Feature Film Treatment - A Bittersweet Victory - Essay Example

FEATURE FILM TREATMENT Film A Bittersweet Victory 2. Film Logline: A young Asian girl realises her bittersweet destiny on a quest to save her family and tribe, but can’t complete it without first becoming a true woman. 3. Film Premise: Ancient Samurai traditions and fictional history. 4. Primary Genre: Ancient Historical Drama. 5. Protagonist’s Struggle: Jiao is an excellent Samurai warrior. But she is also a girl. If she is to save her family and village and get close to the Emperor she must assassinate she must endeavour to struggle passed her tomboy nature and learn the feminine ways of the women of her tribe to success. Jiao’s struggle therefore is to relearn her entire childhood and she discovers along the way that the ways she thought so trivial and useless and the tasks that the women of the tribe undertook would be far more important than anything she had learned about being a Samurai warrior. 6. Protagonist: Jiao Ling is a girl from a small but prosperous tribe in China. She’s an elegant and beautiful girl but with a tomboy attitude and dress sense as a result of being brought up by her father and older brother, after her mother died giving birth to her. She’s frequently seen dressed in Samurai warrior attire and rarely if ever in the traditional woman’s kimono dress. Despite some of her stronger and feistier attributes, however, she is nonetheless gentle, kind and honest. 7. Antagonist: The Empress is really the antagonist here although at first it seems like it may be her son, Emperor Wu. She is a strong leader and comes across at first as wise yet firm. However, despite her soft spot for her son, the Empress Shuang is hard and cruel. She is ruled by ancient social traditions and beliefs and any sign of kindness is swamped by this. Again, she is an elegant woman but her fury makes her appear ugly and 8. Five Point Plan of Film Structure: Setting up the story and setting. Meeting the tribe. Seeing in brief the history and relevant acts happening in China. Generally setting the initial scene and establishing the inciting incident. The problem is recognised (the threat to the tribe) and a decision is reached (Jiao is chosen and departs to undergo a secret mission). Central part of the plot continues (Jiao begins to carry out the mission with success). After a change in the plot the protagonist has to make a new decision to achieve the goal and restore the world to some form of balance (Aside from the new relationship she has with Emperor Wu, Jiao mission is still important. However, Jiao’s heritage is discovered but her secret mission remains secret. She now must carry out an alternative plan in order to complete the mission she’s been assigned to). Conclusion (Jiao completes the mission successfully after plan b goes off without a hitch but does so at great personal cost). 9. Film Synopsis: The year is 202 BC. Dwelling in rural China is a flourishing tribe derived from the Manchu. They are a self sufficient community that focus their efforts on farming and martial arts and traditions. They dress in traditional clothing rich in texture and colour and each and every citizen of the tribe dedicated their lives to maintaining the prosperity and ongoing happiness of the tribe. They are led by a man named Delun. He is a wise man with a greatest devotion and commitment to his people. Over the past few years Delun had led his tribe through the unification of Middle China and into the Han Dynasty with reasonable success. But now China was approaching a time where Delun feared for their future. Though the tribe had remained relatively unaffected for the remainder of Emperor Ziying’s reign and the last of the Qin Dynasty, China was now beginning to develop, making huge advances in the arts, but in particular, the sciences. The Han Dynasty had begun to push China into a new modern era and Delun feared that the modernisation arriving in China would force his people to abandon their ways and traditions and in so doing lose what was a harmonious and easy way of life, but more seriously, given the news that he had received of late, he feared that the new Han Emperor would attack and wipe out his people in order to make his advances and extend his borders. It was rumoured that the new Emperor was cruel and merciless. A cold and dark individual that believed everyone and everything was below him. He wore the richest cloth for his garments and adorned himself and his Palace with gold and silver. Delun had decided it was time to generate some protection for his people and believed the best way to do this was to destroy the Han Dynasty from the inside out. He had thought about this for quite some time; long before the rest of the tribe had noticed the changes happening across China. Delun in his wisdom had predicted this. So he developed a plan to kill the current Emperor – take out the leader and you take out the orders behind the troops. He had discussed his fears with his most trusted advisers and had reached a plan. By taking away the source of their orders Delun could halt the troops from attacking their region. He knew the royal court was a strong place to attack as it was the centre for military and political decisions, and would therefore be heavily guarded. But he also could see the weaknesses of the greedy and lustful individuals that walked the halls of the palace. By infiltrating and bribing the necessary officials and override the Han Emperor from within the palace, Delun could defeat his enemy in a cunning and effective way but in order for his plan to work he needed to reach the Emperor, Emperor Wu, without him realising the threat. It was upon that realisation that Delun concluded that the infiltrator needed to be a woman. With such greedy and selfish individuals in the palace, the Emperor was the greediest and most selfish of them all, not to mention lustful. The