Asian Film term paper - Essay Example

In the East, everything is bound by traditions and the ones revolting against this cruelty are either banished from the society or are abandoned or locked up. The purpose of this paper is to figure out and analyze about the lives of the women, to the modern concepts of individualism vs. the old traditional concepts. Following their identity how they are kept and what happens will all be described in the context of three of the Asian films Peking Opera Blues, Water and Rouge. Three of the films depict more or same the story of women, their loyalty, freedom followed by traditions.

Let us take a look and analyze the story with supporting evidence and arguments. A. Peking Opera Blues: Directed by Tsui Hark Peking Opera Blues is one of the finest films one comes across of 1986 depicting the portrayal of a woman and her loyalty. The general’s daughter has been much in focus showing her loyalty and bonds with the customs and the traditions. She is always loyal, obeying her father, not participating or standing with men and when tagged with betray, she still is on her father’s side (Tao ma tan, 1986).

The director’s first bold step was to cast three women in a serious role. It was conflicting as no other director ever casted three women with the leading role other than stupid, foolish or jerk acts. The second step the director took against the traditions was the touching scene of the two women but they were not projecting their needs or greed as it was not a stereotypical role or image of the women. The third step was the impression people had for them as being women as a symbol of a lower status (Tao ma tan, 1986).

Analyzing the above movie, what we see is that a woman as a tool to be suppressed, treated as a toy saying yes every now and then to either the right or the wrong. Her freedom lays in the hands of others either husband, his father or his brother, her decisions are to be taken by a man who is stronger in position and her fate is decided by them. She does not have her identity, feelings, and emotions. She has to be loyal, putting her head in front of a sword if commanded and still the men in these societies do not let them breath in fresh air.

Quoted by Charlotte Bronte I am not a bird to entangle me: I am a human being, free of my will and independence. These people do not let their daughters, mothers, wives or sisters to live independently, with freedom of will, power and expression. They are bound to follow the customs and traditions followed by the society and their revolt leads them to a fatal life. The overall impact of the movie is reflecting how a positive, loyal, honest and truthful a woman could be. B. Water: Directed by Deepa Mehta the film holds the breath of a person to see what actually people do on the other side of the world.

The role of the women portrayed in this film is very meek, worthless and a symbol of one’s pleasures. The director projected a woman being a worthless creature when her husband dies and she has to be in a ashram for the rest of her life. The second thing was the forced prostitution. The third thing was the freedom in the end (Water, 2005). This is the male dominating society. Everything runs under his command. The traditions and customs have already made woman a worthless creature, living only to please a man, does his chores and sacrifice for him (Water, 2005).

This is a true image of the society has been portrayed. However it has also been visibly