Innovation of Asian films - Essay Example

?Asian films Introduction Asia is a continent rich with history and culture. The countries here have basically experienced many things that has enriched their culture and filled their history with interesting anecdotes and stories worthy of retelling. China is probably one of the richest and oldest civilizations predating even that of the affluent west (Associated Content.com 2011). It has been a dilemma then as to why there has been a slow progress in the Asian films and even on their actors whereby they have usually fallen prey to the stereotyping of Hollywood. It seems to point out that despite the rich culture and history of the countries in the continent as well as the world class artistry characteristic of the continent; people including actors have been relegated into sub roles, littered with stereotyping and basically with little or no speaking roles. There were even films wherein the roles that are supposedly portraying an oriental are played by Caucasians. However, it is from these humble roots that the Asian films have slowly gathered strength and over the past decade have shown increasing prominence in the global arena. True there have been Asians that have made big names during the past century in Hollywood but so far there has been an overwhelming preference towards western films and western actors during that time. But, through the years, the growing prominence of the countries in the region in terms of their economic prosperity seem to have helped in boosting the quality of the films that they are able to produce. Rampal (2005) recognizes the reinvention of the Asian film outfits in order to shed the past imagery of stereotyped Asians and take in new and brighter colors characteristic of taking their respective leads on the big screen. Moreover, the improvements in the economies of these Asian nations have also brought in a more educated audience. These intellectual audiences have also been influenced greatly, quite ironically, by the west such as the democracy as well as the allure and the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. The Abyss The world of films and cinemas has been filled with the myriad of manipulative directors attempting to delineate from reality in their attempts to depict the things that they want. The early development of the world of films seems to have taken a strong parallelism to the real world events. This can be seen with the problem of racism which has been a strong theme back in the early 90’s for the western films. Also, there has been the stereotyping of the Asians as mere second-class citizens. As mentioned, there were even oriental roles ironically being played by western actors. This shows how strongly most Asians are being sidelined as mere supporting actors or even extras with no speaking lines (Associated Content.com 2011). To exacerbate the situation, the stereotyping has even gone beyond the second-class status to an almost three hundred sixty degree turn to make them the utmost bad guys. Many films truly made money on depicting the Japanese as brutal soldiers after the Second World War. This stereotyping has been a strong characteristic of the films preceding the war (Associated Content.com 2011). This has been the characteristic of Asian films which have been like an abyss that has seem to have swallowed the industry of the continent. This seems to have been a very dark chapter of the Asian films which has also coincided to the times when almost all of the countries in the continent are trying to rebuild after the devastation of the war. Most nations have been experiencing hardships and are generally poor. Hence, it seems easy to see as to why there the stereotyping has happened. However, at the turn of the century, Asian countries showed more economic strength and there has been a significant rise initially led by the newly industrialized Asian economies such as Singapore and Korea. At the turn of the century, communist China opened her doors which fuelled the rapid growth of the Chinese economy. Thus, after sorting through the rubble of the Great Recession, China was probably the strongest economy to come out of the recently concluded global economic crisis. Improving films The strengthening economies of the Asian countries seem to have been favorable to their respective film industries. The benefit came more than the funds but more of the respect that has been gained in the global economy. Asian films have usually tried to capture the longstanding traditions of the continent. Most filmmakers have tried to get into their content the respective historical background of their countries. Moreover, the rich culture of the countries in the region also offers potent sources of plots for various films. Also, there is the pressing social concerns, present issues both social and economic as well as the new ways that the world is being viewed by the Asians are all being concocted by filmmakers as potent ideas for the films that they are making. Indeed, Asian films have been peppered by these strong nationalistic influences such as the “Bollywood” films of India, the martial arts from Hong Kong and the Japanese animation. Adding the necessary boost to these filmmaking efforts were the IT industries that has bloomed in the countries of India, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and China. Ong (1999) also recognizes the increasing influence of the accumulation of capitalist wealth increasing the capabilities of people to travel and intra-regional displacements that brings about subjects that are more attuned to the flexibility as well as the opportunities presented by the changing economic and political conditions. This has given a distinct new flavor to Asian filmmaking wherein there has been more provocations and more insights that are far more reaching than previously filmed. The Red Dragon, the Samurai and other Asian Filmmakers Berry (2006) highlights this parallelism wherein the surging Chinese economy seems to have buoyed the country’s film industry. This economic growth has been more prominently displayed in the country’s film infrastructure which has seen more diversification in recent years as well as the increasing scale of film production. This revolution by the Chinese film industry has brought in more storyline depicting the increase in the country’s