UNDER THE HAWTHORN TREE; Yimou Zhang,2010
Baili Desert and 809 Primary School
Under the Hawthorn Tree was a movie by director Yimou Zhang and acted by Xiao Dou and Dongyu Zhou, it was an adaptation of the novel of the same name, the story during the “Great Cultural Revolution” and the movie showed how Jingqiu and Laosan get to know each other, fall in love and finally end with LaoSan’s death, which is a Poignant love story. The sites used in this movie are located at my hometown, Yilin District Township Baili Desert Scenic Area of Yichang City (where hawthorn trees are located)
Yilin District Xiaoxi Tower Street Jiangjiamiao Village 809 Primary School (Jingqiu’s school, Yichang Nanjinguan Grand Canyon Scenic Area exit)
To compare the difference between the sites in the film and the real life, let us first have a look of the Baili Desert, which I’ve been there several times, it is a huge grassland with beautiful scenery and many animals like goats present. In the movie, the scenery present depends on the storyline of the film, in which the weather and light effects are all different, as example, when Jingqiu is walking alone, finding Laosan, the whole desert is cloudy and only the view with Jingqiu can be seen by us viewers, and when two of them play together, the weather was just amazing with the sun hanging at the sky and many white clouds flying with the wind, which also makes Jingqiu’s hair swinging, making her more attractive. The Eighth middle school in the film is now a place of gravel pile and overgrown with weeds, but the appearance remains barely the same compared to the film, because the movie is so famous and therefore the site is remained.
In the last paragraph, I will discuss and analysis why the sites are presented in the way it like in the film. For the Baili desert, it is a place the represent the love between Jing and San are pure, clean and honest, with the scenery having the same features, the light effects and weather were used to emphasis the environment, and to make viewers impressed by the scene therefore remember the storyline. In case of the Eighth Middle school, because the story of the film occurs at 1970s, the environment and atmosphere of a school is completely different from the schools now, as it is during the “Great Cultural Revolution” period, many kids are just required to get away from home and went to villages If there is a landlord component in the family. In the film we can see many chalkboards newspaper with sentences of chairman Mao, which is a symbolic feature. Why the film always emphasis that? The answer is really simple because if the environment is not under the “Great Cultural Revolution” period, the whole personality of Jing will be different then the story will not occur like that.
the Baili desert in real life, where the tree located
the Baili desert in the film
school inside the film, with a status of chairman Mao behind
the broad with period feature in the film
nowadays, the school has become a place of gravel in real life
———Zhekai Zhang,3035952484
I would suggest a stronger comparison of your research site in the “reel” and “real” world respectively. And you may also elaborate your analysis based on those images in terms of various cinema techniques. It is thought-provoking to continue your reflection by questioning how the Great Cultural Revolution influenced how the Baili Desert and 809 Primary School performed on the screen and how Dir Zhang organized his lens language to shape the oppressive but pure era. Furthermore, please clearly figure out your references to clarify how you accessed the field research.