Counteracting the Biased Gender: Contemporary Women Directors from Asia - Essay Example

? Counteracting the Biased Gender: Contemporary Women Directors from Asia Female directors from the Chinese diaspora and Japan have historically laiddown the anchor for voicing the issues women face in largely male-dominated societies. Countries such as Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia and India followed suit, with numerous women filmmakers casting light on the issues women fight to cement their foothold in a grossly patriarchal setup. This paper will primarily look into the role of women directors in the making of modern Asian cinema, focusing on gender, identity and a parade of other situations women usually find themselves in. On a related note, the paper will also cross-examine the inputs of male directors in threading women’s position in Asian societies where gender identity and sexual oppression are often amongst the two major areas of concern. Emergence of women’s cinema in China Being a woman in patriarchy has been a resonating theme in the Chinese films of the 1980s, where the narrative accorded women a central position in the purview of cinematic representation (Dissanayake 13). While the mainstream Chinese cinema of the 20th century was benchmarked on portraying martial arts in all its fury, there had been a diversion, albeit at a subliminal level, in the way women directors addressed gender discourses in relation to making of the modern Chinese society. However, one can find a blend of different opinions coming from women directors of contemporary Chinese cinema. Cui cites an interview where three well-known Chinese women directors talked about three distinct purposes behind filmmaking. Director of Sacrificed Youth Zhang Nuanxin candidly admitted that she was driven more by artistic impulses than by pledging allegiance to any particular genre of cinema, contextually ‘women’s cinema’. Maker of The Women’s Story Peng Xiaolian endorsed the idea that women’s cinema should by all means reflect “a woman’s psychology”, whereas Hu Mei insisted that films centered on women ought to be compelling enough to let the audience view the world before the camera from women’s perspectives (215). Ann Hui’s quintessential feminism When it comes to granting exclusivity to women’s cinema, very few directors from the Chinese diaspora could successfully negotiate the mammoth task of depicting women’s lives during the transnational shift in the 1990s. Hong Kong-based director Ann Hui is certainly amongst those rare breed of filmmakers who set a paradigm for understanding the concerns only women dealt with in times of handover (Eleftheriotis and Needham 89). Hui’s Song of the Exile (1990) delineates with profound craftsmanship the intersections between political landscape and subjective memory, and examines the contours of individualism and interpersonal relationships. In years to come, Ann Hui would become the most revered Chinese woman director in Hong Kong, garnering international fame (Wang 35). Populated by female characters, the film analyses the agony of homecoming at a time of personal and national turmoil. Most importantly, Song of the Exile incites the viewers to support the feminine viewpoint embedded in the storyline (Naficy 233). Clara Law: Films at cultural crossroads Macau-born woman director Clara Law, who later migrated to Australia before the United Kingdom transferred sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China in 1997, is most well known for her directorial masterpieces Farewell, China (1990), Autumn Moon (1992), Floating Life (1996) and The Goddess of 1967 (2000). Law’s films powerfully deliver the message that gender identity is susceptible to falter under cross-cultural influence. The first three of the aforementioned films sketch the lives of young people roving from one continent to another in search of fortune. The concept of the Global Chinese, as posited by Marchetti, becomes pronounced in Law’s cinematic undertakings that draw migrant characters without any apparent homogeneity in class, ethnicity, age, or gender traveling around the globe (189). Two directors, one link It may be noted in relation to the thesis topic that both Ann Hui and Clara Law grounded their films on the notions of alienation, migration and pulverized identity. This is one of the main reasons Song of the Exile and Autumn Moon have a distinct appeal to new-age Chinese women who often fail to relate to their roots in a rapidly changing socio-economic environment within the Chinese diaspora. Although Hui looks more in depth at the patriarchal constraints in the Chinese home and marriage and the marginality of women, the two filmmakers seem to share an interest in the women’s perspective on migration and alienation (Senzani 409). Birth of feminine morality in Japanese cinema Japan has long been enjoying a special status in the international film fraternity, thanks to a bunch of talented directors who have over the years contributed immensely to shape Japanese cinema. Kinuyo Tanaka, widely regarded as the first Japanese woman to have directed a feature film, introduced the