opportunity to personally entertain a beautiful and exotic woman, Delun knows, would be, in his arrogance, one of the Emperor’s greatest pleasures and weaknesses. Delun therefore sent out a request to his tribe, expressing his concerns and asking girls of a suitable age to come forward for the task and report to him immediately. He decides that there is only one fair way to choose a suitable girl. He collects the names of all the possible candidates and selects a name at random. The name that Delun withdraws, however, isn’t even the last person they would have chosen let alone the first. But Delun looks at the parchment he has randomly taken and stares thoughtfully at the name, seeing the potential that this particular candidate could have. Jiao Ling is a feisty but very beautiful young girl. Her mother had died giving birth to her and since then Jiao had been brought up by her father, Yang and her brother, Bolin, and has therefore been brought up in a very masculine household. Her father, Yang, adored her deeply. He was a very gentle character. He was kind and enjoyed living his simple life. He was immensely proud of both his children but the masculine way of life was all he could give Jiao. As a result, the girl had developed into a bit of a tomboy. Jiao’s brother, Bolin, was essentially her best friend. He had taught her all she knew about the ways of the Samurai, which she knew very well having lifted her first sword aged four. Bolin was more adventurous than his father and this was most likely where Jiao got her feisty side from. She had never been interested in learning to run a household though she helps her father and brother with the chores every day. She had never had any interest in learning how a Chinese lady of her tribe was expected to behave. Jiao is, however, a kind and gentle girl, dedicated to the life of her tribe and is very close to her father and brother. When Jiao heard that she had been chosen for the task she went to Delun and begged that someone else be chosen. She solemnly believed that she did not have the necessary skills that would be required of her. Granted she was skilled in the ways of the Samurai but she did not know anything about dancing or female etiquette. She had not learnt the appropriate etiquette and her other feminine skills were too far below par for her to fool the Emperor or anyone else in the palace. Jiao couldn’t stand the thought of having to essentially be more womanly and felt that skills such as dancing and etiquette were utterly useless. But Jiao’s greatest fear, though she wouldn’t admit it, especially to Delun, was the possibility of leaving her father and brother…permanently. But Delun had had time to think about the name he had selected and refused Jiao’s request. He was adamant that what he stood for was fairness and democracy and that taking another girl’s name from the list and forcing her to do the task in Jiao’s stead because she didn’t at present have the necessary skills would be damaging to his reputation as a leader as well as going against his fundamental principles. Delun believed that every act and every detail had a purpose in life as did every person and that he believed this was now Jiao’s time and it was her purpose to serve her tribe in this way. Delun did, however, grant Jiao more time to prepare herself. The threat at present was not urgent and action did not need to be immediate. But it still could not be delayed too long for longer they left it the further the Emperor expanded. So Jiao studied hard with the help of Yang and Bolin. She was forced to train day in and day out in the art of dancing and feminine etiquette. The women of the tribe took it in turns month after month to help Jiao as well, while her father and brother continued her training as a Samurai so that she could defend herself should she need to. She struggled for months and grew so frustrated at learning new skills she deemed useless she felt at times that she wanted to give up and runaway. But she didn’t. He father’s pride and her brother’s determination to help her spurred her on day after day until finally she had achieved her best and was ready to depart and it was at this time that Delun called for her. It had been almost a year since she started her new training and her progress had been witnessed by all. Delun believed that she was now ready to pursue her mission. Jiao went to Delun upon his request and he relayed his plan to her in detail. The day that the Emperor chooses his mistresses was drawing near and Delun saw this as the perfect opportunity to get Jiao into the palace and gain access to the royal court. After having Jiao made up to look like a Han woman, Delun had some appropriate clothes brought forward for Jiao to take with her and all bid her farewell and good luck. After all the training she had endured and succeeded in, nothing could prepare her for the departure she now had to make. As she rode off towards the horizon, Jiao watched as her tear-stricken father and brother became smaller and smaller dots on the horizon. Jiao arrived just outside the palace some days later at nightfall. The sky was clear and a million stars shone down on her. She starred at the sky and could spot all the constellations that her father had shown her and her brother night after night in the summer months. That at least was some comfort for her at this dark moment in her quest. She knew from long discussions with Delun and his advisers that the girls were presented to the Emperor on a day of celebration that would take place the next day in front of the main entrance to the palace. Jiao had nothing left she could do but set up a secret camp and prepare herself for the long day ahead. She bundled her knapsack up like a pillow on the ground amongst some hedgerows outside the city gates. She then got up and walked across to her horse and took everything off him except his reins and