Submitted by: Submitted by dsh0520
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Category: Literature
Date Submitted: 04/12/2016 07:17 AM
Myriad of Lights: A Classic
Myriads of Light, regarded as one of Chinese cinema classics, tells the story of a family uprooted by the combined forces of economic recession and social judgment, and forced into a struggle for survival. Although its setting is the post-war period, where severe poverty seemed common, the film does more than to describe the dilemma of middle-class Shanghai dwellers. Director Shen Fu uses the existing social problem as a background for the development of the film’s major themes: familial survival and the related struggle for human dignity; at the same time, he especially emphasizes the conflict between urbanites and those from the countryside.
The success of the film’s story owes much to its strong dramatic structure. Following the chronological order of events with Zhiqing and his family’s harmonious morning to the resulting tension after Zhiqing receives the letter from his mother, the film moves with a growing intensity toward the climax. The film’s major conflict between the urbanites and the countrymen is introduced almost right after Old Mrs. Hu and Chenshung (with his family as well) arrive, as Zhiqing and Youlan discuss about the possibility of their daughter getting lice from the dirty visitors. The director’s use of dramatic irony shines in this scene, as the camera focuses on Old Mrs. Hu’s glittering eyes in the dark, eavesdropping on the worried couple’s conversation. By highlighting the emerging internal familial division using lighting techniques, Fu successfully introduces future intense complications between Youlan and Old Mrs. Hu.
Symbolism is another tool used by Fu to add to the dramatic structure of the film. Although overlooked by many film viewers, Zhiqing’s household cat serves as an important symbol for familial unity and manifests the ideological conflict between the urbanites and countrymen. The scene where Old Mrs. Hu rejects the cat from her lap is significant; from this scene, the viewers are lead to...