tradition of blending humor in women’s characterization. It not only rendered individualism to her heroines within the confines of male-centric scripts and cinematography, but also popularized her as a filmmaker with a feminist sentience. Tanaka’s stint as a director was unfortunately short-lived as orders were given to bar women from holding top positions in the Japanese film industry. Nevertheless, her two films, Love Letter (1953) and The Moon Has Risen (1955), shed light on women’s status in the contemporary Japanese society, with the latter unmasking the follies and pretenses of gender codification of the land (Foster 352). The ominous task of recreating of Japanese women on camera in the post-War world was efficiently handled by several women directors. Unlike typical war films of Hollywood where women are almost ostracized, Japanese wartime cinema includes female characters in supporting roles. However, the different roles women play are not made subservient to plot or theme. A predictable trend emerged from Japanese cinema in the 1950s: women were cast as the backbone of the family, providing support to the male members of the family when they are called for military duty and keeping the family closely-knit in the absence of men. The females in the community were expected to be loyal, headstrong and true in times of crisis (Bernstein 297). Some of the notable films made during the pre- and post-War phase include Song of the Advancing Army (1937), Sister Goes to the Front (1940) and Eighty-eight Years After the Opening of Japan (1941). In addition to presenting women as dominant and responsible figures within the family, some of the earlier cinemas also show them dealing with financial issues amidst chaos triggered by wartime situation. Themes secondary to the prevalent genre, such as class conflicts, friendship and unemployment, also feature in many Japanese films made in the first half of the 20th century. I vs. We: Who won? Interestingly, women directors working in the Japanese film industry made sure to focus on creating subtle but powerful female characters who can match their male counterparts in terms of intellect. However, the idea of feminist individualism went missing from the Japanese cinema made in the 50s, as the government laid down certain parameters the directors needed to abide by whilst working on films. Patriotism and selfless service to the nation were given more prominence than individualistic traits commonly seen in contemporary Iranian, Indonesian and Indian films. In a didactic way, cinema often acted as a vehicle to preach moral lessons, which is why many films of this time appear to be lacking in depth of the New Wave Iranian cinema. Quite naturally, a majority of women-centric films were often relegated to a crass, melodramatic level. In defense of the compromised aesthetics of Japanese cinema under women directors, Imamura cites multiple reasons that pinned Japanese cinema to an uneventful plane. First, hierarchies within the production department posed great difficulties for a budding woman director to establish her authority in the film industry. Second, the process of building professional relationships in the industry was much more painstaking for women than men since women workers had to negotiate with two different levels of hierarchy as opposed to just one for men. Third, being women was a pressing concern amongst female filmmakers who did not like to be evaluated on the basis of their gender identity. In an attempt to be seen undifferentiated from their male co-workers, women directors often preferred to remain silent to certain discrepancies that they would have otherwise raised their voice against (50-1). Samira Makhmalbaf behind the camera In comparison with the gender and identity issues portrayed in Chinese cinema, contemporary Iranian cinema has delved into the country’s political and religious realms to showcase women’s struggle for survival at a depth much greater than what has been scaled by its Chinese counterpart. The works of Iranian women director Samira Makhmalbaf challenge the prevalent belief that Asian cinema is often male-oriented and -dominated. Her debut film The Apple (1998) garnered critical acclaim at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival (Donmez-Colin 25) and sparked a response so powerful that the film is often interpreted as a piece of work that swiftly explores an array of complex themes without losing narrative momentum. On one hand, The Apple can be studied as a psychological investigation into the nature of communication. Conversely, it also canvasses gender roles in the Islamic world and serves as a political allegory about repression and ignorance women are commonly subjected to in male-dominated societies (Columpar and Mayer 163). The war motif inherent in Makhmalbaf’s directorial style attained its zenith in Blackboards (2000) and 11’09”01 – September 11 (2002). While Blackboards heralded the beginning of a new era in filmmaking by depicting the young generation’s struggle to snatch democratic rights to ensure better living standards in Iran, 11’09”01 – September 11 sensitively portrayed