Changwei Gu’s “Kong Que” (Peacock) (2005) Film Review
In order to get a better picture of China, and to immerse yourself in its culture, I would certainly recommend watching it’s award winning cinema. Although censorship laws exist, as in most countries, Chinese films are often far from saccharine accounts of what it is like to live in China. Despite China’s reputation for kung-fu films, and of late, epic and truly lavish costume affairs, there are simpler tales, rooted firmly in cinematic realism. It is this element of Chinese cinema that I enjoy the most with their tales of everyday life and the trials and tribulations of family and society. The early films of Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige formed my cinematic introduction to China, tales of a mainly rural life that encapsulated Chinese culture and captivated audiences worldwide. They spanned a varied cross section of time periods, from the modern, to pre-revolutionary times, and I hope to discuss more about some of these films in the future.
“Peacock”, directed by Gu Changwei, a cinematographer come director who has previous worked on some of Zhang Yimou’s films, is a fantastic debut told in the realist tradition. The movie is visually amazing, as you might expect, showing the landscape and beauty of a town in Northern China’s Shanxi province, its buildings, streets and general locality all on show. The film is set during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s and tells the tales of two brothers and a sister’s coming of age, continuing all the way up to their respective marriages. It is rather more epic in scope in this respect, covering issues of personal expression, repression and hardship. The tone is nostalgic and reflective as told/narrated by the male middle child of the family.
During the telling I was spellbound at the nostalgic details it contained, kind of like seeing a film set in the 70’s filled with Hula Hoops and roller skates. It was striking for me to see a culture that had not yet become a disposable one, like the ones we are more familiar with today, although in modern China many of the recycling and home made bottling and traditional food drying practices are still prevalent. Little details like the street vendors and the games the children play add so much texture to the film while it unfolds.
As a picture of day to day family life and its toils, during that not so distant period, it leaves it’s poignant mark.
5/5
MT (http://www.matthew-tompkins.com/blog/)