saddle. She leant in close, whispered something into the horse’s ear and in a rush the horse sped off in the direction they had come. In the morning, the tribe greeted the horse as it ran back into their village and they knew Jiao had arrived. The next day Jiao stood forward with the other girls. She was hoping that the Emperor would choose her for the sake of her people but wished that he wouldn’t so that she could return home to her loving father and brother. Emperor Wu was a young and impressionable sort of man. Being a little naïve he shared much of his responsibilities with his mother the Empress. Despite this however, he was still a man and he still was a fairly lustful and greedy individual – a factor he perhaps cold not help having been brought up in the palace all his life. He could not have been much older than Jiao. As he ran down the lines and lines of women that had been offered to him he reached and paused in front of Jiao. He gave her a suspicious and curious look. Jiao thought he knew. It was like he could read her thoughts. But despite her fears, after a few minutes the Emperor moved on without a word. Jiao thought she may have blown it. She was both relieved and scared at the same time. She had no idea what to think. All she could do was wait for the result, her heart pounding in her chest. After the Emperor inspected all the women an official announced those that had been chosen. Jiao was among them. As she filed off with the other chosen girls, Jiao turned her bowed head slightly towards the Emperor to find him staring at her leaving intently. She quickly shot her eyes towards the ground and scurried away as fast as she could with the other girls. She’d never liked men to objectify and stare at her like that. But she supposed that if she was to get close to him she needed to maintain his interest in her. Over the next few days Jiao carried out the duties demanded of her by the Emperor mainly involving dancing and accompanying him around the court. Jiao also spent many of her first few days and nights exploring the castle and learning as much as she could about the royal officials in order to carry out her duty to her tribe. Jiao was relieved to see the increasing interest that Emperor Wu had in her. She began to spend much of her time with him and he readily disregarded the other concubines and as the days passed the couple appeared to become closer and closer and more and more attached to each other, so much so in fact that Wu gave her a noble mistress’ title, calling her Fūrén Jiao Ling. She hoped that the more she gained his trust the more likely it would be that people would not suspect her. But this was not to be the case Their closeness spread throughout the court and many began asking questions. It was extremely unusual for an Emperor to show such a massive interest for a new concubine to the extent that the other mistresses he had chosen were sidestepped every time, and people began to suspect her. The other mistresses had grown jealous since the Emperor had spent so much time with Jiao. So little was known about the new girl and three mistresses in particular named Daiyu, Changying and Jiayi demanded that her background be traced. Daiyu in particular was interested in seeing Jiao fall from her current position as she had been the favourite before her and now distinctly disliked being second. She was an evil girl but also a very beautiful and in some ways very much like Jiao, only her first duty was entirely to herself and her own welfare. She was even more selfish than the royals and the Emperor, which given her cunning and his naiveté is hardly surprising. Despite the fact that Wu had expressed his deepest adoration for Jiao, his mother the Empress, doubted Jiao and believed the slanders against her name or at least believed they were possible. She ordered Jiao’s background to be traced. Jiao maintained her cool but her heart was pounding again inside and she felt her stomach turn and clench. Her only thought was of home and her father and brother. She could do nothing but wait and see if they uncovered anything. To Jiao’s serious disappointment and fear and after a short amount of time, though they do not discover Jiao’s mission, her true identity is discovered. Empress Shuang was a kind lady. She was also very beautiful despite her age. She was obviously much admired by men in her younger days. But she had a firm side to her. She was a very strong individual morally and let her traditional Chinese beliefs guide her in most of her decision-making. She treasured her son’s happiness dearly and having a great deal of concern for her son’s welfare and to preserve his reputation as Emperor, Shuang used her power to sentence Jiao to death. She also knew that her son was simply not strong enough to place the order and so ordered it without his knowledge. Jiao’s stomach sank even further if it was at all possible. Jiao was dragged into an execution ceremony and was sentenced to be dismembered by the royal court for her deception. Meanwhile, Wu is being distracted by Daiyu. He has no idea what his mother has disembarked on and no idea where Jiao really is and despite Daiyu’s attempts to entertain him, he can only think about where Jiao might have disappeared to. After continually pressing Daiyu, who is actually only too pleased to tell him, Wu discovers what is going on and enters the execution hall at the pinnacle moment, to find Jiao strapped to a table and a dagger about to be pressed into her. Wu begs his mother to let Jiao go and seeing his devotion to Jiao, Shuang agrees on the provision that the couple never speak to each other again. They agree with the Empress. Jiao submits to being demoted to a mere dancer and Wu can only look at her from afar, never allowed to speak to her again. In her new position Jiao is bullied and tortured because of her previous status with the Emperor. Jiao, however, hadn’t