¶ … Life captures a very important moment in Chinese history, when the Three Gorges dam flooded an area of the Yangtze. Ancient and traditional villages were wiped away, displacing over one million people and forever transforming the idyllic landscape of this region of China. The filmmaker captures the beauty -- both the lost beauty and the eternal beauty -- of this region. Scenery shots are not the only compelling thing about Still Life, however. This is a film about people. I especially appreciated the filmmaker's ability to blend the stories of the individuals within their natural, social, economic, and political environments. I care about the people because they seem real, as the acting is subtle and it almost feels as if we are watching a documentary at times. I also like the fact that the film captures the nature of Chinese culture as being very long-term oriented, which is why the pacing of the movie is slow. It works in this context, because the film is about mood and not about plot. We are supposed to think deeply about the issue of the dam flooding and what it means for the future of China. By the close of the film, it is clear that the Three Gorges Dam is a symbol of the changes taking place in Chinese culture. Zhangke Jia uses the technique of intersecting stories to show how interrelated all aspects of life can be. The destruction of the villages brings together people from distant places who might...
Also, it causes the estranged husband to see the wife he wife who left him many years ago and allows them to come more honestly to terms with the end of their relationship. It is a sad moment. The end of their relationship reflects the decay, loss, and sadness around them. These are stories that in many ways mirror what is happening in the environment. Han takes a job with the demolition company, a paradoxical insight into the way Chinese people are systematically disenfranchised and disempowered. They have no control over the decisions the government is making, and must simply make the best with what they have. There are no real heroes in the film, but there are people trying to survive with strength, courage, and dignity. It is impossible to ignore the political dimensions of the movie, though. Issues related to poverty in China are explored through the displacement of the villagers but on a more intimate level too, especially through the sad character of Han and how he will go anywhere for work.
Choice # 2: I also made the decision to make critical thinking a part of this course, instead of merely focusing on the history or technical aspects. I want students to be able to form their own opinions about folk medicine based on what they have learned. Name and describe one of your projects strengths. One of the main strengths of this project is that it combines fun with fact. In other
It should be noted that this risk of becoming simply an "ethnocentric fantasy" is something that not all filmmakers are worried about. Indeed, it might well be argued that the creation of an ethnocentric fantasy might well make an ethnographic film more popular and more profitable. Indeed, an ethnocentric fantasy is one of the storylines that fits well into the narrative expectations of Western audiences, who will not be surprised by
Jesus' Teachings, Prayer, & Christian Life "He (Jesus) Took the Bread. Giving Thanks Broke it. And gave it to his Disciples, saying, 'This is my Body, which is given to you.'" At Elevation time, during Catholic Mass, the priest establishes a mandate for Christian Living. Historically, at the Last Supper, Christ used bread and wine as a supreme metaphor for the rest of our lives. Jesus was in turmoil. He was
Life in a Godless World For as long as mankind has contemplated its own creation philosophers have pondered the meaning of life largely within the context of humanity's relationship to the divine, from Aristotle's metaphysical conception of God as all actuality to Descartes' systematic attempt to develop a proof of God's existence. The dominance of Christianity throughout much the civilized world invariably constrained the ability of great thinkers to challenge
We can see this in the moving words delivered by sports broadcaster on the day of baseball great Mickey Mantle's interment. Here, Costas lionizes the late Yankee slugger but does so with a grain of honesty that invokes forgiveness for the flaws in a human relationship. For Mantle, Costas tells, beyond the adulation and admiration, "he got something far more meaningful. He got love. Love for what he had
Life Span Lifespan development is a field of study that involves growth patterns stability and change in one's behavior in the whole stretch of life. The definition does not fully capture the intricate process of the study. The study employs scientific approaches to establish these trends. We need a close examination of the elements of the definition above. In examining stability, growth and change, lifespan development checks the assumptions about the
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