Though war is something people hate, Director Feng Xiaoning often exposes his audien
ce to it.
“If we don’t impress the audience, who are without the painful experience of war, with the cruel injury to life and human nature war causes, how can we bring them a love of peace and objection to war?” asked the director with a glance in his eyes.
After Red River Valley and Lover’s Grief over the Yellow River, both of which star Chinese model and actress Ning Jing, Feng drew a satisfactory full stop to his war trilogy (三部曲) last month with Purple Sunset.
The film tells a story which took place in 1945, at the very moment when World War II was drawing to an end. A Chinese peasant and a Soviet woman soldier flee into a forest, where they seize a Japanese girl. They follow the girl in the hope that she will take them out of the forest, but instead they arri
ve in a Japanese base. Humanity (人道主义) prevents them from killing the young, innocent (无辜的) victim of Japanese militarism. This humanity, the longing for peace and eagerness to survive, make the three unite.
“If people are touched by justice, tolerance and unselfishness, I think I have achieved my goal,” Feng said. Feng admits that there are violent and bloody scenes in the film, such as tanks fighting and Japanese burning Chinese people alive, to show the cruelty of the war. But that’s never his personal preference, he says.
“Everyone who has watched my films can tell how much I hate war,” he said. “I wrote all the things for my war films by myself. Whenever I finished one, I felt as though I had suffered great pain.”
Feng regards every one of his productions as an opportunity to learn about human nature and humanity. In spite of violent scenes which frighten and sicken the audience, a balance is sought with beautiful scenery. Just like the sno
wy mountains in Red River Valley and the grand plateau (高原) in Lover’s Grief over the Yellow River, a beautiful vast grassland appears in this film. “I used to study art, and I appreciate beautiful things,” Feng said. “I believe that films should offer the audience a chance to enjoy beauty.”
【小题1】Director Feng Xiaoning shot war film because _____.
| A．he was deeply interested in such a topic |
| B．he wanted to give the audience the painful experience of war% ]% d: h7 h, [3 W( G4 j" M |
| C．he hoped to arouse people’s love of peace and objection to war |
