中西電影中“輪回”的比較

1、LiSamsara in Chinese Films and Western Films Samsara refers to the theory of rebirth and cyclicality of all life, matter, existence, a fundamental assumption of allIndian religions. Itis sometimes referred to with terms or phrases such as transmigration, karmic cycle,reincarnation, and cycle of aiml

2、ess drifting, wandering or mundane existence. In Samsara, there are six realms, namely Hell or paranoiarealm , Pretaor hungry ghost realm, Animalrealm, Humanrealm, Asuraor Semigod realm and Realm ofGods. All humans are living in Human realm and after death they would enter Human realm or any other o

3、f the rest five realms based on what humans have done in this life. Consequently with its essential meaning it is also widely used in Buddhism, which has had much influence on Chinese social life and Chinese peoples mind since long. From customs to language, from social norms to literary works, Budd

4、hism has immensely taken its root in Chinese peoples values. And Samsara, an important concept, or core theory in Buddhism, also functions as divine mystery which invisibly and silently directs the lifestyle of a large number of Chinese people. In ancient China, there were classic novels or official

5、 recordings about rebirth or transmigration, while in modern China there appears to be more films whose stories are largely based on ancient rebirth stories. Coincidentally, in recent decades some western films have started to raise questions to audience by employing the concept of Samsara either as

6、 the topic or as the structure. Despite the fact that films from both cultures have somewhat absorbed the element Samsara, they do differ in some ways and the difference between them reflect how people from different cultures perceive it. This paper is intended to explore the concrete presentation o

7、f Samsara in Chinese films and western film and the differences between them.As Samsara is after all a religious word, we first need to make it clear the relationship between religion and films. In Li Qinyuans The Presentation of the Difference Between Chinese Thinking Mode and Western Thinking Mode

8、 in Films, religion is a significant factor in shaping peoples thinking mode from different societies. In the west, for a long period of time in history, religion has acted as a governor of peoples thinking and this is same with the Middle East. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that thei

9、r whole life is a book of following what they believe in their religion. However, most Chinese people, especially Han people, are taught everything about science except religion. From Li Qinyuans view, science is actually one of the ideas that constantly supports peoples spiritual life, which means

10、for Chinese people, among various religions, science is merely one of those ideas. These well explains why religious-themed films like Det Sjunde Inseglet, The Passion of the Christ and the Separation have gained so much popularity, while few Chinese film makes have succeeded in producing artistic r

11、eligious works. Instead, Chinese films has very much involved some Chinese cultural elements like martial arts, historical stories, Taoism, mythologies, etc. Samsara is just one of these various elements but it not not the dominant one above all.As Buddhism has been profoundly rooted in Chinese cult

12、ure since ancient times, Samsara and its related terms are quite familiar to Chinese people. No matter whether one is a believer of Buddhism or other religions or an atheist, the shadow of Buddhism can be detected more or less in his life or her life. Against this background, Samsara, among all kind

13、s of Buddhist theories, is believed or accepted by Chinese people to some extent. For example, in traditional Chinese funeral, the first seven days after death of the deceased person is quite important because in Samsara theory the spirit would come back home to visit his family members before he he

14、ads for another spirit holder. For another example, “next life” is commonly used in oaths and curses. When a man pursue a woman, he would say, “In my next life I will marry you”. When a person thank or apologize to another, he usually says, “In my next life I will serve you as a cow or horse.” These

15、 reflect that Samsara has been internalized by Chinese people although they dont totally believe it, except true Buddhist believers. Among films whose plots involve Samsara, A Terracotta Warrior by Cheng Xiaodong, A Chinese Odyssey by Zhou Xingchi and The Myth by Tang Jili stand out. They were great

16、ly welcomed and remembered by Chinese audience when and afer released. In A Terracotta Warrior a girl from the lower class falls in love with a general in Qin dynasty, Which was against the emperors will. Then both of them are sentenced to death. The general swallows a kind of medicine that prevents

17、 him from getting old and dead and thus lives permanently. But the girls spirit continues transmigrating into different mortals in different era and has romance with the immortal general. A Chinese Odyssey is a love story in which Monkey Sun falls in love with a girl and then another but ends in fol

18、lowing Monk Tang to the west. In this film Monkey Suns mission is to safeguard Monk Tang to the west but because of his mistake he is punished by the Goddess of Mercy in such a way that he was transmigrated to another ordinary person who lives in five hundred years later. Having similar background w

