Individual Scene Analysis

Scene actually begins at 2:52 and ends at 5:13, but it would be a good idea to watch the part before, because i use alot of context from that scene to support the actual scene.



Individual Scene Analysis
Will Dewald
Per. 1 6/13/09
Ms. Wecker
Curse of the Golden flower
A position in power is often associated with wealth, happiness, and freedom. However, appearances can be deceiving in most cases. Power comes with restriction in some cases, very rarely are powerful people able to do whatever they want, or are even able to enjoy life. Restrictions and appearances are two ideas that are emphasized in the film Curse of the Golden Flower. The writer/director Yimou Zhang conveys these two main ideas through the motif of Gold, the Empresses sickness, the various servants, the symbol of hair, denial of pleasure, and through the bamboo curtains.
Shown through this scene is the idea of restriction, which acts as a way of evolving the characters and as foreshadowing. Hair is the main symbol depicting this. Throughout the scene, there are several shots concerning hair, or having hair being the main subject. Every person preparing their hair does in upward or in tightly knit buns. The Empress’s hair is the main subject in the scene before this scene as two separate girls prepare it and her son looks after it. Emphasized is shot 4 as the camera goes around her hair, as it is the focus. Her hair elaborately decorated and tightly done makes it look restricted and her uncomfortable. The Empress, denied of pleasure is another main contributor to the idea of restriction. During shots 27-32, the empress wants to have sexual relations with her stepson. Her son pushes her away from him, and they both become upset. This shows how everybody seems to be contributing to the empress’s restriction, as her love is being restricted. While the Empress is walking down the hallway in shots 1-8, the waiting servants pull up various bamboo shades. The bamboo shades, consistently emphasized, shows in shot 16 while the empress talks to the prince. The curtains are surrounding the characters from all sides, excluding the door. Shot 16 is a shot from behind the bamboo shades, which make it look almost as if it is a cage surrounding the prince and the empress. This effect contributes to the idea of both restriction and appearance since it makes it seem like they are trapped people observed through a cage.
Appearance is an important to the royalty in this film. It is used to display how wealthy and powerful the people are within the Forbidden City. The stereotype association of gold with power controls the people of china, so that they will remain subdued, both inside and outside the Forbidden City. Gold is the most important contributor to this appearance. Gold is the main part of the clothing, makeup, pillars and especially hair. The two princes both have their hair tied up in golden ribbon, while the empress’s hair is elaborate and overdone with solid gold accessories. The sheer number of the servants is an emphasized point within the scene and pre-scene. Seen as lower people, the servants in the scene before hand are all shot from a high angle. They work only to please the royalty, and contribute to the appearance that the royalty is powerful. Servants, in this sense, serve because of the Empress’s and the Emperor’s power, and at the same time they contribute to the power, making it real. The fact that the Empress is stricken with a mysterious sickness also lends to this falseness in appearance and power. The disease serves as a way of displaying lack of control, since the symptoms include uncontrollable spasm like action in the hands, and profuse sweating. The lack of control is shown in shot 5, when she stops in the middle of the hallway and grips her dress. Shot 5 is an extremely low angle shot, which elevates the empress as a power figure (makes her look taller) yet she is unable to control herself. This symbolizes how those in power do not have actual control or power. The sweat that follows the spasms symbolizes the rotting of her appearance, since it ruins her make-up and makes her seem weak. This represents the destruction of her appearance and power, and serves as a foreshadowing as to what may happen later in the plot.
The Film Curse of the Golden flower written by Yimou Zhang conveys the falseness of appearance and restrictions of power through the motif of Gold, the Empresses sickness, the various servants, the symbol of hair, denial of pleasure, and through the bamboo curtains. In doing this, he conveys how falseness of power has been present throughout history, as well as today. He makes the point that power is nothing but a illusion put up by the people, and that this “fake power” binds the power figures making them as miserable as the rest of the world.

