“The stories in the film [The Blue Kite] are real, and they are related with total sincerity. What worries me is that it is precisely a fear of reality and sincerity that has led to the ban on such stories being told.” – Tian Zhuangzhuang
 
  Tian Zhuangzhuang’s film, The Blue Kite, depicts life in Communist China during the 1950’s and 60’s through the life of Tietou, a young Chinese boy, and his family. Tietou’s life is scarred by the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, or as the film refers to it, the Rectification Movement. Tietou’s father, Shalong, is killed in a labor reform camp in when Tietou is a young child. Shujuan, the mother, and Tietou, struggle to survive in the unstable, tumultuous political environment.
  The Hundred Flowers Movement is the catalyst of Tietou’s family’s troubles. His father and a few friends adhere to the concept of the movement and voice what they thought would be accepted and welcomed criticism of the Party. Instead, he was swept up in the one of the first waves of the Rectification Movement. This incident marks the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, lasting from 1966-1976. Chairman Mao used this movement to ultimately make war upon his own party; the very party he had built. After the failure of the Great Leap Forward, Chairman Mao faced a split in the party’s leadership. Fearing the return of the people’s enemies (capitalists, former KMT, and intellectuals), Mao chose to incite another revolution based on class struggle in order to maintain party control. He encouraged China’s youth to overthrow their elders, teachers, and eventually even local leaders in a new purging of the Party. Labeling many societal and political leaders as bourgeoisie or capitalistic, the Cultural Revolution would topple most of Chinese culture and society. In Schoppa’s words, “It was much better to be ideologically correct than to have the correct factual knowledge, better, in other words, to be ‘red’ than ‘expert.’”
  The Cultural Revolution was a chaotic, undulating movement that swept through China. The Red Guard, composed of militant Chinese youth, accused and purged millions of Chinese people throughout the movement. Mao further supported this behavior through military strength and even through purging quotas of 5% of the population. Tietou’s father was caught up in one of these purging quotas at the library where he worked and was sent off to a labor reform camp where he was killed by a falling tree. The film also depicts the movement’s purging of party cadres and government officials. According to Schoppa, around 70 to 80 percent of provincial and regional officials were purged. This is seen in The Blue Kite when Shujuan’s third husband, a high ranking member of the Party, is taken by a faceless Red Guard mob. In this disorderly, chaotic scene, Tietou and Shujuan are both beaten, and Shujuan is taken as well. This was typical of Rectification.
  The Cultural Revolution led to the eventual degradation of Chinese society. As the youth were taught to overthrow elders, teachers, doctors, etc., Chinese culture and society was made practically inept. With doctors purged, healthcare was heavily damaged, and since many teachers had been purged, society began to crumble. But somehow, in the chaotic environment and failure of the Cultural Revolution, Mao was never blamed. He cultivated a successful image as having been betrayed by “bad Communists” and constantly created scapegoats. One thing the film failed to portray, however, was the presence of resistance movements to the Cultural Revolution and the seemingly whimsical Red Guard. Groups such as the Scarlet Guard existed to combat the movement and even created fairly polarized areas, such as Shanghai, which served as literal battlegrounds between the two groups.
  The film continues to be banned in China because even though the Party now encourages critiques of the Mao regime, The Blue Kite is a bit too honest, crossing the censorship line. The movie brings up the historical point that the party had never succeeded in the past, and is not guaranteed to in the future. More importantly, however, it highlights the Party’s bloody roots. This is considered a threat and a soft ban has since been placed on the film, the directors, and those involved with the film.