The Blue Kite

 This movie was incredible in its portrayal of the three eras beginning with the Hundred Flowers Movement, progressing to the Great Leap Forward, and culminating with the Cultural Revolution. It truly brought the failures of the Communist Party to light in following the plights of Tietou, his mother, and the three fathers he has through the movie. By showing a small family and their friends and family the director was able to paint a much more moving and personal picture of how people during these times were taken in and spit out by the leaders that were supposed to be helping but were often only hurting.

 The opening scene of the movie starts it all off by showing just how deeply Communism had become imbedded in the lives of its subjects. With the report of Stalin’s death the wedding of Tietou’s natural father and mother is postponed, and when it finally does occur you see Mao’s picture watching over the ceremony. The song they end up performing is even full of Communist propaganda. Every aspect of people’s lives has been invaded by Communist ideals or at least its presence. Everything old was no longer to be accepted. The article we read by Nielson does a wonderful job of talking about this and a lot of other imagery that spoke of how the Party was taking the place of the male in families, so I’ll try not to repeat her. She didn’t touch as much on the movements. Tietou’s natural father Shaolong fell victim to the Hundred Flowers movement. This movement was interesting for it first encouraged free criticism of the Party, but it later went back on that and came after those who had spoken out. Mao and others decided that five percent of all leaders in all areas were to be labeled rightists and arrested. Some believe it was a way to catch dissenters; however, there is a good chance that the government might have been surprised by the amount of criticism they received and decided to put an end to it before it got out of hand.

 The second father, Uncle, was there during the time of the Great Leap Forward. The movie portrayed this time period really well as the audience watched Uncle Li, the model worker, deteriorate before their eyes as he gave all to the Communist Party, and it took everything away including his life. At this time the communes were in competition to see who could produce the most of everything and though this movie didn’t really show that competition, it did show the effects in the form of Uncle Li. The leaders of the communes did the managerial work, and often times they lied about how much they really had which caused them to place more of a burden on the people to produce but allowed less and less food to stay in their towns. The movie did show the wastefulness brought in by the starting of communal kitchens. Everyone could eat and eat together, but more food was wasted. It also did not show the problem of cannibalism and other atrocities which reared their ugly heads at this time. The book says that people weren’t even allowed to move to other places in search of food and that even things such as boiled water became luxuries as wood became scarce with deforestation. People were cutting down trees as work for the government yet weren’t even able to use it themselves. The labor was there but not the benefits. Though Uncle Li earned the title of model worker he finally met his end of overwork and malnourishment. This greatly showed how people were seen as expendable, for they were worked beyond their reasonable limits and were underfed in the process ultimately leading to their deaths. Even those seen as model workers were not safe from the Party eventually crushing them.

 The third father was interesting, for their seemed to be no affection in the family. He was merely a male parent. It was like this was how it was expected to be, so they were doing their duties to the Party by forming this unit. This was a brilliant picture of what had happened to the traditional family. The government had taken everything about the original family and replaced it with its own hierarchies. Though a Party veteran, he is not even safe from what occurs as the new revolution, encouraged by the Cultural Revolution, leads Red Guards to his door and causes his death and the ending of the family. This final character does a wonderful job of showing the progression between characters closer to the Party. Tietou’s fathers moved from a librarian, to an uncle trying to join the Party, to a party member, and in the end none of them were safe from the final outcome of being betrayed by their believed instrument of salvation but which had become the instrument of their dooms.