Every Friday evening, I go to China King Buffet with Debbie Lee, my only Hong Kong friend at Ohio University and also my very good friend, and we order authentic Chinese dishes like Ma Po To Fu (not the buffet!) and stir fried calamari. I always enjoy our time together because this is the only time I can speak my own language, Cantonese, a Chinese dialect that is widely spoken in Hong Kong and the Canton Province.
We talk about anything: from news happened in Hong Kong, to World War II, to our academic goals. Our dinner would easily last for two hours. One of our favorite topics is cultural difference. We like to compare the Chinese with American culture, and Korean/Japanese with Chinese culture and even Mainland Chinese with Hong Kong culture. Every time, I learn something new about myself and our own culture. Last Friday evening, the WWII issue was brought up, and it led to the subject of a very popular film in the Chinese-speaking regions, Lust, Caution 色，戒 . The film is based on a novel by Eileen Chang, a Chinese writer. It is set in Hong Kong and Shanghi during the period of World War II. Tang plays a Chinese university student who seduces and plans to kill a high-ranking Chinese official who works for the puppet government controlled by the Japanese.
I talked about how surprised I was that the film was not heard of in America. My surprise owes not only to the farthest it is a great film by Oscar-winning director Ang Lee, but also that almost half of the crew were Hollywood filmmakers. Debbie sighed.
She once read a film review about the film in New York Times. The film was seen as “puffed up and sexed up Eileen Chang’s original story without adding any psychological depth or sociopolitical heft” by New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis.
But how could a film that bad won the top Golden Lion prize at the recent Venice Film Festival and top awards in Hong Kong and Taiwan? Ang Lee had an answer even before he decided to make the film.
"Its pace, its film language — it's all very Chinese. I also used Western film noir. It's a new start for me. It's not very audience-friendly for a market like the U.S. It's not their subject matter," Ang Lee said in a forum for young directors in Hong Kong.
It is true. If one wants to understand the film, he has to understand the history of China during WWII. Even though I had studied Chinese History through out my high school years, I find it difficult to understand.
Debbie also mentioned how the communist party in China banned the female leading actress Tang Wei from being in any of the films or public events in China. She was right.
According to Timesonline, a British site owned by Times Newspaper Ltd., the ban lifting was because of her extremely revealing acts in some scenes in the film and, for the most part, the glorification of unpatriotic behavior. China's State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT) has ordered broadcast and print media to stop the showing of a Pond’s skincare products advertisement in which Tang promotes.
In the film review in New York Times, Dargis also described the unshaven armpits as “horrors of female nudity” which makes the film unbearable.
It may not be a logical comment. It would be unauthentic to have the armpit shaved because, in China during the time period, women did not have the sense of shaving their body hair. I am sure Ang Lee was aware of that and left the armpit hair on purpose as to faithfully depict the culture in that era. Yes, it is absolutely not the Chinese buffet you are used to.
Yet, in Hong Kong, women are extremely conscious about body hair nowadays. They shave all the hair on their body that could be easily noticed in the public, including hair on their hands and arms that Americans may not care. I believe it is because Hong Kong people are more exposed to Western cultures. Nevertheless, it is not the case in Mainland China.
Women from the Mainland do not shave their legs when they wear a dress, and I saw that with my own eyes once in Hong Kong.
If there are cultural differences between Hong Kong and the Mainland, why shouldn’t there be cultural differences between two countries or even two continents? Nevertheless, Debbie and I were still disappointed about the bad reviews of the film in the U.S and felt sympathetic towards Tang because she is neither popular in her own country nor in the West. It seems as if the only region that will allow her to continue her career would be Taiwan.
