If it seems a stretch that Chinese audiences are relating to 10-foot-tall blue aliens with tails in an environmental paradise under threat from greedy developers, consider the parallels. China’s break-neck pace of development in recent years has come at a steep cost to the environment, and has caused an estimated 30 million people nationwide to be evicted from their homes and their communities. Local governments then sell the land to developers with each - but not the original residents - pocketing a tidy profit. This is possible because, in China, all land technically belongs to “the people” - which is to say, the state. Even upscale urban dwellers are not able to buy their own land; only the house or apartment that sits on it, for a 70-year lease. Farmers and villagers are generally given only 30-year leases. Many of the 90,000 or so demonstrations China has each year are related to land rights.
Against this backdrop, it’s little wonder China’s film authorities would rather turn the public’s attention to a different kind of message.
Enter Confucius. Once vilified by Mao Zedong as a feudal counter-revolutionary, Confucianism has more recently been promoted by China’s leaders as a moral code for modern China, one that happens to encourage respect for the existing hierarchy.
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A core part of Confucius’ original message was that leaders must lead with benevolence and morality, must respect the law and avoid corruption. Mao Zedong preferred the political philosophy of Legalism, put forth by a later philosophical rival of Confucius, called Han Fei. Legalism emphasises using the law as a tool to keep the population under control, that everyone except the ruler can be punished. It was a philosophy favoured by many of China’s emperors, who followed the policy of “ru wai, nei fa” - being outwardly Confucian, but inwardly Legalistic, promoting the morals of Confucianism to the general public to discourage challenges and unrest, while using the law as a tool of control.
In the film Confucius, a beatific Chow-Yun Fat as the great man himself counsels leaders of warring states, “put your country ahead of yourself”, and “without civility, a state will descend into chaos”. He also tells leaders to be ethical and avoid corruption. One retorts, “Victory and defeat are what matter, not ethics”.
As a film, Confucius is neither entirely awful nor likely to win international awards. It’s put together as though the director doubted a film focused entirely on the inner life of Confucius and his ideals could really hold a Chinese audience. So instead of character development and complexity of plot, the film offers elaborate period costumes and settings, and the kind of epic, hi-tech-enhanced arrow-flinging battle scenes that have become a staple in mainland Chinese films about ancient China.
“I think they were borrowing from Braveheart, except the director of that movie did a better job,” sniffed a young movie-goer named Mao, as she came out of one of the first showings of Confucius at a Beijing cinema. But she said she did find the story of Confucius touching.
Another young woman, about to go in to see the film Confucius, said she didn’t know or care so much about his philosophy; she just wanted to see Chow-Yun Fat. As for reports that Chinese authorities may be trying to limit how many Chinese see the provocative themes in Avatar, lest they get ideas, she snorted. “That’s ridiculous. I think we should all be able to watch whatever we like.”
Just days before, China’s state-run media accused Google and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of “information imperialism” for suggesting more or less the same thing.
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