A Comparison Between Blind Shaft and Still Life, Term Paper Example

Introduction

The Chinese community is specifically known for its basic dependence on culture and tradition which is basically based upon the value that is placed upon family ties. However, the changing tides of time especially in relation to the economic condition of the country specifically affect this aspect of Chinese culture. Slowly, as the culture of globalization came it, several aspects of traditional Chinese living gradually changed. This particular aspect of adjustment in traditional Chinese living shall be better defined through the comparison of two particular movies set in the 20^th century which further identifies with the conditions that globalization has implied within the Chinese society.

Seeing through the artistic presentation of the movies Blind Shaft (2003) and Still life (2006), understanding the changing tides of Chinese living shall be given particular attention to. Through deciphering the comparison of the themes used in both movies, the implication of reality in the face of the Chinese society shall be discussed and deciphered in relation to how it reflects the impact of globalization in a traditional nation like China.

Background of Movies

Still life, released in 2006, was directed by Jia Zhangke under the written story of herself, Jianming and Na. The story plot revolved around the life of several individuals in pursuit of finding the people important to their lives. Finding their loved ones did not seem to be as easy due to the occurring situations in the society that China had to deal with. Apart from the large cities boasted by the country are poverty stricken provinces that hold low to no hope of living to its residents. Due to the desire to be reunited to his family, Han Sanming, the main character heads back to his province, which was flooded to find his wife and his daughter.  Little did he know that his journey back to his hometown will lead him to a long time of subjecting himself to slavery in an instance with which he cannot control the occurrences nor can he direct the ways by which they are supposed to develop. The future seems to be dim for Sanming but the desire of being with his family ones again retains the hope in his heart which further pushes him to remain motivated in a mediocre work that he thinks would give him enough savings to buy back his family away from slavery.

On the other end, the story of Blind Shaft by Li Yang was more of a presentation on how human instinct evolves in the face of hardship. Herein, the two main characters Song Jinming and Tang Zhaoyang take advantage of the young minds of their victims to be able to get money from the management of an illegally operating coal mining company. The turn of events however changed when they recruited young Yuan Fengming in the same line of work, who wanted nothing but to work hard and feed his family. His being repulsed to the characteristic of the two con artists and somehow created a glitch on how they were supposed to feel about their victims. Solidifying the story is the aspect of innocence that Fengming had in him. It reflected so much of how the two artists could take into account their scheme and the fact that the innocent victim they recruited wanted nothing but to have a better life than the poverty-stricken form of living that he has been born to.

In a way, both movies intend to show contrasting presentations on how globalization has affected the life of those who are living in the less urbanized areas of the country. The provinces, specifically dependent on traditions and cultural origins of being Chinese often suffer severe impact from the effects of globalization in the system of living that the country currently considers. Apart from the wealth of mainland china comes the impoverished living that the people in provinces have to contend with everyday. This is the reason why the emergence of illegal industries arise specifically initiating a new form of working culture in the country. Illegal as the coal mining industries are [as presented in both movies], more poor individuals choose to work in the said areas. Setting aside the danger and the hard work that they have to put forth for the sake of gaining low-rate salary, these individuals want nothing but to be able to make money to support the basic needs of their families.

Sad and daunting as the situation is, another aspect of this industry defines the fact that the ones earning as much from the meager earnings of the workers and the hard work they put forth are the big companies in the cities who run the said illegal businesses. The oppressed becomes more oppressed and the rich ones become richer by every minute. Truly, globalization has set a huge gap between the poor and the wealthy in China as the years pass. This is particularly the negative impact of globalization especially to those who have already been living at the edge of their means even before the era of adjustment came into existence. Even though China is noted to be the sleeping giant that has already awaken at the entrant of the 20^th century, it could not be denied that such condition has affected most of the larger areas of the country that are dedicated to agriculture where basically the poor families reside. Setting the gap farther, the poor ones struggle to survive spending so much for food and shelter and having nothing more to spend on other things that could supposedly alleviate their conditions of living. They are left with no choice but to consider working in areas that are dangerous, unprotected by the law and given less care by the owners as these forms of job offers are illegal in nature.

Sticking to the edge of a knife, these poverty stricken societies consist of individuals who would not be choosy about how they are to get the money they need to use for buying their basic needs and feeding their families. They will take whatever is given to them. A part of the distinctive oppression that they experience from the hands of those taking advantage of their situation is that of the fact that they are most often than not innocent of the schemes used against them, hence making them more vulnerable to assumptions of supposed economic help that will bring them down in the end. Taking every chance they could to earn money, they often become victims in the hands of those who are ready to take advantage of their vulnerability to earn money for their own.