19、ith A Terracotta Warrior, The Myth tells a story in which a archaeologist finds out he was a general in Qin dynasty and the encounter with Yushu Prince who has been living in Qin emperors grave for thousands of years is a promise he has made in his last life. We can see that the theme of these succe

20、ssful films is love, the love that never changes and lasts forever through ages beyond time and space. These stories are all set in a specific historical background or based on a popular Chinese novel and we know that novels directly reflect how people think and what values people tend to embrace. C

21、oincidentally, in these three films Buddhism or Taoism are mentioned and play the role of driving force for the development the story. They depict a general hope of Chinese people that they dont care too much about the truth of death but have more interest in extending love and loyalty beyond death.

22、 Also these films shows how helpless Chinese people feel when they find destiny out of control. Among western films, Samsara by Ron Fricke, Cloud Atlas by Tom Tykwer and Triangle by Christopher Smith are particularly famous for their unique way of story telling. Samsara, named with this Buddhist ter

23、m, is actually a documentary film which took the director five years to travel around twenty five countries to record natural humans in different corners of the world. It is just like a collection of human as a life form and the products that humans have made. Cloud Atlas consists of seemingly diffe

24、rent six stories in different times but the six stories are well connected by several clues in it. It is like a chain on which every circle have the same soul but every circle looks so different from another. Triangle is relatively hard to understand for its plots are illogical but thought-provoking

25、. It is a story about how a women tries hard to make up for the hurts she has brought to her son but only to find herself in a endless killing loop. These typical three films seem to be related to Samsara but after a closer look they are different from Samsara that eastern people perceives. Western

26、Samsara-themed films are usually more about putting forward questions to the audience and sometimes based on future development of science and imagination of horror. Comparing Chinese Samsara films and western Samsara films, we can see that Samsara is actually not the only theme or the topic. Instea

27、d the concept of Samsara is employed as a tool to construct a new world in films. In reality not so many people are convinced with Samsara theory, while in films people can build it according to the needs of the purpose of the film and both Chinese and western films have done well at this point. How

28、ever, considering different religions and cultures, distinct features of both kinds make them differ from each other. Chinese Samsara films talks more about love, especially the love between opposite sex and love can transcends everything. Even the romantic relationship is ruined, the love still exi

29、sts as a beautiful memory, a regret or the power of going on with new lifelong mission. One may die and transmigrate to another life, but the love, hatred and regret transmigrate along with him and in the new life he needs to pay for them. In this sense, Chinese films are more loyal to the essence o

30、f Samsara. In contrast, western Samsara films seems to drift away from the core value of Samsara in the religious respect. For westerners, they believe there is a world where humans currently live and besides this world there is a heaven and a hell after death, so undoubtedly Samsara is a new concep

31、t to them and sometimes hard to understand and accept. Cloud Atlas is a good example. It is listed by Times as one of the ten worst films. One possible reason is that western audience find it difficult to connect these six seemingly irrelevant stories together without the knowledge of Samsara theory

32、. However, it is welcomed by eastern audience since the way of organizing stories is just from their culture. Different from Chinese films whose frequent theme is love, western films are more like questions makers. They question about human nature, the meaning of life and the relationship between hu

33、mans and nature. In Samsara, there is no story, no words, no politics, no ideology and no explanation at all. All are stunning scenes with exotic and mysterious music, leaving questions lingering over audience minds. But the fact is that this film reflect on how industrialization changes nature and

34、peoples life in a passive tone. It may try to provide a approach to imply the causes and effects of modern peoples pain like water pollution, global warming and animals extinction. Also it reveals that life is a flash in the universe and the satisfaction desires is just vanity. Talking about desires

35、, in Cloud Atlas, in six stories, time and environment change but human nature never changes.From the above analyzed, it is safe to come to the conclusion that Samsara often serves as a tool in films either to build the frame of world or to help the theme stand out. Among all possible elements in fi

36、lms, Samsara is a new and eye-catching one that leads the audience to an unknown world, the mystery of death and the law of cause and effect. Chinese Samsara films tend to describe human relationship in a romantic way, while western Samsara films concentrate more on the destiny of humans and human nature through ages. Samsara, originates from eastern