Compare Mo Yan's Red Sorghum with Zhang Yimou's Film Adaption essay

“Red Sorghum” was written by a famous Chinese writer Mo Yan between 1920s and 1930s. It is accustomed in “Red Sorghum Clan” released in 1987. It was later filmed in 1988, where Zhang Yimou directed it. This film was a great promotion of “Red Sorghum” novel and was one of the best applauded movies internationally. “Red Sorghum” has lots of humor, romance, and depicts greed of the society. “Red Sorghum” narrative was one of the best tales in China in those early times. Later, it became popular worldwide as the best literature work and film.

“Red Sorghum” is Mo Yan`s efforts of capturing the memory of the first person. the film produced by Zhang becomes its real revision of it. Mo Yan has set the novel in a sorghum field at a particular place called Gaomi and at specific period. He narrates the events in this book one by one. He explains each event in a descriptive way as these pass from one individual or group to another. “Red Sorghum” is a story of the narrator’s innocent grandmother, his father and his cruel grandfather.

 

Type of service

Type of assignment

Title of your paper *

Academic level

Pages

Timeframe

Spacing

Currency

  Order now

The writer recalls his innocent grandmother since she was a girl. He continuously shows how some of the society members were cruel and treated his grandmother mercilessly. They stole and destroyed her property. War is also depicted in “Red Sorghum.” The writer further portrays how the Imperial Japanese Army invaded his home region to torture and kills the residents (Li 122). He expresses how the story is passed from one generation to another generation, from 1923 to 1976. Social realism and struggle also play an important role in the story. He criticizes social realism by putting the employers and employees in an illogical state of affairs

“Red Sorghum” is a story about how narrator’s poor grandmother had been forced into a marriage to an old leper who owned a large vineyard. On the day of marriage they are attacked by some crooks. One of the young men protects her and falls in love with her. Later, the old leper dies and his grandmother inherits the old man’s distillery. She takes courage and tries her best to overcome the hardships in managing the distillery. The writer also talks about the Second World War. The Japanese army attacked his hometown. Many were killed and tortured. Cultural Revolution is also emphasised in the Mo Yan’s work.

Mo Yan`s work becomes more relevant to audience after the film was produced and presented to them. The film sticks to the ‘Red Sorghum’ novel content with its approach. Zhang`s work brought the aspect of human and nature into being just as Mo Yan had related nature and human beings. He shows the sorghum field and people in the field as well as activities that happened in the fields. Different ages or generations were brought to more understanding in Zhang`s film. He shows how Yan`s grandmother from her youth to her old age.

The aspect of torture and the opposite side of men in the film as it was in the novel is clearly illustrated. This is seen in the situation where they are attacked in the sorghum field .his grandmother is protected but the man who protects her makes love to her after the fight. The aspect of torture Zhang expounded it in the film. He gives a picture of how Japanese Army invaded the region and killed many residents. Some were skinned alive as others watching.

Stay Connected

Live Chat Order now

History is the unique thing that Mo Yan novel contains. Moreover, Zhang filmed it and brought social realism aspect. The film also offered role model figures of Mo Yan. The masculine role models are the only most alive characters of the movie as well in the novel.

Zhang`s work was also a piece of art. He produced a film of quality images and clear audio. He also blended colours and lightning that made the Mo Yan`s “Red Sorghum” into a movie which is both attractive and credible. He expressed the different moods by combining sounds and music, to make the audience interested in the film even more. He also did not forget about the main theme of Mo Yan`s work, he organised the actors and actresses to bring the real movie show. He is the best known film maker and director of his time.

Thanks to “Red Sorghum” film making, Zhang Yimou became known as an international director and his career became more successful. He has been awarded a Golden Bear in Berlin International Film Festival for producing “Red Sorghum” film. This film had a great impact on the audience. Mo Yan’s “Red Sorghum” and the related drama were real masterpieces. Audience appreciated all the efforts and found these works interesting. “Red Sorghum” novel won a National Book award. Due to the uniqueness of his works, Mo Yan received a Noble Prize in Literature in October 2012.

Zhang Yimou`s made a great contribution to the film making in China This led to the expansion of film market in the country. The Noble Prize winner, Mo Yan also had great impact on boosting the Chinese economy. Trade opportunities in the country increased .due to his winning, people all over the world bought Mo Yan`s books both online and in person. This greatly improved the economy of China and general trade patterns. Bookshelves in Chinese shops were flooded with these books and a lot profit was made out of them. Additionally, the prices were pushed up and more books were published (Li 124). Carvings and bricks were designed differently with different messages and drawings of the Chinese Noble Prize holder in Literature, Mo Yan. These carvings gave Chinese entrepreneurs a great chance to make more money and do it quickly. His pictures were highly demanded, which allowed Chinese photographers to become richer.

The film market grew overnight after the announcement of the name of the Noble Prize winner in Literature. Films were among the most popular products on the market. The authorised publishers had to quickly publish more Mo Yan`s books. They gained large profits, since Mo Yan`s books were demanded everywhere. In addition, Chinese publishers enjoyed the favourable condition too.

To continue, the publishers who had permission to publish Mo Yan’s books had a great chance to prove their skills to the world openly. They also had an opportunity to market their publishing companies worldwide. Chinese newspapers and magazines, which were desperately needed everywhere, were bought in large quantities worldwide China opened its film market for people worldwide. This is a great achievement for China. This has additionally contributed to its business development and it popularity. Mo Yan has greatly influenced writers worldwide. In recent years, China has emerged as a treat to the USA in terms of super power. This is because China has heavily invested a lot of resources to various sectors, such as writing industry. It is estimated that in the next 10 years, China will by-pass USA in terms of economy and Mo Yan made his important contribution to this.