the ups and downs of a war situation through the character of a teacher in a refugee shelter bordering Iran. However, her next film At Five in the Afternoon (2003) may be seen as a valiant attempt at dismissing the idea that women in Islamic countries are mere victims of religious and political decrees. Makhmalbaf sketched the character of Noqreh – the protagonist of the film – with a passionate fervor and zest that reverberate throughout the film’s progression, rendering it impossible to subvert hope for redemption in an otherwise sterile society (Columpar and Mayer 164). Dealing with censorship issues in Iran Throughout the 1990s and afterwards, Iranian female directors continued to battle political censorship that prevented certain films from being screened outside Iran, especially in the US and Europe. Consequently, the scope for receiving global acclaim became increasingly limited for those films. With the turn of the new millennium Marzich Meshkini purposefully made a short film trilogy named The Day I Became A Woman (2000), to bypass the government policies that denied approval for lengthy feature films. The Day I Became A Woman, which traces the lives of three Iranian women, stunned critics abroad for its sheer artistic brilliance and fetched Meshkini the best director award at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Weatherford 19). Meshkini’s directorial debut addresses a number of key issues related to the accepted norms and beliefs of the patriarchal Iranian society. The facts that young girls must veil themselves just before puberty and that they must maintain decency by refraining from outdoorsy activities that are considered typical to males are presented in the film with a touch of irony. The cinematic tropes used in the film implicitly reveal the actual condition women are thrust upon in Iran and how they yearn to break free. This is especially true in the third film where a handicapped, elderly lady is seen going for a shopping spree with a boy whom she hires (Butler 98). Here the director almost flays the hypocritical facade of the society by placing humane desires for luxury and comfort ahead of a set of made-up rules that propagate nothing but gender prejudices. Germination of contemporary femininity Sadr argues that The Day I Became A Woman is an allegory about modern feminism, saying the film closely looks into feminist issues in a society that is stuck between traditional values and a desire for change (267). Instead of holding religious or political tools responsible for women’s predicament in Islamic nations, he talks about a cultural vacuum that time and again hinders progress for women in grossly male-governed societies. Likewise, Davison et al. regard Samira Makhmalbaf as a representative director of the New Wave Persian cinema, noting that she, along with a young breed of female directors from the Middle-East, has pushed the cultural barriers hard to inject a “virtual realism” into the veins of contemporary filmmaking. The new movement can help reorder the old outlooks whilst remaining rooted to material requisites of art (266). The New Order cinema of Indonesia The realm of cinema in Indonesia – another Islamic country – is little tapped compared to many other parts of the world’s largest continent. Censorship often plays the spoilsport in making of good cinema in Indonesia, despite the surge of anti-censor waves across Asia. However, young Indonesian woman director Nia Dinata made a bold attempt in 2003 by directing Arisan!, a film that addresses homosexuality in urban Indonesia. Five years before Arisan! hit the screens, woman author Ayu Utami penned Saman, a novel that offended the largely male-dominated literary intelligentsia in the country for its crude discourse on sexuality. The success of Saman inspired other women writers to talk about what was perceived as a taboo topic. At the same time, gay and lesbian activists did not hesitate to organize the Q Film Festival to raise awareness about their rights and also to generate public opinion against the oppressing mechanisms adopted by the government to throttle press and media (Baumgartel 73). With Arisan! bagging the Best Film award in the 2004 Indonesian Film Festival, Indonesian cinema received a gust of fresh air and came of age by challenging the longstanding norms of sexual orientation in the society. Dinata went on to direct Berbagi Suami (2005) to shift attention to polygamy – an issue that rarely found its way into the discussion table even in the changing dichotomy of the New Order cinema. Like what one finds in many of the contemporary Chinese and Persian films, female characters in Berbagi Suami are given a voice of their own to speak out their concerns in an authoritative fashion. It allows the filmmaker to fully fathom the complexities of women’s take on polygamy (Hill 168). Most significantly, the voiceover technique used in the film helps interpret the theme from a woman’s perspective only. Human side to cinema: Yasmin Ahmad Independent cinema in the South-east Asia scaled a new dimension in the hands of Malaysian director Yasmin Ahmad whose Sepet (2004) borders