Cumulative Blossay - Morality in East Asian Film

                Morality is a dense and complex topic, applying to many facets of our lives.  Most of us adhere to some form of moral code which we alter and adapt as we live our lives.  Film provides a valuable form of moral expression as it brings to life characters that can be in put in almost any imaginable moral situation, but without actually enacting the consequences on real lives with their decisions.  Themes and filmic elements can also potentially carry moral commentary.  It’s important to note that while films and characters themselves don’t have the agency to make decisions which are harmful to those in real life, the content of films and what might be interpreted from them should still be considered as something that potentially affects real people.  I stand firmly on the side against censorship, but I am rational enough to hold respect for the audience and how consumers may be affected from film as well.

                Now that we have the subject framed and some of its stipulations considered, I would like to delve into what we have learned about morality and its place in cinema from our foray into East Asian film.  Morality can be seen on many different levels, and can be categorized as stemming from many different groups.  We have our own individual moralities, just as we have morals reinforced by our family and friends, principles instilled through religion, and values and ethics stemming from society and culture.  Having a glimpse into many different Eastern cultures at different times in history has given us a fresh perspective on morals differing from what we have grown to be accustomed to.

                Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring provided a very interesting and effective means of portraying morality that to my knowledge is firmly tied to Buddhist teachings and philosophy.  Right from the start of the film, we are shown an adherence to specific practices, the most striking being the deliberate opening, walking through, and closing of doors that stand without walling anything off.  The specific action itself may be less important than the choice of expressing a practice them seems from one perspective unnecessary or without functional reason.  As a Western audience, I would assume that most of us questioned the reasoning behind this practice.  I ended up deciding on two nonexclusive interpretations of its meaning.  One is the idea that meticulous repeated practice that is not harmful but holds no reward is a way of disciplining one’s self.  The action’s purpose is the habituation of being able to do something that requires effort without needing a reward to do it.  The other idea is that which I had brought up in class.  It seemed to me to be a Buddhist way of expressing the artificiality of walling one’s self off for privacy.  One should be fully capable of respecting another’s privacy without enclosure or physical walls, and one can visibly portray this respect through actions such as using the door.

                At the heart of Buddhist ethics, there is the idea that one should not take life from other sentient creatures.  We see both young monks go through a point in their early lives in which they abuse animals for their own entertainment and pleasure.  Why would the director choose to show this, especially when real animals are used in the process of filming these scenes?  It could be to express that morality as we know it is not innate.  The scenes seemed to provide an ambiguity in what is the best way to instill proper morals to one who is amoral in certain regards.  The older monk would not intervene during the abuse, instead he would quietly watch over the young boy (as an additional layer of ambiguity, one could argue that the older monk may not have been diegetically there).  Only afterwards did the elder monk decide to teach the young boy a lesson.  I think this provided a thoughtful way of showing the liminal nature of morality.  One could contend that nature and the natural course of things is meant to go unquestioned, that the way of the world is best left untouched by human agency.  The other side can dispute that claim, saying that humans have the moral responsibility to act on things with the intent of making the presented world better due to our level of intelligence and reasoning.  Almost any way we decide to look at it, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring is teeming with elements that have deep implications and considerations for morality.

                With a look back into Farewell My Concubine, I would like to consider the morality enacted upon by characters in their relationships with people they care deeply about.  Over the course of this epic, we learn the origins of the relationship between Douzi and Shitou, witness their transition into Dieyi and Xiaolou, and follow them up to the point of Dieyi’s death.  There is an immense amount of turbulence and turmoil throughout this relationship, and each character shows a vast range of moral and immoral actions.  Since childhood, the devotion between these two main characters seemed very true, with the first adult upheaval stemming from Dieyi’s ostensibly romantic feelings towards Xiaolou and his jealousy of Juxian.  Dieyi is stuck in an unfortunate position, one which makes his malice towards Xiaolou and Juxian both questionable yet potentially sympathized with.  Although we don’t know the true extent of his feelings for Xiaolou, we can certainly understand the pain of an unrequited love, particularly when it is a love that is societally forbidden for irrational reasons.  When I witnessed Dieyi acting out and making things difficult for Xiaolou, I was unhappy with his actions, but I was made to consider his feelings.  Morality can be seen from the perspective of ourselves and that of others.  When we deem that others act in a way that contradicts what we perceive as the right thing to do (such as: “if you truly loved me, you wouldn't do things that hurt me”), we can get wrapped up in emotion and even feel a justified sense of vengeance.