We talk about anything: from news happened in Hong Kong, to World War II, to our academic goals. Our dinner would easily last for two hours. One of our favorite topics is cultural difference. We like to compare the Chinese with American culture, and Korean/Japanese with Chinese culture and even Mainland Chinese with Hong Kong culture. Every time, I learn something new about myself and our own culture. Last Friday evening, the WWII issue was brought up, and it led to the subject of a very popular film in the Chinese-speaking regions, Lust, Caution 色，戒 . The film is based on a novel by Eileen Chang, a Chinese writer. It is set in Hong Kong and Shanghi during the period of World War II. Tang plays a Chinese university student who seduces and plans to kill a high-ranking Chinese official who works for the puppet government controlled by the Japanese.
I talked about how surprised I was that the film was not heard of in America. My surprise owes not only to the farthest it is a great film by Oscar-winning director Ang Lee, but also that almost half of the crew were Hollywood filmmakers. Debbie sighed.
She once read a film review about the film in New York Times. The film was seen as “puffed up and sexed up Eileen Chang’s original story without adding any psychological depth or sociopolitical heft” by New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis.
But how could a film that bad won the top Golden Lion prize at the recent Venice Film Festival and top awards in Hong Kong and Taiwan? Ang Lee had an answer even before he decided to make the film.
"Its pace, its film language — it's all very Chinese. I also used Western film noir. It's a new start for me. It's not very audience-friendly for a market like the U.S. It's not their subject matter," Ang Lee said in a forum for young directors in Hong Kong.
It is true. If one wants to understand the film, he has to understand the history of China during WWII. Even though I had studied Chinese History through out my high school years, I find it difficult to understand.
Debbie also mentioned how the communist party in China banned the female leading actress Tang Wei from being in any of the films or public events in China. She was right.
According to Timesonline, a British site owned by Times Newspaper Ltd., the ban lifting was because of her extremely revealing acts in some scenes in the film and, for the most part, the glorification of unpatriotic behavior. China's State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT) has ordered broadcast and print media to stop the showing of a Pond’s skincare products advertisement in which Tang promotes.
In the film review in New York Times, Dargis also described the unshaven armpits as “horrors of female nudity” which makes the film unbearable.
It may not be a logical comment. It would be unauthentic to have the armpit shaved because, in China during the time period, women did not have the sense of shaving their body hair. I am sure Ang Lee was aware of that and left the armpit hair on purpose as to faithfully depict the culture in that era. Yes, it is absolutely not the Chinese buffet you are used to.
Yet, in Hong Kong, women are extremely conscious about body hair nowadays. They shave all the hair on their body that could be easily noticed in the public, including hair on their hands and arms that Americans may not care. I believe it is because Hong Kong people are more exposed to Western cultures. Nevertheless, it is not the case in Mainland China.
Women from the Mainland do not shave their legs when they wear a dress, and I saw that with my own eyes once in Hong Kong.
If there are cultural differences between Hong Kong and the Mainland, why shouldn’t there be cultural differences between two countries or even two continents? Nevertheless, Debbie and I were still disappointed about the bad reviews of the film in the U.S and felt sympathetic towards Tang because she is neither popular in her own country nor in the West. It seems as if the only region that will allow her to continue her career would be Taiwan.
I have always wanted to ask someone from Asia if the food we consider Chinese, Korean, etc is really what they eat. Have you found the food to be similar to what you would eat in Hong Kong, or even enjoyable??
ReplyDeleteI do not think that many people in the United States eat alone for the simple fact that they don't want to seem like they don't have friends haha I enjoy alone time, but would much prefer to share a meal with a friend or family member. If someone is in a hurry, it makes since to eat alone, but I think in general wanted to break bread with enjoyable company is common.
ReplyDeleteI know this doesn't go with this post Kerry, but I just wanted to tell you how much I've enjoyed your blog. I love getting to see both sides of the questions and the discussion that comes out of your posts and our comments. I really wish more international students would create blogs like this or comment on your because it enables us to cross boundaries without the fear of hurting feelings. I also love how you have upcoming international events!
Well...it depends. But I can tell you that there is no Chinese buffet in Hong Kong!
ReplyDeleteInteresting! :) There are definitely cultural differences between regions and even time periods. Women shaving their legs in America has just been in fashion for less than one hundred years!
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