Blue Kite

 

 

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While respecting the moviemaker and the people who participated in making this movie for their courage, I find this movie unbearable:
- the characters are paper-thin: the protagonists' reason for existence in the movie is to suffer. The communists' reason for existence in the movie is to parrot the party line and to act arrogantly. There is really no fleshed out characters in the movie.
- the plot lacks subtlety: the movie begins with a wedding delayed by the death of Stalin, and ends with brutal violency by the Red Guard. There is a glimpse of happiness at the beginning of the movie, and it disappears completely under the bleakness of the plot, which is no more than a string of tragedies linked together. In contrast, To Live, My Favorite Concubine, Burnt by the Sun still manage to show the hope and the humanity shining through the desperation. That's why, for me, the endings of To Live and Burnt by the Sun are much more devastating than this movie's.

An important fact is that Zhuangzhuang Tian was barred from making films in China after Blue Kite was released in the United States. This film was also banned in China after he had received the 1993 Tokyo Grand Prix in the Tokyo International Film Festival. Blue Kite is a powerful film that displays Tietou's upbringing in Beijing during the beginning of the Communist era when large numbers of people were arrested for different thinking. The film begins with the birth of Tietou, which is a result of his mothers agony after the death of Stalin. Tietou's name, Iron Head, is also a tribute to the day Stalin died. Tietou's family seems happy, however, underneath the audience can feel an undercurrent of worry where people are afraid of expressing their ideas and values. The reason is that there are frequent messages announced over loud speakers around the neighborhood about ill-fated individuals who have been arrested by the Communist Party for having notions that are against the belief of the party. During this time, the infant Tietou is growing up and plays on his street with the neighborhood kids. One day, his kite is flies into a tall tree and gets stuck. His father, Lin Shaolong, tells Tietou with a strong expression of love and care, "I can make you another one." This is very unusual, since it seems like the social environment in which they live inhibits most people from expressing themselves in any way due to fear of the Communist Party. Unfortunately, a friend of the family gives Lin Shaolong's name to the Communist Party and he is sent to a reform camp. In the camp he is accidentally killed, which leaves Tietou and his mother, Chen Shujuan, alone. However, Tietou is too young to understand the complexity of death and tells his mother to get another "Happy Old Uncle". His mother does so, but it is the same man who gave her husband's name to the Communist Party. The story repeats itself again as Tietou grows into a teenager. The audience is delivered a strong message through this daring film that stopped Zhuangzhuang Tian's ability to continue expressing his own notions and feelings on the screen in China. At the end, an overwhelming flood of sympathy flushes over the viewers through this brilliant cinematic experience.

Obviously for a chinese to make this film is courageous. Unfortunatly, it could have been much better. The viewer really has to know alot of recent Chinese history going into the film for THE BLUE KITE explains nothing. A good historical film should be a stand alone production and not act as a footnote to it's viewer's knowledge. There are great many people out there who do not know the history of Communism in this century either through their own laziness or because the liberal media have continuely covered up. This film will not be very acessible to those viewers--the same viewers presumably the film is trying to reach. Also the film is way too long. Any film that chronicles unrelenting suffering with little release should be less than two hours as the overall effect becomes numbing not emotional or educational. And this is easily rectified. Even while watching the film for the first time, I spotted scenes that could have cut with any lose to the film what so ever--almost all of the scenes of the little boy at school for example. Finally the film doesn't end so much as stop. Very ineffective. So, while a brave film, an important film, THE BLUE KITE is not an entirly effective film. Pity.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A glimpse of life under Mao
For me, this movie did not go far enough to show the great suffering under Mao's leadership, but that might be understandable if there was any hope that the Chinese government... Read more

Published on Mar 20 2004 by Steven Mason

5.0 out of 5 stars I DISAGREE
I strongly disagree with James J. J. Janis' review on The Blue Kyte. An effective film doesn't mean that it is a two hour movie that covers everything about the subject, but a two... Read more

Published on April 19 2003 by joysblack

5.0 out of 5 stars an epic
This film is a powerful epic masterpiece. It leaves the viewer drained and exhausted at the end. the story line about the lunacy of the Chinese communist regime and its polices... Read more

Published on Mar 2 2003 by gus auyeung

5.0 out of 5 stars A great Example of the new wave of Chinese film making
Blue Kite is truly a great example of the new chinese cinema that gathered the attention from all over the world. Read more

Published on Aug 30 2000 by kuroneko1

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent example of how fear rules in a dictatorship
Fear rules when the party can denounce anyone at anytime for voicing opinions or even thinking that what the government does isn't right. Read more

Published on Oct 18 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars It's so real.
The story in this movie would happen to any Chinese family during 50's to 70's. However, it is hard to understand completely without living in that environment.

Published on Sep 13 1999

1.0 out of 5 stars i didn't get it.
i didn't get it

Published on Jun 25 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars an ordinary story of an ordinary Chinese family
It quietly tells an ordinary story of an ordinary Chinese family. Unfortunately it is merely another tragedy that could happen to any Chinese family. Read more

Published on Jan 10 1999

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