freedom albeit there remains the strong censorship by the government which remains the biggest problem facing Chinese filmmakers. Basically, the strong communist control of the country has been the characteristic of most films in China. In fact, this has also been the strongest theme in most Asian films during its development towards the close of the 20th century. However, this theme is more strongly played in China whereby there has been the conscious effort to position China as something different from the rest of the world (Chen, Liu and Anbin 1997). Another contributor to the growth of Asian films was the growth of literature which seems to have intertwined these wonderful literary works with the history of the different countries in the region. The countries that benefitted mostly from this development were Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. According to Deppman (2010), this fusion of history and literary development has paved the way for the creation of films such as the Red Sorghum and Raise the Red Lantern. Deppman credits these two films from the works of Mo San, Su Tong and Yu Hua. Fiction has also been on the rise as well as the fine-tuning of previously sensitive issues such as the relations of class and gender. Moreover, the cinema industry in these countries have benefitted greatly from the directors that have exposure to different countries such as the US and Europe. This exposure has been a very important factor in augmenting the industry’s capability to expand and assimilate different techniques all over the world. Moreover, the advent of globalization has drastically improved the economies of various nations such as those of the developing economies. However, it is important to remember that the various occupations that happened at the height of the second world war has been a very crucial impediment to the rise of an independent and unique film industry for those countries that have been occupied. Hence, there has been a strong influence of the Japanese occupation that has been very instrumental to the delay of the capability of Taiwan to have their own film identity (Deslandes, 2000). As with China, the Japanese have also been initially wary of western influences to their films wherein there are basically censoring the movies to ensure that the inherent values of the country are not affected. It is very important that the nationalism of the country remain strengthened wherein there has been a substantial imprint of this on their filmmaking (Freiberg, 2000). A “Cut” in the Growth In effect, these beliefs as well as the stringent censorship have been the main culprits for the late take-off of the Asian films. This has also been exacerbated by the economic situation of most countries in Asia. During the post-war years, the region has strongly been influenced either by the US and the allies or by the communist bloc. These played greatly in retarding the growth of the Asian films and may have been contributory to the discourse presented by Associated Content.com (2011) regarding the stereotyping of Asians. This has adversely affected the industry and, as mentioned, most of the themes centered strongly on nationalism, politics and morality. These are not wrong formulas but used extensibly with no alternative whatsoever for the increasingly intelligent viewers has put the Asian filmmakers in a quandary as to how they can continue to satisfy their audiences. Among the points brought forward by Semsel (1990) was the need to overhaul the cliche’ filled movies of the east. Hence, in order to properly move forward and veer away from the humdrum filmmaking that is very characteristic of the past century, Chinese and other Asian filmmakers have tried to delve away from these cinematic language which does not really fly with the more prominent and intelligent consumers of the new century. In fact, Desser ( 2003) has fittingly pointed out that the theory of genres were attempts to reconcile the efforts of some filmmakers to genres that are related nationally. Hence, it should not come as a surprise that most of the focus of Hollywood for making Asian remakes have centered on themes that are strongly associated with the genres of their countries of origins. Horror movies from Japan, melodramas from South Korea and even the gangster flicks from Hong Kong all seem to account for a certain degree of national identity. However, it seems that the Asian films have been drastically limited to such films necessitating the need for a shift in the cinematic language being used so as to escape the seemingly stereotyped genres representative of such countries. This however do not wish to take away the success of whatever films that have been produced that has satisfactorily captured viewers in their own right. Films such as “The Eye”, “The Ring”, “The Grudge” and Korea’s “My Sassy Girl” seem to have had their very own successes in their own right. Indeed, these have enjoyed transnational consumption and have been produced even across borders. Another seemingly powerful and successful film, “2009 Lost Memories” have set the trend for the films from South Korea. Again, this has been riddled with themes of nationalism and exposes the preference towards national cinemas. All these films, as mentioned, are success stories of their own and this discourse is not meant to take away the glory that these films rightfully deserve. However, it is only fitting to remember that in the advent of globalization and the entry of most foreign films that seems to have lorded over the global arena for the past century, it is also important to recognize the efforts of Asian filmmakers to be able to carve out their mark in the film industry of the world. Taking on the Limelight It is interesting to note that there are actors that have tried to carve their names in Hollywood without losing their oriental identities. Probably among the most iconic Asian actor is Jackie Chan that has substantially carved himself a strong place not just in Hollywood but globally as well. As mentioned, there used to be discrimination with regards to Asian actors and actresses. The problem was so severe back then that Caucasians were casted to play the roles of Orientals. Szeto (2008) recognizes the actors’ efforts and indeed throughout the films such as “Shanghai Knights” and the “Rush Hour” trilogy, Jackie