on the humane aspects of cross-cultural existence. It narrates the story of how a Malay middle-class girl falls in love with a Chinese vendor. The film was received in a rather hostile manner upon release, probably because the Malay culture is still unreceptive to changes in matters of religion and ethnicity. Understanding of the exact role of women in the contemporary urban setting of Kuala Lumpur is obscured to a great extent by the sternly religious veil that shrouds the inside story of their homes. However, Ahmad’s bold attempt to stir up the smuggish existence of the occidental patriarchy earned her critical acclaim from round the globe (Baumgartel 246). The most fascinating aspect about Ahmad’s films is that they inevitably draw sustenance from humanistic rendering of the given storyline. In fact Ahmed herself confessed to this notion, saying that she never intended to provoke controversy in her own motherland. Her only objective behind filmmaking is to uphold human plight in trying circumstances. The feministic angle may be missing here, but it surely is compensated for by a broader perspective of motion pictures. Women’s directors As stated in the thesis statement, the paper will now explore the role of male directors in Asian cinema who are well known for their piercing insight into the feminine psyche. Japanese directors Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi excelled in filming women’s conditions in Japan, with special emphasis on how the Japanese women cope with the transition from a pre-industrialized world to a media-dominated society. Instead of assigning secondary or supportive roles to female artists, Naruse makes them his protagonists to monitor their lives at a depth much greater than what is feasible via insignificant details of characterization. Naruse’s meticulous eyes scrutinize the all-important role of women in the making of modern Japan, especially in the context of the rigid gender conventions. To say that for a man to step into the shoes of a woman director is difficult would be an understatement. This is evidenced by the presence of only a handful of male directors whose works have been appreciated internationally for their clarity and conciseness in penning women’s conditions in modern times. Kenji Mizoguchi is certainly amongst a select group of male directors who are put in the same bracket as Alice Guy Blache, Dorothy Arzner, Marguerite Duras and Esther Schub. Mizoguchi’s specialty is his vision of cinema as an aesthetic medium along with a potent weapon to mirror the complexities of living. His objective ideologies don’t often wage war with the subjective understanding of cinema on the viewers’ part, which makes him an orthodox yet enigmatic director to voice the issues women face in Japan. The adoption of dream sequence in films entails a unique charm to Mizoguchi’s realistic cinema dealing with pragmatic situations. Conclusion In a nutshell, the earliest extant record of meaningful female-oriented Asian cinema could be found in the works of Kinuyo Tanaka. While she revolutionized women’s cinema to a considerable extent by freeing it from sappy melodrama, her short-spanned career as a director did not help retrieve the full glory of this genre. Persian director Samira Makhmalbaf instilled fresh ideologies into filmmaking and complemented them by smart usage of technology and various cinematic apparatus. While Makhmalbaf stands out in the purview of this essay, another name that leaves an equal impact on the mind is Clara Law who, unlike many of her cohorts, did not plunge into irrelevant subjects for fabricating stories of no immediate or far-fetched impact on anybody. Her insightful coverage of gender identity and alienation helps connect the dots of cinematic exposition from different corners of Asia. Works cited Baumgartel, Tilman. Southeast Asian Independent Cinema. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2012. Bernstein, Gail Lee. Recreating Japanese Women, 1600-1945. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991. Butler, Alison. Women’s Cinema: The Contested Screen. New York: Wallflower Press, 2002. Columpar, Corinn, and Sophie Mayer. There She Goes: Feminist Filmmaking and Beyond. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2009. Cui, Shuqin. Women Through the Lens: Gender and Nation in a Century of Chinese Cinema. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003. Davison, Andrew, Hamid Dabashi, and Himadeep Muppidi. The World Is My Home: A Hamid Dabashi Reader. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 2010. Dissanayake, Wimal (Ed.). Melodrama and Asian Cinema. Cambridge: CUP, 1993. Donmez-Colin, Gonul. Cinemas of the Other: A Personal Journey with Film-Makers from the Middle East and Central Asia. Bristol: Intellect Books, 2006. Eleftheriotis, Dimitris, and Gary Needham. Asian Cinemas: A Reader And Guide. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006. Foster, Gwendolyn Audrey. Women Film Directors: An International Bio-Critical Dictionary. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995. Hill, David T. 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