Scene Analysis Proposal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0elpHep5a1Q
Im sorry, i could not find the one done in chinese. the voice overs arent really that good, but enjoy. the scene i want to do is the one that begins at 2:52 and runs to 5:13

Movie: Curse of the golden flower
Scene: second scene after the credits
Scene running time: 2:20

Description: the Empress is walking with an almost spitfull or angry intention down a vast hallway, which seems to be made up of a variaty of materials and in various bright, intense colors. as she walks, servants and her youngest son follow her, and servant women bow to her as she walks. she is dressed in an elaborate chinese golden dress, her hair built high and piled with a large assortment of jewelry, all gold. her servants are dressed in gold colored dresses. as she walks servants are pulling up bambo blinds. she then looks as if she is sick, and the camera pans around to her face, and then a sudden low angle shot of her gripping her dress. her son asks her what is wrong, and a servant comes to wipe her sweat and the empress smacks her hand away. she then looks at her son, and walks again. it then cuts to one scene of the empresses oldest son, servants attending to him with an orienting camera angle. the empress then walks down the hall and enters the room and she dismisses everyone but the eldest son. music begins to play, which sounds sort of like women moaning as the empress moves toward the son. she moves close to him, and he looks uncomfertable. she asks if he is going to go to a city somwhere(we dont know where or why yet) and asks if he is afraid. he says that she is his mother and continues to look uncomfertable. she smirks, and loudly whispers, "you know that were not related, we've been intamate for three years". he says that he is first his fathers son. she looks emotional and tryes to almost suduce him by closing in on him. he looks uncomfertable and trys to move away. as he does this, her long gold nails cut into his cloths, pushing her hand downward. she wants to know why he pushes her away, and says that things can be changed. he says that nothing can be changed. she looks upset and turns away, then asks what if she trys to. he wants her to tell him what she is plotting, and she tells him to go greet the emporor first, smirks, walks toward the door(he is watching her). she presses the door to make a ringing sound, and servants open the door, and she exits, leaving the prince concerned. this all takes place in a very colorfull palace, with lots of golden objects.

Compairing themes

Theme: Ignorance does not bring happiness, and happiness is not what should be the goal of life.

This theme is communicated in an obvious way in Antigone, particularly in Anouilh's verson of Antigone. It is done through the way she almost denounces happiness, claiming that it is not all there is to life. she offends creon who belives that happiness is the goal of life, "life is nothing more than the happiness you get out of it"(41). This subject can be seen in Sophocles's Oedipus. Oedipus is similar to antigone in that he questions everything, like he is seeking for knowlege of everything and follows his passion. everybody didnt want Oedipus to know his past(his wife/mother, the farmer), and people dont want Antigone to follow her passion(Chorus, Creon). Oedipus could have just ignored his past, or not cared and then he would be happy, but he didnt.

Theme: fate controls peoples lives, not just what they do.

This theme is especially prominant in Oedipus, seeing as how the gods predicted all that he would do. no matter how he tryed to counter it, or the people around him did, the events did unfold. this message is somwhat different in medea. there is no prediction or prophasy as to her actions, only what is assumed by the people. the reson for this is most likely becasue Medea sees herself(many do) as a godess, which in tern means that she determines her own fate.

Antigone jornal #6: word choice in Anouilh

life
one of the ideas that Anouilh discussed was the idea of life and what the point of it is. creon seems to think that the point of life is to attain happiness, "life is nothing more than the happiness you get out of it"(41). Creon thinks that the only way that people can attain happiness is to remain ignorant, as clearly pointed out by Antigone, "Whom do you want me to leave dying, while i turn away my eyes?"(41). she is making it seem like the Creon turns away from what is painful or "dying" in order to find happiness. the fact that Creon uses the metephor of a child in order to display happyness adds to this idea of ignorace is bliss, since children are happy mainly because they do not know the evils of the world, "life is like a child playing around your feet"(41). he also seems to want Antigone to stay a little girl forever, and doesnt want her to grow as an adult so that she may be happy(in his eyes). this makes creon see almost stupid and tyranical because he most likely wants the public to be happy and remain blissful, which would involve not letting them make any dicisions or forming any opinions. he keeps the secret of polineces from the people, whats to keep him from keeping more? Antigone remains the heroin as she "spits" at creons idea of happiness. she states that happiness is something that is attained through knowlege and passion as seen by how she wants to ask questions and not just accept everything that she is told, "if he too has to learn to say yes to eveything--why, no, then , no! i do not love Haemon!"(42). by use of ambiguous terms that could mean multiple things to multiple people, like happiness and life, Anouih charicterizes antigone as passionate and quesioning and charicterizes Creon as tyranical.

