Once Upon a Time in China III: A Chinese Cultural Representation

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Once Upon a Time in China III
China’s social, political, and economic orientations account for the country’s unique attributes that evoke or rather attract both appreciation and criticism in almost equal measure. The country’s communist political ideology, for instance, upon which the nation prides its trademark achievements in both the socio-cultural and economic sectors, appears to a majority of the Western countries as regressive and oppressive to human freedoms and liberties. Other assessment of the country’s achievement across the outlined social dimensions, on the other hand, deems the Chinese way of life as highly effective in achieving the country’s set objectives. In essence, critics of the Chinese way of life often take the form of pro-Westernization while the proponents of China’s cultural orientation painted as the Chinese conservatives. The film industry provides an excellent platform upon which the battles for supremacy between the two opposing views manifest. A majority of Chinese films, for instance, tend to emphasize on or rather promote the Chinese national culture, nationalism, as well as impressing on the country’s national consciousness. Film producers and directors of such films create narratives around the theme of Chineseness and develop the storylines through a wide range of representations towards showcasing its supremacy against the equally diverse factors perceived to be threatening both its existence and authenticity. Tsui Hark’s film Once Upon a Time in China III is an excellent depiction of the manifestation of Chineseness or the different elements of the Chinese identity that characterize such narrative China’s film industry. Provided herein is a review of the film, which provides an informed understanding of the manifestation of the theme of Chineseness through a comprehensive analysis and evaluation of how it is presented to the audience.
Once Upon a Time in China III is one of the films in a series production under the directorship of the renowned filmmaker Tsui Hark. The series of films have a rich element of Chinese cultural representations that showcases the importance of upholding the values and principles of the Chinese traditions, which also has the ability to weather the storms of foreign interference that threaten to corrupt the Chinese culture (Rojas, pg. 186). The film is set during the later periods of the Qing Dynasty, a time when the country appeared to liberal to the integration and interaction with members of the global community besides the Asian region. According to the timeframe of the film’s setting, it was a time when the country experienced an influx of foreigners from the West and other countries outside the Asian continent. The film stars Jet Li as Wong Fei Hung and the main character of the narrative. Wong Fei Hung runs a local medical clinic alongside a martial arts club owing to his expertise in herbal medicines and revered mastery of martial arts respectively CITATION Jet93 \l 1033 (Hark). Wong Fei Hung runs his errands in Guangzhou and attracts a fellowship of disciples including Leung Foon and Butcher Lam whose martial arts skills fall way short of their le...