Chan has held his ground and seems to have been very effective even on his own such as the “Spy Next Door” flick. Moreover, he has also increased his acting capability and has strongly diversified from his kung fu prowess during his younger days and has even provided a more comical characterization that has made him endure the changing landscape of filmmaking, Hollywood and the global allure of the cinema. This is very important since Holmund (2010) has found out that ageing takes its toll on actors and actresses whereby roles that they can play declines drastically as they age. Unfortunately, it seems that this window of opportunity narrows faster among actresses. One would wonder whatever happened to Zhang Zhi Yi who, in her youth, has been a strong force to reckon with and has put audiences to awe in her role in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. Of course she is still beautiful nonetheless but has yet to be seen on the big screen again on such a production that is at par with the aforementioned film. Again, this discourse is not meant to take away the successes of Asian films as well as those of their actors. However, filmmakers ought to look and learn to what Jackie Chan has done to keep his career substantially afloat. It seems that it is all about innovation. He could not have survived had he stuck to his previous Kung Fu mantra though his role as the new karate kid’s mentor has greatly shown the more mature role that he has come to played. It is therefore important for Asian films to exhibit a strong sense of maturity and innovative nature. Cinemas are moved by commerce and the success of movies depends on the acceptance of the consuming public. Hence, it is likewise important for directors to veer away from the tendencies to recycle previously tried and tested formulas that the public has grown tired of. Capturing the Market Semsel (1990) has already opened up about the emergence of more intelligent viewers longing for films that will suit their elevated tastes. Hence, the shifting focuses of Asian filmmakers are only fitting adaptations in order to capture this renewed and upgraded taste of moviegoers. It seems such a terrible waste of time, effort and resources for filmmakers to focus solely on nationalistic themes if people would not want to see their movies in favor of more tasteful foreign films. Interestingly though, as with most other consumption goods and services, filmmaking has also benefitted from the force of globalization. As mentioned, most developing Asian nations have grown into stronger economic prominence and these countries account significantly for the growth of the global economy. Hence, it is very important to be able to ride the wave of economic success which, as mentioned earlier, has been a critical factor in moving the Asian movies faster away from the traditional way of making films into something that is more acceptable to the viewing public. Marchetti, Tan and Feng (2010) have recognized the valuable contribution of these filmmakers into determining the cultural identity of different nations. Moreover, it is also laudable that the Chinese have been able to launch movies that are even in their own language showing how strongly the Asian filmmakers have been able to innovate their filmmaking capabilities in order to capture an audience aside from their own. Globalization has therefore played out significantly in the improvement of these films whereby countries and their citizens are now being offered more tasteful choices at the quality that they deserve. Companies from all over the world have tried to take advantage of the opportunity presented by globalization and cinemas are not outside this loop. More importantly, instead of shunning western ideas, eastern filmmakers have found ways in which to integrate these different cultures into their films. Thus, what comes out was a more harmonious relation which results in more globally acceptable themes for the new films of the 21st century. This has enabled far greater success whereby the combination of the east and west has strongly encouraged moviegoers from both sides of the world to troop to the cinemas. As mentioned, among these films was the “Rush Hour” trilogy which stars an Oriental, Jackie Chan, and an American, Chris Tucker (Marchetti, Tan and Feng 2010). These films have shown a potent combination of the two sides of the world which contrasts the traditional way of shunning western influences. In fact, the film was a powerful combination of the action films of Hong Kong with the hip hop that is characteristic of African-American. Conclusion Globalization is a real and compelling force of the 21st century. Businesses and countries will be affected in one way or another with varying strengths and impacts. Technology likewise plays crucially especially with the advent of more advanced communication devices that has propelled the more widespread use of the internet. People nowadays are more informed, more intelligent. Hence, these people are more discerning with the products that they buy. This, of course, includes the film industry. Hence, Kim (2009) points out that the strong force of transnationalism impacts Asian filmmakers greatly. Globalization and technology has basically leveled boundaries and brought countries together. Hence, it is an exercise in futility to continue to shroud the cinemas with solely nationalistic themes and to try to shun away the influence of the west and of Hollywood. However, Asian films have tried to innovate and as mentioned, there have been a number of successful endeavors that marries the east with the west. Transnationalism has played out strongly in the media and the film. It is a pressing reality that film directors and producers must face up to. Hence, it is then important to be able to take the rich culture of Asia, the inherent artistry of its actors and actresses and the strong capabilities of its film industry that has been buoyed by increasing economic prominence in order to produce more films that are truly world class. References Asian Stereotypes in Film History. Info provided by Associated Content.com. [Online] Available at: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/43815/asian_stereotypes_in_film_history.html?cat=40 < Accessed 11 September 2011> Berry, M. 2006. 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