By Jocelyn Dzuong
When one thinks of Asian cinema, the first thing that probably comes to mind is martial arts films or thrilling action movies often casually watched at home. But what is it that makes these films eye-catching and pleasing to the eye, riveting our energy? Like any other film, there are many aspects that go into forming a cohesive story that speaks to the human soul and what it means to live in various perspectives.
But let’s consider the case of color and action choreography. The role of color in film is to chromatically provide an accented view of the nuances of objects and events in the` narrative of a film. For instance, a black and white film may often signify a perspective that takes place in the far past, perhaps the early Jazz Age for instance. Or red, the strong usage of saturated red in scenes in a film may bring out an energy or symbol of heated passion through its vibrant hue, as iconized in Wong Kar-wai's In The Mood for Love. As for choreography, action and martial arts choreography in this case, the more complex and swifter the attacks seem to be as two people in a battle try to hit and evade each other’s moves shows the complexity and depth of their relationship and heated anger towards each other. The two qualities are what brings together a cohesive narrative and story in Asian films today and Asian cinematography in general.
Like a painting, films in Asian cinema utilize a unique combination of strong focus, complexity in depth and layering of color, as well as changes in direction, all of which color and choreography are used to convey (Jordan). Though there are many films that may also be used to exemplify the effectiveness of these qualities, Wong Kar-wai's In The Mood for Love and Lê Văn Kiệt's Furie in utilize a combination of unique color palettes and lighting to express symbolic messages and meanings, as well as swift and distinctive nuances in their choreography to display the depth in the dynamics of the relationships between the main characters.
For reference, the genres and narratives of the two films contrast greatly between each other. In The Mood for Love is a romantic drama about a writer and a secretary in Hong Kong in the 60s who fall in love after finding out their spouses are cheating on each other. Furie is an action film about a mother in modern-day rural Vietnam who works as a debt collector and fights to rescue her kidnapped daughter in a deal gone wrong. One film deals with the intricacies and struggles of falling in love amid infidelity, and the other deals with the violent risks a mother is willing to take for her child. Though the films express different genres and different nuances in their colorful cinematography, both essentially deal with the struggles of trust and openness in matters of love.
The variations in the shades and hues of a film’s cinematography hold common layers of depth and evocative meaning which can be explained by the role of color perception and psychology. At its core, warm colors such as red and orange often evoke feelings of arousal and excitement, whereas cool colors such as blues and pastels evoke feelings of peace and meditativeness that soothe the soul (Beren 11). In one of scenes with the iconic leitmotif by Umebayashi in In The Mood for Love, Chow is seen walking up the stairs in slow motion after a late-night snack, and passes by Mrs. Chan, with a brightly lit red lightbulb above them in the musty dark corridor. The emphasis on the glimmering of the red lightbulb above them greatly foreshadows their growing attraction and love for each other throughout the film, despite their swift and brief encounter (Kar-wai 16:09-17:09). This basic notion of color perception and psychology may also be related to what is coined as “chromatic expressionism” in Chinese auteur cinema, where the use of saturated red symbolizes often pride for the Chinese nation and for families within, and in this case, love and honor for their loved ones, no matter the extent of infidelity (Hillenbrand 4).
The importance of warm dark colors can be emphasized similarly for Furie. Much like how the constant use of strong red colors play a strong role in Mood for Love, constant shades of purple are shown to be constantly used throughout most of the violent fights and turning points that take place in Furie. When Hai Phượng first arrives in Saigon on a loading truck she sneaks on, the sky looms over her with a deep lavender hue as the noise of the city slowly surrounds her, simultaneously welcoming her presence and also engulfing her in the trenches of the maze-like city (Văn Kiệt 32:17-32:30). Hai Phượng also dons the same purple shirt throughout her journey in the film, constantly solidifying her regal presence and prowess as the color purple often denotes royalty and ambition. Royal is her ambition and drive for her child as she relentlessly gets up to knock out Thanh Sói on the train (Văn Kiệt 1:21:58-1:22:02), and royal is her reunification with her child and choice to free the rest of the children captured on the train (Văn Kiệt 1:26:47). In short, purple is not only the aesthetic gravity (Hillenbrand 8) that pulls the pivotal moments in Furie down with it, but it is also the driving force for the eminence of Hai Phượng’s character and growth as she changes from a stubborn and insistent mother to one who finds acceptance in having fears and expressing vulnerability with her child.
