Color and Symbolism in films by Chen Kaige

-- Comparative analysis of Yellow Earth (1984) and Farewell, My Concubine (1993)

Both depictions of tragedy, Yellow Earth (1984) and Farewell, My Concubine

(1993) embody spectacular cinematography that succeeds to capture the attention of

the viewers in many ways. Out of all the different techniques used, Chen Kaige uses

color and symbolism to communicate key concepts of his films to the audience, as well

as to reinforce characterization. These two devices are used in different ways in the two

films. While color contrast and object symbolism in Farewell convey the theme of dream

and reality, they function to emphasize the characteristics of gender in Chinese society

of the era depicted in Yellow Earth.

Chen creates a world of dream and fantasy in Farewell with the use of vivid

colors for Peking Opera-related objects, notably costumes. Bright shades of pink,

flamboyant red, and shining yellow are observed on most of the costumes during shows

on stage as well as when they are on racks offstage. These are in stark contrast to the

dark shades of gray, blue, brown and black worn by men including Dieyi and Xiaolou

offstage. Even Dieyi’s admirer, the extremely wealthy Yuan Shiqing does not ever wear

bright colors. It is therefore apparent that Chen employs such color contrast to show a

sharply distinguished difference between stage and real life. Also, when Opera shows

are put on, the audience seats are almost always casted in the dark, and bright lighting

is casted onto the stage. This makes the viewer again very aware of the fact that it is a

performance and is therefore unreal. However, the slightly softened lens on shots of

Dieyi onstage as Yu Ji underlines that he is in his dream world, and highlights the

incomparableness of the Opera world to him and that he lives within it. This is

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supported by the fact that he takes his life upon realization that he had been living in a

dream, which will be discussed in the usage of symbolism. Furthermore, it can be seen

that colors are used to represent desires of the characters, the ‘worlds’ they idealize

themselves in. In the early scene where Dieyi’s fellow apprentice Xiao Laizi attempts to

run away from the opera troupe, Laizi is attracted by the kites held by children playing

right outside of the troupe house’s doors. There is one shot of the screen filled with the

bright colors of the kites, which were in shapes of swallows which here symbolize

freedom, and the lens is again softened. As it did for Dieyi, this color imagery serves to

represent the world Laizi dreams to be in, the ability to fly away from the opera troupe,

and play like all children do.

Color is also masterfully employed in Yellow Earth, in which the color red is

called attention to. In the opening scene of a wedding, red sashes are tied onto the

bodies of all members of the parade, as well as on their musical instruments (Yau, 1987-

88). The female protagonist Cui Qiao can easily be spotted by her red garment, which

stands out amongst the crowd of men all wearing dark colors. Red no doubt symbolizes

femininity, and it is not hard to see that it is greatly emphasized, for Cui Qiao wears it

throughout the entire film. By having her continuously wear this symbol of her

sexuality, Chen stresses her announcement of her yearning of freedom from the

suppression put upon her sex in the world that she lives in. Her last act of drowning

herself in the Yellow River after her wedding, in which she is still wearing red, is her last

protest against the feudal suppression of women. Unlike in Farewell, the color imagery

very much focuses on darkness and shadows. Most noticeable use of this is scenes

inside Cui Qiao’s house. The frequent silences accompanied by the sometimes entirely

shadowed face of Cui Qiao’s father suggest the overshadowing of feudal concepts and

ethical codes upon this house, represented by this good-natured but unenlightened

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man, and the silent subjugation and resistance of women (Yau, 1987-88). The latter is

supported by the juxtaposition of silent scenes inside the house and Cui Qiao singing

outside by the River. The viewers can easily detect this and be evoked to feel pathos for

her.

Closely related to color, symbolism is also used in representing sexuality in

Yellow Earth. According to Daoism, the sun, fire, and sky are male, Yang, and the moon,

water and earth are female, Yin (Zhong, 1981). Therefore, in the film, they are utilized as

symbols of masculinity and femininity, respectively. Long shots used to create vast

images of the sky, the brightness in it indicating the overpowering presence of the sun,

symbolize dominance of men, patriarchy in Chinese feudal society. In Cui Qiao’s house,

it is the flames from the candle, the only source of light, which symbolizes Cui Qiao’s

father’s authority in the house. Contrastively, dark imagery of the moon and water of

the Yellow River, scenes in which Cui Qiao is often the dominant figure, underlines that

women live in society’s shadows, supported by the fact that no female character

appears in the light throughout the film whilst men dominate shots in brightness. The

greatest message conveyed through symbolism in this film is the drought that kills the

crops. Since it is the overpowering sun that devastates the earth, the yin yang

symbolism here suggests that the male suppression of women will lead to devastation

of the former. Furthermore, the Chinese acknowledges the Yellow River as the ‘Mother

River of China’. The lack of attention to the River by men in the film suggests that

women are forgotten in this feudal society, just as water is never added to the Plateau

and Cui Qiao is the only character that fetches water from the River. Such depictions

may contribute to political meaning as well as an artistic one.

Symbolism is conveyed through knives and swords in Farewell. Towards the

beginning of the film, Dieyi’s mother cuts off his extra finger in order to get him into the

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opera troupe. However, this also symbolizes a severing of ties between the mother and

son. When his mother first took him to see the troupe master, Dieyi’s hands were

wrapped inside a pink silk garment. The covering here is as way of concealing the truth

about his hands. The bright color imagery mentioned above is noticeable here, again

highlighting a façade, something unreal. The concept of covering is repeatedly used to

symbolize protection throughout the film. As children, Xiaolou and Dieyi’s acts of

covering clothing garments on each other foreshadow their mutual protection of the

other person. Xiaolou’s covering clothing on his wife Juxian at the brothel where he

saved her also symbolizes his protection of her from then onwards. Interestingly, Dieyi’s

letting his stage robe fall to the ground when Juxian tries to cover him with it shows his

denial of any relationship with her. Through this action, Dieyi rejects Juxian’s evident

pitying of him and her desire to mother him, seen in the scene where she takes him into

her arms and cradles him as if he was a baby when he is trying to quit opium. Finally, in

the climactic moment at the end of the film, Dieyi takes the sword from Xiaolou’s belt,

the very sword that symbolizes their ties with each other and the success and fame that

they achieved together, and uses it to kill himself. It can be read that Dieyi symbolically

severs the ties between him and Xiaolou, but it would also seem logical to argue that on

the contrary, he is actually stating that he cannot be separated from him in mind, as he

is emulating Yu Ji’s show of fidelity towards the King, proving his devotion to Xiaolou

even when he knows that his dream is shattered by Xiaolou’s reminding of him that he

is a man in reality. Nevertheless, it can be claimed that from the moment this sword

appeared on screen and was held by the hands of these two brothers, a break off was

foreshadowed.

Through comparison of the two films Yellow Earth (1984) and Farewell, My

Concubine (1993), it can be seen that Chen Kaige employs color and symbolism to

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express the sufferings of women under a patriarchal feudal society in the former, and

the longings of characters and severing of bonds in latter. Such meticulously crafted

cinematography serves as a gateway for communication between the filmmaker and the

educated viewer.

Bibliography:

Yau, E. C. M. (1987-88). Yellow Earth: Western Analysis and a Non-Western Text. Film

Quarterly 41(2): 22-33.

Zhong, B. (1981). A Stroll in Aesthetics (80-113). Shanghai: The People’s Press.

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