Blue Kite Film Analysis

Historical films are often difficult to make without either being too much like a documentary or over explaining the events. Great historical films can portray historical events through complex plots and characters. They make past events personal and understandable, even to foreign audiences. Tian ZhuangZhaung’s Blue Kite, like others in China’s Fifth Generation, is a leading example of such films. Despite having a historical and a political narrative unique to China, the film is relatable. Blue Kite’s plot is simple but not common. The film follows the life of a family in Beijing from the early 1950s to the 1960s. Major conflicts and changes in the family are caused by major political events during the period. The Hundred Flowers Campaign, the Anti-Rightest Movement, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution are the events shown in the film. Therefore, it is unarguable that the film’s plot is one unique to China.
The film makes these events and their critique universal through the plot and the characters. The plot is one that is seen in many films. It is a story about a family struggling to survive and stay …show more content…
The historical and political nature of the film does not isolate the audience due to the plot’s “ordinary” plot and the commonplace characters. The characters in the film garner sympathy and understanding from the audience which creates understanding of the events in the film. This is all done without the film feeling like a documentary or over explaining the events of the film. Blue Kite’s ability to show another’s history as sympathetic and understandable is also seen in To Live and Farewell My Concubine. However, the use of the events is different throughout the films. These three films are leading examples of how Fifth Generation’s films humanizes the history of another country so all can