| Chen Kaige, as a representative personage of the fifth-generation director, is a person with profound literary connotation and cultural qualities. He injects his reconsiderations about traditional culture and history, which breeds people’s specific states of material and mental, to his films, therefore his films are full of thick art atmosphere and emotional affection. In Chen’s film, women always have the excellent character of kind-hearted and righteous, as well as the courage to fight with the destiny, which make the female images especially attractive.This dissertation focus on studying the female images in Chen’s films, combined with the background of characteristics of the times and the fates of figures, paying attention to humanity and rethinking the history and culture behind the figures, to explain the unique value of the exist of female. This dissertation divides into three chapters:Firstly,"The classic images of chivalrous women in ancient times", which is under the modern vision care,is a chapter discussing about the female image in ancient times, in which we can analyze the demeanor of chivalrous women under the given circumstances of film and the adaptations of old allusions by Chen, such as, the loyal and steadfast ZhuangJi, the brave and wise ZhaoNv, the affectionate and soulful QingCheng. Secondly,"The tragical images of female in reconsideration of history" mainly discuss the images of female during the periods of the Republic of China and the Cultural Revolution, in the meantime, combining with the experiences of Chen himself and the impact of times to him, we will demonstrate uncommon identities of female in the above-mentioned two periods, for example, RuYi came from rich family rebels against the orthodoxy, the poor CuiQiao rises up against the control of traditional culture, the humble JuXian dares to love and hate to defend her dignity, LaiDi acts wild and arrogant; all those figures show opposite of traditional value that female should be gentle and virtuous. They all have their own dreams and none of them can survive form destroy. Lastly,"The image of female in modern city", in this chapter we will explore that the disadvantages of current civilization and suppression of humanity with the Chen’s reflection to culture and history. For instance, Lili became a prostitute and suffered hardships while she finally back to nature, Ye Lanqiu commit suicide after she was harmed by disease and cyber-violence. Through the study of these rich and distinctive images of women, this dissertation makes us a better understanding of that not only the content of Chen Kaige’s film, but also the fate of Chinese women. |
