Chen's new China

In his latest film, Chen explores contemporary culture, music

Howard Ho
Published: Sunday, May 25, 2003

Director Chen Kaige is known for making films from the safe vantage point of history, but he’s ready for a change.

“I used to believe there was no culture in China because the old traditional cultural values were being destroyed by the last 15 years under communism,” Chen said. “Now I feel like I was wrong, and I should pay attention to the social change in Chinese society.”

His latest film “Together” takes place in contemporary Beijing, a metropolis bustling with cutthroat competition and capitalist indulgence. The film opens Friday. It’s a far cry from his last film, the historical epic “The Emperor and the Assassin,” or his most well-known film, the Oscar-nominated survey of 20th century China, “Farewell My Concubine.” You can’t necessarily blame Chen for receding to the past; films that blatantly criticize the current regime are often too easily censored.

Now Chen has found a topic palatable to the Chinese government: the soullessness of capitalism. This theme is also seen in the recent film “Beijing Bicycle,” by Wang Xiaoshuai.

“In the past, people lived in fear because they were afraid to be kicked out of their society,” Chen said. “Now they’re still living in fear because they’re afraid to be living in poverty.”

“Together” follows a violin prodigy and his father from their provincial country home to the big city to seek a music teacher. Reflecting the vogue of Western classical music among the Chinese intelligentsia, Chen’s film also captures his love for the music. Records were smashed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, but Chen and his friends hid copies of Beethoven’s Pastoral symphony and Dvorak’s Symphony from the New World.

“One day, we got together, locked the door in the dark, and listened to the music,” Chen said. “That’s a romantic moment in my life.”

You can see the love for music in the way the musical sequences are shot with glowing light, briskly fluid camera work and, of course, booming music. To prepare for the final sequence, Chen listened to Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto over a hundred times.

Chen himself appears in the film as a stern but successful violin teacher. He keeps his students in greedy opposition for the prized spot in a competition. Though the Chinese government wanted the teacher to be nicer, Chen kept him an abusive, fame-oriented man.

“Now, many use music and art in China as a key to success only,” Chen said. “The star-maker professor doesn’t understand music at all. How sad is that?”

But this attitude remains prevalent. When “Together” was screened for young musicians and their parents, the parents preferred the rough professor while the youth preferred the gentler, spiritually holistic teacher in the film.

While “Together” criticizes contemporary attitudes, Chen’s first film, “Yellow Earth,” was a call for Chinese society to modernize. It’s just another way Chen has changed.

“On the one hand I realized nobody can stop the process of modernization. But on the other hand, we should try to avoid the mistakes made by other cultures when they developed their own societies,” Chen said.

“Now, through this film, I want to tell people how important it is to keep our ties and contact with each other,” Chen added. “We are losing something we used to believe.”