A Comparative Analysis: Chinese And Hollywood Action Movies

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CHINESE AND HOLLYWOOD ACTION MOVIES [Your Name] [Course] [Professor] UNIVERSITY 12th MAY 2018 A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: CHINESE AND HOLLYWOOD ACTION MOVIES Introduction The study of Chinese and Hollywood action films is not a new scholarly genre. The subject has in the recent past sparked immense scholarly interest particularly due to social,cultural and ideological differences between China and the West. While Hollywood action movies depict the prevailing Western culture, Chinese action movies depict the Chinese culture and past history (Morgenstern, 2016). This disparity could be as a result of production differences since while Hollywood movies are produced in a free and democratic society hence depicting the prevailing socialreality; Chinese movies are largely influenced by the prevailing political ideology (Xie, 2012). This is because Chinese action movies are subject to ideological censorship while Hollywoodmovies are not state censored. This research paper sets out to compare and contrast the Chinese and Hollywood action movies and specifically focuses on the martial arts films. Despite the fact that there exist similarities between action movies produced in China and in the West, there still exist enormous differences due to cultural and socio-economic disparities. A comparative Analysis: Western and Chinese Action Movies The difference between Chinese and Hollywood action films can be evaluated based on the way each of these two genres depicts the hero (Zhou, 2017). The two genres significantly differ in their definition and hence depiction of the hero. While heroes in both genres portray the social, cultural and historical context of their country, the two genres predominantly differ based on their cultural representation, even though there are still minor similarities between Chinese and Hollywood action movies (Morgenstern, 2016). One similarity is that bothHollywoodand Chinese action movies portray heroes as super-humans who the society yearns to emulate. In both genres, the hero is representedashaving an imposing physique and enormous intellectual aptitude(Zhou, 2017). This super intellectual attribute accords them the potential to triumph in the face of extreme adversity. For instance, this characteristic is shown in manyHollywoodmovies such as 007, SpiderMan and Captain Jack Sparrow (Morgenstern, 2016). This similarity cuts across Chinese and Hollywood action movies given that Chinese action films like Dayu in ancient China and Jinke in the Qin dynasty also portray heroes in the same manner. The same characteristic is shown in modern day Chinese action movies such as Jacky Chen. Besides, bothHollywood and Chinese action movies are similaras they both represent heroes as individuals with extraordinarily noble characteristics (Xie, 2012). Furthermore, both movie genres depict heroes as people who are endowed with incredible courage and are highly compassionate.A case example is a Hollywood actionfilm ‘The Shank Redemption’ in which the superhero, Shaw Shank uses his extraordinary wisdom to break from prison (Zhou, 2017). Similarly, the Chinese film Hero, Wu Ming, who is the protagonist, manages to maneuver through tight security to finally kill the king using his unusual Kung Fu martial arts skill and great mastery of Chinese philosophy. Differences between Chinese and Hollywood action movies The first distinction between Chinese and Hollywood action movies lies in the manner in which they utilize special effects (Zhou, 2017). While the Chinese action movies underscore the real action as performed by the hero and other characters, the American movies largely use computer tricks and other photographic techniques to bring out the action (Xie, 2012). In other words, Hollywood action movies use ‘plastic’ action while Chinese movies use ‘real action’. One American action movie that depicts this disparity is ‘Interstellar’ in which computer and photographic tricks have been significantly used to choreograph the action (Chen, 2016). On the other hand, Chinese action movies that illustrate this distinction include‘Crouching Tiger’ and ‘Hidden Dragon’ in which real action has been used. Interstellar is a popular Hollywood action movie that is based on scientific fiction (Zhou, 2017). Starring in the movie is Matthew McCaughey and others while the main theme of the movie revolves around a team of astronauts who went on a search mission to locate a habitable planet. Although Interstellar presents a highly sophisticated scientific adventure, its presentation illustrates the stirring and thought-provoking approach that has been known to characterize Hollywood action movies (Zhou, 2017). Furthermore, it illustrates the American movie lovers’ taste for complex fiction. On the contrary, ‘Crouching Tiger’, a Chinese action movie is a portrayal of Jiawu naval battle during which emperor Guangxu is stifled by his mother (Xie, 2012). In this movie that revolves around the Qing Empire, the hero is faced with an internal revolt and an external attack from foreign enemies. Unlike Hollywood action movies, this movie is based on real action from the protagonist and other characters and does not use computer tricks. Westernand Chinese movies further differ in the way they present dialogue. In the Hollywood action movies, the movie dialogue is somewhat casual and forthright whereas Chinese action films tend to have a rather more solemn, detached and hidden dialogue (Xie, 2012). This distinction is depicted in the Hollywood movie ‘The pursuit of Happiness”. In the Chinese movies, an example is the movie “Confucius”. Another distinction between the Western and Chinese action movies is in the way they frame their characters (Zhou, 2017). While Hollywoodmovies tend to have an individualistic orientation, by largely focusing on individual heroism, the reverse is true with Chinese action movies which largely underscore collectiveness and its inherent merits toward collective success. This stark contrast perhaps serves as a clear depiction of the cultural perspectives in the two countries where the Americans believe in capitalism which emphasize on individual accomplishment while the Chinese believe in a communist, socialist ideology that promote collectivism (Hadfield, Lebeda& Bowden, 2017). An example of thecharacter framing disparity is the American movie, ‘Braveheart’ which is a Western epic film in which William Wallace is the hero and the movie’s protagonist. He is portrayed as a Scottish warrior who rose to fame during the first Scottish liberation war in which he led a revolt against England’s King Edward I. In this movie, Wallace represents individual heroism that is a hallmark ofHollywood action movies (Zhou, 2017). The Chinese movie that best exemplifies this disparity is ‘Battle of the Red Cliff’ which is an epic story for a series of battles that were fought at the infamous Chinese Red Cliff. The movie’s story line was adapted from an ancient Chinese movie, “Three Kingdoms” which is highly regarded as a classical historical movie (Chen, 2016). Starring in this film are Tony Leung, Chang Chen, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhao Wei. The movie is action packed and hailed as the most expensive Chinese movie ever produced as it features a collection of diverse war scenes from the Red Cliff. The victory in the Red Cliff Battle is not attributed to one particular starring character, but rather to the entire team who fought in the epic battle (Xie, 2012). Chinese and Hollywood action movies further differ based on their use of different movie backgrounds. The two differ in terms of culture and family backgrounds that starkly contrast (Hadfield, Lebeda& Bowden, 2017). For instance, the movie Scrapping is a classic example as it depicts cultural disparities between China and Western countries. While Western cultures highly value family and relationships, and hold the view that the family is the epicenter of the society, the Chinese society accords immense significance to cultural tradition. Still, Chinese society is highly patriarchal as it elevates son-ship and seniority (Xie, 2012). This family relationship sharply contrasts with the Western reality where equality within the family structure is presumed (Chen, 2016). Thus Chinese action movies tend to have an overarching theme of family reunion while sometimes promoting “four generations” which is a predominant Chinese social philosophy. Thus while American movies depict individualism and equality within the family setup, Chinese movies portray cultural tradition, respect for seniority and patriarchal predominance (Zhou, 2017). This divergent cultural view on family relationships is evident in Chinese and Hollywood action movies. Chinese Action movies also differ fromHollywood movies on the issue of human rights. The Westaccords great significance on human rights whose edictscuts across the entire society startingfrom the family unit(Xie, 2012). For instance, American parents respect the privacy of their children as such they will first knock before entering in their children’s rooms whereas in China, the reverse is true. Chinese parents invade the privacy of their children without having to ask for permission (Hadfield, Lebeda& Bowden, 2017). This distinction is ubiquitous in both Hollywoodand Chinese action movies. Still, these two movie genres distinctly differ on moral values. As such,Western moral values starkly co...