                As the story progresses, the characters get more chances to make what most might deem to be significantly immoral actions.  When Xiaolou is questioned by members of the Communist Party, he folds under duress and reveals that Dieyi performed for the Japanese and gave an implication of his homosexual relationship with Yuan.  In return, Dieyi reveals Juxian’s position as a prostitute, which makes Xiaolou feel the need to deny his love for her.  The dreadfulness of these actions is highlighted by the raging fire, making a visualization that I conceptualized as the burning fires of hell, which would certainly have strong associations with the immoral and sinful.  I think that this was a valuable filmic portrayal of morality, especially because of the already established characterization of Dieyi and Xiaolou.  Even though they have done bad things, I would assume that as an audience, most people would consider both main characters as reasonably well-meaning and mostly decent people.  The fact that they betray each other on such a deep level, and the way the Communist Party is shown harshly imposing on the two characters, helps the audience respect the fact that many of our moral codes can be broken under harsh circumstances.  Our convictions may seem strong and resilient, but only when they are put to the test can we really know how they hold up.

                Joint Security Area framed morality in yet another way.  It juxtaposed the morality in the feelings that a pair of South Korean soldiers shared with a pair of North Korean soldiers, and their duty and obligation to serve their countries.  While these two types of morality can be delineated in somewhat simple terms, the way to negotiate and compromise between them is immensely complex, especially due to them being seemingly mutually exclusive.  The drama that unfolds between the North and South soldiers illustrates the fact that government and politics can make people suffer, that the unreconciled differences between two nations (in this case a nation that has been split into two) can compromise the morality of individuals.  It’s interesting how this can be seen to parallel the way the Communist Party broke down the characters in Farewell My Concubine.  The group of soldiers may not have had their faces pressed against the fires of hell, but the introduction of an “outsider” (the commanding officer that unknowingly walked in on the four) forced them to face a hellish system where an understanding seemed to be impossible.  Both movies provided a situation in which we saw characters develop in ways which made them out to be respectable people, and then we see those people realistically break down due to their environment and witness a degradation of their morals.

                The last film I would like to analyze is Ikiru.  It reminded me of a proverbial expression that I’ve held on to for a long time, which is a quote from Socrates: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”  As humans, we have been given sentience and life.  Could it not be said that it is our moral duty to make the most of what we have in regards to living our lives?  Do we not owe it to ourselves to examine our place in the world, our beliefs, and our behavior in regards to how we treat ourselves and other people?  Watanabe is a fantastic character, not because he expresses some ideal paradigm, but because of his very human flaws.  While it may be a bit extreme to let yourself be stagnant at a job and to limit your experience of life to the extent that Watanabe did, the meaning behind his actions can be made applicable to almost any of our lives.  We become a bit like Watanabe in our own ways.  We reach levels of comfort and habituation that undermine the full realization of ourselves.  Just as Watanabe needed a terminal illness to get him to reexamine his life and change the way he was living, we sometimes need motivation to reassess the some of the significant aspects of living our own lives as well.

                Within the scope of morality, how much does intent matter?  Watanabe seemed to have the intention to do what was best for his son.  He wanted to hold a stable enough job so that he could give his remaining family peace of mind and security, but in doing so, he missed crucial moments in Mitsuo’s (his son’s) life.  Was Watanabe being immoral by perpetuating such a stagnant and fruitless life?  It’s funny how in breaking from this lifestyle, Watanabe ended up having a night of debauchery (which was by some standards very tame) which is traditionally in essence immoral.  I hesitate to call this exploration of life immoral, and instead consider it something more along the lines of being potentially irresponsible.  Either way, Watanabe has us consider a morality in that we must actively challenge what is wrong, just as he found that he had to challenge the futile bureaucratic system he was a part of.

                As for other films I have thought about in regards to morality, I could have talked about Fallen Angels, examining whether some of the characters were immoral or amoral, and Mononoke-hime, in which a sense of morality is tied to a respect and understanding of nature, and consideration could be given as to whether it is moral to help a select group at the cost of others.  Now that I have seen Oldboy, I have some thoughts swimming around about how impactful some of the most immoral actions of characters can be, and the difficulties in portraying a character who is so extremely worn down and a villain who has the capacity for such prolonged and premeditated malevolence.

                Morality is a deep topic, and it is hard to do it justice when I have tried to cover multiple movies at a relatively brief length.  Still, I feel that it is valuable to consider what we have learned about morality that stems from Eastern works, and to consider how it is effectively portrayed in film.  This class provided a lot of stimulating thought and discussion, not just on morality, but numerous different topics and aspects of life.  I want to thank Dr. Mizenko and all of my classmates for providing a class that I’ll remember and keep thinking about for a long time.