when the country’s colonizer was Japan and after its departure, which led to the takeover of the nation by nationalist government of China. The resistance that is demonstrated through the film is milder, and less apparent as resistance, as compared to the films that have been produced showing the more violent forms of the theme. Some of the milder forms of resistance that are showcased include the formation of citizen groups that were used to express resistance against the use of traditional weapons and also everyday items. The conclusions that can be drawn from the depiction of the new wave were that film could be used to project other forms of revolt. These are the revolts expressed against social or political oppression, but also the identity that is imposed on the group expressing resistance. In any case, the use of cinematic strategies to create a picture of the history in question, demonstrated the usage of language and narratives, to express the phenomenon of difficult cultural identification.10 For example, the use of female characters is an outright demonstration of the producer’s political convictions. The importance of using the wave of Taiwanese cinema The TNC wave has been used in films like in our times; there is the depiction of a blend of stories, showing the social changes that took place in the society, during the years of revolutionary changes. The new wave brought a sense of realism to cinematic productions, by presenting the everyday lives of the people, as they went through social and political changes. Many of the films that came with the wave could be regarded personal growth accounts, as the projection of the development and the changes that came to the Taiwanese society, following the modernization of society. Prior to the start of the TNC wave, there was no talk related to the identity of the people, which could simply be referred as their sense of Taiwaneseness. The literature of the people of the country had not woken up to the importance of exploring the distinctiveness of their identity, and so was the cinematic production of the time. The new wave was used to project and to highlight the transitions that were taking place in Taiwan, during the 1980s and 90s. The transitions included that the economy was shifting from being reliant on Agriculture towards industrialization, which allowed it to get the label of one among the four Asian little dragons.11 The new wave was a good fit for the society, as it offered the platform that could be used to communicate the increasing levels of urbanization and the economic boom that characterised the economy during the two decades. The importance of economic success and the growth of urbanization spurred the zeal for marketing the country’s identity, in a style that would distinguish it from the larger China. The overall picture was the championing developed around the sense of Taiwanese native identity, in a way that would appeal to the west and get the endorsement of western cinema critics.12 Higson emphasized the fact that the cultivation of a cinematic wave that was distinctive from that offered by the rest of the world allowed the sector to compete with the west, including the famed Hollywood. From the cinematic outlook of TNC, it shares some characteristics with other global waves, including the French New Wave. The core strategy of attaining distinctiveness relied on the usage of a style that was mainly realistic. The imperfections that characterised the films produced under the new wave can be viewed as a resounding of the partially-development cinematic ideology, but also the difficulties that the producers encountered, in the young industry. Conclusion The history and the cultural roots of Taiwan are surrounded by a wide array of complexities, including that the social fabric was fashioned from the blending of the elements drawn from the groups that dominated Taiwan. The contributors of the cultural and historical roots of Taiwan included China, Japan, the west and also the Dutch. In particular, the 1980s and 90s were a time of major changes, and the new wave of film production took the opportunity to exploit the themes of social realism. The films that demonstrated the usage of the new wave included a city of sadness, which communicated the revolt of the people, against the domination of the numerous colonizers that had dominated Taiwan. The importance of using the new wave include that it offered Taiwan, the platform it needed to compete with the cinema industries of the west, including the globally renowned Hollywood. Apart from allowing Taiwan to compete globally, it allowed the film makers to communicate the distinctiveness of the Taiwanese society, including its rapid economic growth and urbanization. Bibliography Chen, Kuan-Hsing. “Taiwanese New Cinema.” The Oxford Guide to Film Studies, 1998, edited by John Hill and Pamela Gibson. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Higson, Andrew. “The Concept of National Cinema.” European Cinema Reader, edited by Fowler Catherine. London: Routledge, 2002. Hollander, Jocelyn, and Einwohner, Rachel. “Conceptualizing Resistance.” Sociological Forum, 19, no. 4(2004): 533-554. Ko, Mika. Japanese Cinema and Otherness: Nationalism, Multiculturalism and the Problem of Japaneseness. London: Routledge Publishers, 2013. Li, Qiao. “Taiwanese New Cinema: Emotions, Identity and Taiwan.” Asian Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities 3, no. 3 (2014): 97-103. Lu, Sheldon, and Yeh, Emilie. Chinese-Language Film: Historiography, Poetics, Politics. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2005. Needham, Gary. “Questions of Authorship and Taiwanese Cinema.” In Asian Cinema: a Reader and Guide, 2006, edited by Dimitris Eleftheriotis and Gary Needham, 363. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, 2006. Rawnsley, Ming-Yeh. “Cinema, Identity, and Resistance: Comparative Perspectives on a City of Sadness and the Wind that Shakes the Barley.” Taiwan in Comparative Perspective 4 (2012): 89-107. Read More