The Red Guards Film Analysis

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In 1966, a social-political movement was started in the Republic of China by Mao Zedong, the leader of the Chinese Communist party at that time (“Introduction to the Cultural Revolution”). Mao Zedong became motivated to start this revolution because he strongly feared that the Party officials were starting to forget about the Communism values (“Introduction to the Cultural Revolution”). Due to his ideological thinking, he always believed that whatever ideas that he came up with were the real truth, thus, leading him to assume that the Party officials were straying away from Communist values because the officials did not always fully agree with his policies (Barnouin and Changgen). Mao failed to see the Party officials’ support for him. …show more content…
During the Cultural Revolution, under the support of Mao, the Red Guards were formed (Szczepanski). They were consisted of elementary to university students — most of them were young workers and peasants (Szczepanski). Their job was to completely exterminate the Four Olds so they attacked those who were suspected of rebelling against the revolution and also destroyed art, ancient texts, and Buddhist temples, all of which were dear to the Chinese culture (Szczepanski). One of the members of the Red Guards was Chen Kaige who is now a film director and a well-known figure from the Fifth Generation of filmmakers (“Chen Kaige”). Joining at the age of 15, Chen Kaige “publicly denounced his father” (“Chen Kaige”). One of the things he is known for is the movie Life on a String, a movie about two blind men (“Chen Kaige”). Through sonic, visual, and textual means, Chen Kaige’s Life on a String explores the concept of the ongoing fight among others and also with …show more content…
Then the secret will come to light, its magic will restore my eyesight,” (Chen, Life on a String). The dialogue is accompanied with the sound of flowing water in the background. The underscoring is slow and intense and gives off a degree of dissonance, and the intervals are disjunct (Chow-Morris). Charm bells can also be heard. The music of the bells emits disjunct intervals, thus, making it seem disconcerting (Chow-Morris). The sound is fitting because the master is about to die. Visually, there is barely any lighting. The setting is isolated (Chow-Morris). Chen Kaige could have portrayed the scene this way because of its significance. It is one of the most important scenes since it sets up what the movie is essentially about. The film explores this little boy’s life as an old blind man now disciplining his own student who is also blind. Throughout the film, he and his student, Shidou, are waiting for the 1000th string to be broken so their eyesight will be restored. The 1000th string and the two men’s blindness is the cause of the ongoing conflict between man and