Josh Tatum
10-13-13
Tradition: Gone
in a Flash
Since the first
great cog in the clock of history started spinning it has devoured many and
mangled even more. Only those with the foresight to stay just ahead of the
grinding teeth come out on top. Every nation, every great power has been worn
away or transformed by time. No man can stop it. No man can escape time, but
those who change with it change the world. In his film, Once Upon A Time In China, Tsui Hark makes this very claim. He even
goes so far to say that those who refuse to change with time will not survive.
Through his masterful story telling Tsui crafts a beautiful landscape in which
we see a clever allegory of change.
The very first
scene of Once Upon A Time In China may
seem a bit odd without close examination. There is a lion dance taking place on
a Chinese ship in the Hong Kong bay. A set of firecrackers ignites, spooking
some foreign soldiers who fire on the ship, hitting one of the men, halting the
lion dance. At first glance, this seems to be simply a commentary on foreign
invasion and influence in Hong Kong. However, upon closer examination this
scene offers Tsui’s first comment on technology and progress. It is well known
that the Lion Dance is a very traditional dance in China. It holds great
significance, especially in Hong Kong where it was started. This scene,
therefore, makes a very bold statement about Chinese tradition. The foreign
soldier—or more specifically the gun—shooting the Lion represents the dying of
Chinese tradition, or rather the inability of tradition to compete with new
technology. The gun as a theme will be revisited later on. The film, however,
does not wait to continue making its point.
In
the first scene after the opening credits we see Hong Kong in a state that is
perhaps not too shocking to the modern eye. Cultures from every corner of the
globe push and shove their way through the streets.
This
picture shows a band of Chinese musicians competing with the sounds of
“hallelujahs” rising from the Jesuit ministers in the streets. The musicians
begin playing louder and in turn the priests sing louder creating a cacophony
so uncomfortably loud that the patrons of the restaurant cannot maintain a
conversation. Then, suddenly, in a moment of eerie peace, a foghorn from a not
so distant ships sounds, silencing everyone. In this scene Tsui Hark manages to
make an even more bold statement. Perhaps Kwai Cheung Lo says it best in his
essay: “No one can hear anything. But suddenly the siren of a foreign
battleship in port pierces through the tumult. Every voice is subdued by the
deafening sound of the siren. The uproar of technology has overwhelmed the
traditional, the spiritual, the everyday aspects of life” (85). The mis-en-scene is not Tsui’s only method
of driving his point home, however.
In
this scene we see two characters depicting very different attitudes towards the
ever-increasing influence of foreign technology. The first is Aunt 13. She wears Western
clothing and in this scene she even uses a Western Camera to take pictures. The
second character is Wong Fei Hung himself, dressed in traditional clothes and
hair in a queue (a Qing dynasty staple). As the scene unfolds Aunt 13 takes a
picture of Wong and the shop owner. In a literal flash, the camera malfunctions
and kills one of the shop owner’s prized birds. At first it might seem as
though this would suggest that new technology is fickle and not to be trusted.
The truth of the matter is, however, that the scene symbolizes tradition
sitting like a bird in a cage, helpless against fast-approaching future.
Shortly after this scene we see another character that represents yet another
crucial idea.
Tsui
introduces the character of Yim not long into the movie. Yim is a kung fu
master who, in a way, represents the conscience and traditional ideals of Wong
Fei Hung. Yim wants to fight Wong in order to prove that he (or the traditional
way of things) is superior to the rising technological advances. Yim uses his
body to break spear and sword, but in the end he is unable to stop the bullets
that ultimately kill him, laying to rest Wong’s resolve to stick to the old
ways. In a way it is as though Tsui Hark is saying adapt or die.
As
the movie approaches its end there is a scene that simply shocks the viewer.
Wong Fei Hung holding a gun. The
almost perfect picture of tradition transformed into a gunslinger. Progress has
even overcome even the most rigid. The image could almost prove offensive, but
the characters run out of ammo anyways, so they eventually revert to their
fists once more. The scene just further adds to Tsui Hark’s point that you
either adapt to the changing times and technology or you fall by the wayside
(much like master Yim and the bird in the cage from the start of the movie).
Tsui Hark is a master storyteller. He uses seemingly
simple metaphors to get big complex ideas across. Craig Reid says of him,
“Tsui
Hark is one of the most famous and prolific of Hong Kong's post-1979 generation
of New Wave film-makers. On the basis of the very successful domestic release
of titles he has directed for his own Film Workshop production company in
Kowloon” (34). Once Upon A Time In China vividly
portraits Tusi’s idea that progress in an unstoppable force. No man can stop
it. No man can escape its clutches alive, but those who change with it change
the world.
Works Cited
Lo,
Kwai . Once Upon a Time in China:Technology comes to presence in China.
Web. <https://elearning.uky.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-2696097-dt-content-rid-
Reid,
Craig. "Interview with Tsui Hark." University of California Press.
n. page. Web. 13 Oct. 2013. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1213294>.
