Nate Emery History 404 (University of Idaho) Chinese History in Film Dr. Pingchao Zhu 26 July 2001
Critique of Lin Zexu
I was not impressed with the quality of the script for the film `Lin Zexu' made by the Shanghai Haiyan Film Studio in 1958. Perhaps this is because I had the impression beforehand that it was a film made by the Communist Government, leading me to believe that it was more of a tool than entertainment. One of the things I noticed immediately about the film was its propaganda quality. For instance, everything in the Emperor's Palace was red instead of gold, to include the Emperor's clothing. There was a highly Communist undertone to every aspect of the film. It seems to have been filmed in the shadow of 1958 ideals, rather than early 1840's social accuracy. Primarily, this is evident in the appearance of women throughout the film as equals to men in nearly every portrayal. I find it difficult to believe that the women of that time were actually that liberated. When the canons overlooking the water are to be replaced, women are up in the front, towing the ropes alongside the men. The replacement canons also had the same range as those on the British ships, which they are shelling. This was a little hard for me to believe. The film's historical setting takes us from the years preceding the Opium Wars, on through its end. At a climatic point of the film, the Cantonese who are trading for the opium with the British are overjoyed when the opium chests are thrown into the water. This isn't exactly the behavior I would expect from opium merchants and addicts. The `Cantonese Opium Party' has the mood of an early 80's War on Drugs commercial: everyone appears to be extremely tickled that they were able to join together and throw the monkey off their backs. The proletariat ambiance is one of rising to beat the foreign devils that are keeping them down. In the end of the film, the British violate the truce agreement and land in northern China. The Chinese people band together to make a valiant last stand, and all ends among the backdrop of glorious red smoke. In the end, Lin is exiled, but only after seeing the achievement of the people over the foreign devils, which was his ultimate goal. For some unknown reason, the British military was savvy enough in the 1840's (at least in this film), to conduct night patrols in the rain for no apparent reason. I believe the historical accuracy here to again be misleading, however necessary to the intended plot development, if at all. For a film made in the middle of Mao Tse-tung's era, the film has purpose worlds apart from entertainment. Amidst continuous communist political movements and restructuring, China had isolated itself from the rest of the world. `Lin Zexu' took one of Chinese history's scapegoats and made him a hero for the purpose of communist ideals. It served a greater purpose of unifying Chinese people, giving them a common history, and instilling a sense of nationalism during a time up reform and sometimes upheaval. It served a greater purpose of unifying Chinese people, giving them a common history, and instilling a sense of nationalism during a time up reform and sometimes upheaval. I wouldn't recommend showing this film to students in the course of teaching the chronology or events of the Opium Wars, however I would recommend utilizing it in the discussion of the emergence of the Peoples' Republic of China, or perhaps as a tool to offer differing views of history. In my opinion, `Lin Zexu' is a film, and neither a movie nor a documentary. While it certainly had its place in its own time, viewers must be cautious applying it in today's world If the film were available in the United States in DVD format, it would serve as an excellent teaching tool. The nature of the DVD format would allow the instructor to quickly jump to the desired scenes, and preserve the media for much longer use than a VHS tape.
