文 献 综 述

1.Introduction

1.1 Research background

1.1.1 Introduction to pushing hands

Master Chu,a retired Chinese Tai-Chi master,moves to Westchester,New York to live with his son Alex,his American daughter-in-law Martha,and their son Jeremy.However,Martha's second novel is suffering from severe writers' block brought on by Chu's presence in the house.Alex must struggle to keep his family together as he battles an inner conflict between cultural tradition and his modern American lifestlye.Written by Ang Lee,the actor who played Master Chu,the aging tai chi master,gave a very convincing and sincere performance in this film.It was no wonder that he won the Golden Horse (Taiwan's equivalent for the Oscars) for Best Actor in this film.His performance was extremely touching,as tears jerked into my eyes as I see an aging and traditional Chinese father trying to get along with his westernized family while also trying to adjust to life in a new place and culture.The film encourages people,especially new immigrants,to emphasize and put themselves in their parents' shoes.Try to understand how difficult it is for them to come and settle in a new place and try not to push them away.Be patient with them,take a step back and everything may be better.

The movie title,Pushing Hands,is very appropriate,as this is the term for an exercise in tai chi in which a person achieves balance by giving up balance.In this non-aggressive exercise between 2 people,a person offers no resistance at all to the pressure or push that the other person is exerting and keeps borrowing this strength until they feel they have fused into one and thus have achieved harmony.This was what Master Chu did.Although his daughter-in-law kept misunderstanding him,causing much discontent and eventually got his son to try to sent him away,he offered no resentment or a temper tantrum.He simply walked away gracefully.This action caused his son to appreciate him and remember why he got his father to live together in the first place in a tear jerking scene and finally they worked out a solution.They decided to give each other space by living separately instead of pushing each other away.In the end everyone was much happier,as even the daughter-in-law learned to accept the father,symbolized by her decorating the guest room for him and asking the question if he would ever visit.The father achieved the balance that he seek in Tai-Chi.

Ang Lee is simply amazing and sensational.He did what he could with the limited budget and created a very warm and tear jerking film.Although this film was not the highest quality (the version I saw was very unclear and skips sometimes) and it could feel slow at times,especially the beginning sequence,the film was a great work in directing.The film picked up its pace after the slow beginning without any big fighting scenes or explosions and never felt boring afterwards.Also,from the beginning sequence,where he was able to show the dissension and gap between the daughter-in-law and the father by using just different scenes and visuals,to scenes throughout the film where he used lighting and different camera angles to show the internal pain and sadness that the father experience,it was,simply put,a great piece of art considering the budget.It showcased the talent of Lee and gave the audience a glimpse of the man who would bring us the memorable Couching Tiger,Hidden Dragon.

1.1.2 Introduction to Ang Lee

Ang Lee, whose original family home is in De#8217;an, Jiangxi, was born on October 23, 1954 in Taiwan. Ang graduated from the National Taiwan College of Arts in 1975 and went on further study to America where he studied Theater Direction as well as Film Production and got a Master#8217;s Degree in Film Production. Because of his Chinese and American education background, the films he directed always focus more on moral differences between tradition and modern, cultural conflicts between East and West. The film Sense and Sensibility, one of his masterpieces, made in 1995, shocked the film world, helping Ang win a place in Hollywood. Ang Lee was elected one of the greatest directors by American Entertainment Weekly in 2009 because he has won numerous awards in many prizes from world famous international film festivals, especially the Academy Award for best director, which is the first ever Oscar for a Chinese person. Therefor, Ang Lee becomes gradually a famous international Chinese director,who has directed serveral films such as PushingHands, Eating Men and Women, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Lust,Caution，and Brokeback Mountain,for which he has became the first Chinese director who won the best director Academy Award .

The movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon made Ang Lee get the name of ”Light of Chinese” ring, and the film hit the highest box office record of foreign films in USA, and swept awards in some kinds of international film festivals. It also introduces the Chinese kung fu to the western, more and more people want to know Chinese history, Chinese culture, as well as Chinese people.Some people say that crouching tiger, hidden dragon makes Lee famous, but I would say is lee who makes it .