act: Haemon

Haemon is a charicter who is motivated at first to be loyal to his father, and too please him, "no marriage could ever mean more to me than you, whatever good direction you may offer"(93). this primary motivation stays as an underlieing one, for the begining part of his talk with Creon anyway, as can be shown by how he doddles around the point, and trys to not offend Creons pride. he says things like, "its no disgrace for a man, even a wise man, to learn many things and not to be too ridgid"(96). he could have just said it flat out, or in an agressive matter. he could have said somthing like, "you need to learn better, because your ways are wrong. dont be stubbon!". eventually his mood shifts as creon and Haemon argue back and forth, and creon discovers Haemons true motivation and opinion, "this boy, i do believe, is fighting on her side, the womans side"(97). haemon even makes his opinion and motivation perfectly clear, "Its no city at all, owned by one man alone"(97). haemon had a clear motivation to save antigonie, since he suggests that he will die if antigonie does, "then she will die...but her death will kill another"(99). he is motivated by love, and resentment to his fathers method of rule and unjust punishment. this motivation plays a significant role in the play because it displays a clear bond between antigonie and haemon. this adds to the drama and sadness of the play, as well as sympathy for both haemon and antigonie.

Antigone jornal #5: lit tech in Anouilh

1. Foil (Ismene vs. Antigone): Antigone is pointed out from the begining as a different type of person. she is described as somone who was "the first out of bed because she loved the touch of the cold morning air on her barre skin"(12) and is basically represented as a lover of nature and somone who isnt like the other girls in their beauty or manor. Ismene says that other girls and boys stare at her. Ismene is shown as somone who is beautiful, who fears death, and especially somone who always follows orders. this contrast between the two emphasizes eachothers traits, and makes it easyer to predict how each of the people will behave or respond.

2. parallel structure: it is used mainly in two paragraghs. the first describes how creons towns people will react to Antigone burying the body that is forbidden to bury. there is repitition within the sentence of the topic(Ex: "a thousand arms will seize our arms"(12)). it is also used by antigone when she questions haemons love for her, the difference is that the word lying is used constantly as the topic of three questions (ex. "your arms around me arent lying, are they(17)). this is done to make the flow seem more thurough and/or efficient.

3. Simile: there is one example of a similie that has a significant effect on the charicterization of Creon. as the guard speaks to him, "Its nearly the end of night. your eyes are like lead"(21) this is done to not only communicate how heavy his eyes are from being tired, but also how powerful his judgements may be, or his influance(since the guard seems so fearful of what he says or thinks).

4. Moif(night): the motif of night is used to indicate rash or passionate emotion. notice how happy antigone is while happly playing outside in the dark, or how she references night whenever she talks about Haemond, "you did love me that night didnt you? im sure of it!"(17). it is also used as an indicator of passion or rash decision making(in a negitive way in addition to a positive), "stronger than any nightmare, stronger than the shadow of the cupboard that used to snarl at me"(14). darkness is used specifically to communicate night as she vividly describes her passions. this is done in order to serve as a forshadowing as to how her passions may lead her into darkness or death.

Antigone jornal #4: 1940s and new version

after looking it up, i found out that jean anouilh is french. this version of medea was also writen in WWII(1940s), which should have a great impact on the events in the book. the first thing that i thought about(before reading) is that it would go more in depth with feminism, because of the role reversal that took place during WWII when women had to take mens jobs since they were off fighting war. this could still happen, but it doesnt seem as relevent as i thought it would be. a key thing about the french during WWII was that they were almost immediatly taken over by germany, and controlled. this could influance the play by making the charicters more good vs evil exagerated, emphasizing conflicts, or making creon look like an evil person who takes over the lives of the people of thebes (like hitler taking over the french). There is also a HUGE difference in language and style that could be influanced by the time period itself.