forgotten why she came to the palace but her concern now was that she could only truly see Wu at times of celebration having been relegated to a lowly dancer of the court and even then she could only see him from afar as she was not permitted to go anywhere near him. Jiao was desperate to get close to Wu again and so she spent the next 5 years practising her dancing. She would sneak out of the palace and train with a Han lady down one of the side streets and having poured all her energies into the training and working hard she eventually became the Emperor’s lead dancer. During this time Empress Shuang and the ministers had encouraged Emperor Wu to broaden their borders and expand and develop the nation as much as possible and Jiao’s people were coming under serious threat. If something wasn’t done Jiao’s people could be in serious danger of complete removal. Jiao focussed hard on her aim and mission again, fixing her mind on the images of her father and brother. Eventually she made her way up through the hierarchy of the dancers, making the right friends and bit by bit picked herself up off the floor and closer and closer to Wu. As time passed, another of the Emperor’s birthday celebrations arrived and now, as the lead dancer, Jiao had the opportunity to offer a solo dance in tribute to the Emperor. She felt if she could perform well enough and with enough emotion that she may be able to influence Wu from afar. Jiao hoped Wu would do something about their situation. The dance reminded Wu of how much he missed Jiao and came to the decision to risk his life and go against his mother’s will to approach her. He simply couldn’t go on living so far away from Jiao and yet still being tempted by her – the feeling was utterly unbearable. But when Wu approached Jiao, Delun warned her that returning the feelings was an insult to her tribe and at any rate would do her no good right now. He reminded her that she was not a Han and therefore could not pursue a relationship with Wu as the court knew this. She would have to use her other skills now to enter the palace. Naturally, this angered Wu, and to show his anger in its full force Wu threatened to destroy the tribe. Jiao, fearing for the future of the tribe, and most importantly, for the safety of her father, Yang and brother, Bolin, went to Wu and expressed her adoration for him and told him that she would stay with him forever but that he must call off his troops even though she did not truly return the feelings. Wu in his happiness agreed and took Jiao back to the palace. Had Jiao known that he was not the one making the decisions, she may have re-thought her strategy. Having finally got what he most desired, Wu called off the attack on Delun and the tribe. He appointed Jiao leader of the inner palace and they settled themselves into a rather strained public married life to the horror of the royal court. Most of all, his new decision made Shuang and his ministers restless. The destruction of the tribe meant that the Han Dynasty could expand and develop, growing throughout China. But Wu’s current promise and infatuation prevented that. After much pressure from Shuang in particular because of her severe dislike for Jiao and her tribe, but also from his ministers, Wu agreed, in his deliriousness, to break his promise and suppress the tribe. By the time Jiao heard what Wu had done she was too late to warn her people. They were completely destroyed and her family now gone forever. Jiao now needed to make a decision – her first duty was to her tribe. She could not forgive anybody for doing the irreparable damage that Wu had done. All she could picture were their scarred bloody faces and the screams of young children, eternally forced to imagine the dying faces of her father and brother suffering Shuang’s wrath. However, since he had broken his side of the bargain, Jiao’s agreement with Wu had been broken and she was therefore free to do as she pleased. It was now demanded of her by duty to her tribe, that she do the only honourable thing she could to support the tribe that she adored so much. That night was meant to be the night that Jiao would poison the Emperor with a glass of wine that had been laced with arsenic. But Jiao now decided to change her plan. She danced for the Emperor as always but it would be the last. She poured her heart and soul into the performance. When she had finished she took a glass of wine and toasted the Emperor. She raised the glass and then put it to her lips. She drank the entire glass in one gulp and continued to dance. A very short time after that Jiao’s dancing began to flow oddly. She seemed disorientated and Wu began to feel threatened by her movement. Jiao collapsed suddenly to the ground and Wu ran to her side in front of the entire court. But he was too late. Wu took her glass smelling the arsenic. He had witnessed Jiao place this glass by his throne earlier that evening but he had not drunk from it yet. As he realised the glass was meant for him, Wu allowed tears to roll down his cheeks, both in anger and sadness, as he watched his love splutter and cough and finally saw Jiao’s eyes go still. In his distraught state, Wu could do nothing but become irrational, angry and tearful, and he was later found lying still and dead, a dagger in his stomach, across his bed in his chambers a few hours later. Audience Reaction: The audience should leave them film feeling dumb-founded at the ending but at the same time happy it was resolved, if a little unjustly. The film should make a large impact visually as a large budget mainstream feature film. Above there should be a note of sadness in the air after watching and it should provoke thoughts on current cultural and social expectations of all groups in society and the unsettling nature of recent historical events that have taken place and how much it has or hasn’t changed since the dawn of civilisation. Read More