Next we can address the choreography. Not only does the subtle and brief red lighting serve as an important key point in Mood for Love, but so too does the shift in their simultaneously fast and slow striding. Hong Kong-based choreographer Yuen Woo-ping defines choreography, in whatever form it may take, as a kind of non-verbal text resembling a dream-like state that composes the build-ups and climaxes in a film (Morrissette). The repeated strides and leitmotifs of Chow and Chan in Mood for Love as Umebayashi’s “Yumeji’s Theme” plays in the background induce that dream-like state that constantly lures the reader into the pivotal focal points of the painting of the growing romance and eventual foregoing of each person’s feelings. The same can be said for Furie. At the final showdown between Hai Phượng and Thanh Sói on the train, a strong and dark indigo light shines upon them as Thanh Sói increases the dynamics of the fight and pulls out a knife, leaving Hai Phượng with only her fists to fend for herself (Văn Kiệt 1:22:57). It seems unlikely that our protagonist will come out alive and victorious as the sounds of the blade can be heard swiftly missing Hai Phượng by a centimeter. For a brief moment the camera switches to a top-down shot of the two fighters, showing yet another dynamic perspective as to who may have the upper-hand. Then finally, in a moment of monumental adversity, we see her successfully grab Thanh Sói’s hand with the knife and perform a trick shot, stabbing the hand into her gut and neck, thus ending victoriously for our heroine (Văn Kiệt 1:23:25).
Another way to approach this pivotal moment in Furie is to recall the Quentin Tarantino’s film Kill Bill. David Roche notes on the use of diegetic and static camera shots in relation to the film’s usage of space and time:
The devices employed in Kill Bill seek to make the fight scenes readable in terms of movement, space and timing, while reminding the viewer now and again of the artifice at work on all levels of the filmmaking process with comic effect. In so doing, these scenes aim to simultaneously foreground, and tap into, a series of apparently contradictory pleasures: immersion and distance, in other words, the pleasure of seeing that most of the moves have really been affected by stuntmen and actors, and that of seeing that some of these effects are just that—special effects. These pleasures are, no doubt, typical of action movies (Roche 21).
In relation to Furie, instead of static camera shots to hold the frame with two characters battling within a fixed amount of space, the camera movements throughout the fights are unstable and shaky, which can be further brought to a symbolism of the instability of the outcome between the two equally matched forces. But the instability in the movement of the camera is what is also telling of the narrative and message of Furie, and is what brings the goal to the point and enlivens it. Though according to Roche, the static camera shot emphasizes grace and rhythm and stability in the fluid movements in the battle scenes, the shaky handheld camera shot can also be highly telling of the intensity and emotionally charged feelings between the two battlers as well as the fight itself (Roche 11).
As the late abstract painter Mark Rothko said, “A painting is not a picture of an experience; it is an experience.” (Hillenbrand). The Asian film in the perspective of the usage of color and choreography serves as a painting, with the choreography as the brush that paints the experience in action, and the color to provide the tones and hues to brighten and bring it all together. With Mood for Love’s stable and smooth choreography and consistent saturated palettes, and Furie’s swift and instantaneous camerawork and choreography and dark tones, both films serve as significant examples of how Asian cinema may be further improved upon with more focus on those two aspects. Some other examples in modern day films made by Asian filmmakers include Bong Joon-ho's Parasite, Lee Issac Chung’s Minari, and Park Chan-wook's Oldboy, all three which utilize effective lighting and smooth rhythmic movements in their choreography and camerawork. Hopefully, these techniques and observations may serve as an important foundation from other worldly cinematic movements to excite and beautify a film and its narratives, as many aspects of Asian films and cinematic history have much to offer to be learned from in order to create an objectively good film.
Works Cited
Berens, Daniel James. “THE ROLE OF COLOUR IN FILMS: INFLUENCING THE AUDIENCE’S MOOD.” DAN BERENS, Leeds Metropolitan University, 2014, https://www.danberens.co.uk/uploads/3/0/0/6/30067935/daniel_berens_dissertation_may2014.pdf.
Hillenbrand, Margaret. “Chromatic Expressionism in Contemporary Chinese-Language Cinema.” Journal of Chinese Cinemas, no. 3, Informa UK Limited, Jan. 2012, pp. 211–32. Crossref, doi:10.1386/jcc.6.3.211_1. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1386/jcc.6.3.211_1
Jordan, Courtney. “All Good Paintings Have These 3 Characteristics in Common.” Artists Network, 5 Oct. 2017, https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-techniques/3-things-a-painting-cant-live-without/.
Kiet, Le-Van, et al. Furie. Directed by Le-Van Kiet, Well Go USA, 2019.
Morrissette, Mélanie. “Choreography: The Unknown and Ignored .” Offscreen, Offscreen, Aug. 2002, https://offscreen.com/view/choreography.
Roche, David. “Choreographing Genre in Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 (Quentin Tarantino, 2003 & 2004).” Miranda, no. 10, OpenEdition, Dec. 2014. Crossref, doi:10.4000/miranda.6285.
Wong, Kar-Wai. In the Mood for Love. Directed by Kar-Wai Wong, Block 2 Pictures, Paradis Film, Jet Tone Productions, 2001.