After watching this movie, I got a true look at China during the Maoist period. I believe the realism of this movie is what kept me, so interested in this movie. The Blue Kite is separated into three time periods. Each period is represented with a different father and a different time period of Maoist China. Although each period directly affects the two main characters Tietou and his mother Shujuan.
 The first period directly reflects the hundred flowers campaign, in which took the life of Tietou’s father, when he was clearing trees in the countryside. One of the trees fell on him. The main and key point of Tietou and his father is the multiple kites that where made for Tietou and evitable where caught in the tree. The kite with father and son symbolized the father desire to have the son reach as far as he could, but inevitably the kite meaning his hopes and dreams would get tangled and destroyed. The director tried to make the overarching trees the government and the kite it’s people. The government with intent or not was destroying and limiting its people in their possibilities to move up and better themselves within society. Shaolong, Tietou’s father was also a victim of the period in Maoist China that people where allowed to criticize the government and theoretically get away with it. When the government began to crack down and calls these people counter-revolutionaries, they called for quotas of five percent of people being counter-revolutionaries. Shaolong during his libraries quota, made the mistake of going to the bathroom during voting time, and he then became victim of the quota system. The ironic aspect to this hundred flowers campaign is that Mao believed that I would bring unity to the party and people. But, once he saw his creation of flowers turn to weeds, he essentially pulled the plug on a voice against the party. For Shaolong’s, voice against the party, he was sent to a labor camp, one for speaking out against the party and two for going to the bathroom at the wrong time. In the end, he paid for his mistake with his life.
 The second part of the movie deal with the Great Leap Forward, and the symbol for the Great Leap Forward is Uncle Li. He was a co-worker of Shaolong, and he felt terribly guilty about Shaolong being sent away and inevitably dying, because in q sense he had a responsibility in the death of Shaolong. He represents the Great Leap Forward, because of his very hard work ethic, and an ethic that was demanded and propagandad to the Chinese people by party leaders. It doesn’t say specifically when Uncle Li worked, but many of the programs that Chairman Mao instituted where major economic and human disasters. In China, generally there was not much industry in the countryside, however, Mao believed in the power of the people and he believed the people could make the countryside into industry as well. Mao tried to establish communes that have steel furnaces and the institution of the mess hall.
 With steel mills essentially in communes this caused a great deal of deforestation in direct relations to keeping the fires as hot as they could get to keep the furnaces going. The people of China had faulty techniques in making their pig iron the iron would easily crack. The tools that they used where of little value because they broke easily and could be used anymore. The mess halls, if Mao intended to or not took away the gathering of the family to enjoy dinner together. But the main purpose of the mess hall was to get more time out of their workers thus improve agriculture production. This leads back to Uncle Li, he was overworked and malnourished, and ended up dying of liver failure. This great program for China was killing off its people and further destroying the next generation.
 Uncle Li tried to give Tietou everything he wanted, and be a dad to him. Although he does not have the kites like Shaolong had, Tietou gained from him a work ethic and a desire to make others happy.
 Finally, to Tietou’s stepfather, he was able to provide a good life for Tietou and Shujuan, but he was not a father figure to him life father was. He have him everything that he wanted, but during the Cultural Revolution, good times for the new family were going to come to an end. As the Cultural Revolution began to heat up, the stepfather began to feel the heat as well. He was called a counter-revolutionary and was come after. Before hand the stepfather warned the family and gave them money to survive on. As a government official the stepfather was susceptible to violence due to his policy with people. The stepfather was killed.
 One interesting part of the movie that I noticed was Tietou’s easiness with his niece, and how he continuously made kite for her. I believe this symbolizes Tietou’s knowledge that has come about from his father. That if he could not achieve his dreams because of the oppression of his government, that maybe his niece could get the riches of the hard work of people like Shaolong and Uncle LI.
 I think the most important message behind this movie, was that the government in their political institution will destroy and further plummet the next generation. Shaolong was destroyed by voicing his opinion, and because of the seizure of his mother and the death of three fathers, Tietou will forever be destroyed.