This event portrayed in both movies is a common condition among third world countries. The rich ones living in the urbanized areas create several schemes to exploit the resources of the country. Along with the exploitation of the resources is also the utilization of the possible effective schemes that they could imply to make sure that their target workers would respond to the invitation. Exploitation of human resource also occurs. Finding the right people to do the job is quite easy. They simply establish businesses in areas where money is scarce but resources are abundant. The people in such areas are thirsty of finding a way to experience the good life that globalization offers, in this case the life in the city; a life that is directed and controlled by the power to buy. Blinded by this idealism, people leave their principles aside and take every chance possible to earn from themselves a good amount of money to be able to survive in a society that is tough enough to surpass for those who have less. With no education and no knowledge of what is going on whatsoever, these individuals become victims to the conditional work procedures that they are subjected to. They do not mind about the low payment for their overworked bodies so long as they would have money to bring home to their families. Most often than not, the money they are able to bring home is not even enough to support their basic needs of food and shelter. Often, they have to stretch out such income for a long span of time. This is the reason why like other developing countries, provinces in China experience the need of families to be separated from each other just so to make sure that one member of the family is able to get out of the way and find better job opportunities in the city. True, globalization and the culture it brought into China changed the value of family and specifically created a new distinction of how humans are supposed to face the challenges of economic downturn.

Main Themes

To set the comparison between the two movies, several themes presented in both plots of the story shall be given attention to in this section of the discussion. These themes shall be utilized to set the relative comparison among the events that happened in the films and how these situations mirror the actual life that Chinese individuals had to live with especially in remote areas away from the urbanized cities of the country.

Value for family

In both movies, family played a great role in the lives of the main characters. At most, their familial bond caused them to move from one place to another just so to find a better means of living. As common as this social transition is among third world countries, the films presented China to be experiencing the impact of the matter in a rather hard blow on the families and how it was originally valued by ancient Chinese descendants. If before, family comes first before anything else, and being together as a unified unit is an important aspect of keeping a family’s integrity intact, the influence of globalization into this cultural society alters the said worth of family bonds.

While the main character of Still Life tries to find his family and desires to be united with them, the main character of Blind Shaft [the victim of the scheme] decides to go far from his family to be able to earn more for them even at a young age. True, the Chinese society faces a failure of recognizing the original value for family that their ancestors had. At the entrant of the principles brought about by globalization, families became less cared for and the monetary sources of being able to provide for the family that has been left behind becomes a primary need that must be given consideration not only by fathers, but by mothers and children as well.

Value for life

As presented through the plot of Blind Shaft, the two con artists recruit individuals who are vulnerable enough to believe that there is a good job waiting for them in an illegally operating coal mining company. After killing their victims and making it look like an accident, they then collect monetary payment for damage on the part of the management of the said companies. Living in such a way of scheme proves that to survive, some people tend to take advantage of others’ weakness, sometimes even take advantage of their life.

On the presentation of Still Life, the value for life has been further defined through pointing out that the daughter of Sanming had to stay away and work to pay for debt. It is as if the life of the young girl is not even enough to pay for the debt that she even has to work for it. Presenting this dilemma in the story shows a low distinction on what the value of life is in relation to the amount of money that is used to value the being of a person.

Value for happiness and satisfaction

When it comes to the value for happiness and satisfaction, the main characters of both movies were presented to have a specific desire to be happy and be satisfied out of the life that they are living. Searching for these elusive elements of life however brought them into different paths that often lead to strife and sadness. Discontented with what they have and desiring for something better, these characters each had their journey of finding that single matter that made them happy, being loved and accepted by a family that is able to live a good life in the middle of a good society. However, with the kind of circumstances that the characters are subjected to, such matter could be assumed impossible if not unrealizable. The con artists on themselves desired to make more money, however to do so, they have to commit murder several times. This indicates that satisfying their need for money reduces their self-respect and morals all for the sake of being able to strap themselves up and be able to purchase what they want and need from the market that is driven strongly by the principles of commercial globalization.

Conclusion

The sad consequences of globalization have been strongly presented in the films that have been discussed herein. The situations that people become subjected to are mere representations of the reality that not only remote Chinese communities experience. The whole society of third world countries experience the same aspect of living hence rendering the vulnerable members of the society to the kind of oppression that the characters of the movie had to deal with in relation to the life that they have been born into.  True, while the rich ones continue to gain more wealth, the poor ones get poorer everyday that they begin to lose choice on how they are supposed to live their lives and get the most basic supplies they need for survival. Without proper education and understanding of the modern world, these individuals become victimized by the oppressing hands of the capitalists and business operators of the country making them the least valued members of the society.

Practical conditions of living often bring about a sense of control on how the poor ones are being exploited and manipulated to respond to the whims of those who are wealthy enough to be in control. Governments and commercial giants in China often control the situation thus bringing about pressure on the poor societies to work further for the sake of gaining access to the basic products they need to survive everyday living. With meager earnings and an unwanted condition of living, most these individuals are left with no choice but to leave their families behind and enter in illegally operated industries to at least gain the monetary source they need to support the life that is desired by their families. The desire of being able to plunge into the trend of globalization even adds up to the pressure of simply being able to survive every day. Certainly, the culture of globalization changed the culture of living that China and its people have long been accustomed to.