Course:ASIA355/2023/A Scholarly Film Review of Shanghai Triad: Exploring Cinematic Allegories and Historical Realities through Chinese Gangsters Onscreen

Group Members' Contributions

Distribution of Contributions

	Contributor (s)
Introduction	XL
Stories behind the film production	MY
Histories of reception	MY
Scholarly literature review	WS
Comparative analysis	BZ
An alternative interpretation	WS
Conclusion	SL

Introduction

Shanghai Triad is a 1995 Chinese film adapted from Li Xiao’s novel Rules of a Clan and directed by Fifth Generation director Zhang Yimou. The film is set in 1930s Shanghai, Republic of China, and tells the story of a teenage boy Shuisheng’s experience in Shanghai’s criminal underworld for seven days.

Synopsis

Shuisheng (played by Wang Xiaoxiao) is introduced by his uncle to work as a servant for a nightclub singer Xiao Jinbao (played by Gong Li), who is the mistress of the Triad boss Tang (played by Li Baotian). Shuisheng dislikes Xiao Jinbao’s harshness and arrogance at first, but she gradually opens her heart to him after they are forced to retreat to an isolated island with Tang who is injured from a gang fight. When Song, Tang’s right-hand man who has a secret affair with Xiao Jinbao, arrives on the island and is revealed to be the man behind the gang fight, Tang has Song and Xiao Jinbao executed and Shuisheng beaten as he attempts to save her. The film ends with Shuisheng tied to the sail of a ship back to Shanghai, whereas Tang takes a young girl from the island with him and intends to train her to be the next Xiao Jinbao. Shanghai Triad follows Zhang Yimou’s usual filmmaking style, presenting stunning visual compositions through elegant camera movements. Zhang skillfully employs soft lighting and vibrant colors to depict the urban settings of 1930s Shanghai and creates a compelling narrative by exploring the complex dynamics of loyalty, betrayal, and survival within a triad, which captures the essence of that era. Gong Li’s performance also brings depth and authenticity to her character Xiao Jinbao; through the misfortunes she suffers, the cruelty and corruption during the political turmoil and power struggles in 1930s Shanghai are presented to the audience. The film’s Chinese title 摇啊摇，摇到外婆桥 (Yao a yao, yao dao waipo qiao/Row, row, row to Grandma Bridge) refers to a traditional Chinese lullaby that repeatedly appears as both diegetic song and non-diegetic background music in the film. Overall, Shanghai Triad is a remarkable film with outstanding visual expressions and narrative structure, which demonstrates Zhang Yimou’s ability as a filmmaker and his attention to every detail.

Roadmap

Our group will break the film review into five different sections. First, we will explore the stories behind the production of this relatively politically conservative film; then we will summarize the general public’s opinions towards this compromised work after Zhang’s previous politically sensitive films; we will also introduce three scholars, Yvonne Ng, Faye Zhexing, and Shelly Kraicer’s literature reviews of the film; after that, a comparative analysis between Shanghai Triad and Zhang’s another work Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005); and last, we will provide an alternative interpretation which refutes the critique of Shanghai Triad lacking cinematic text and argues that the film makes underlying allegories visible through the conflicts between different characters.

Stories Behind the Film

In terms of the story itself, it follows Zhang Yimou’s prominent style of explicitly modulating adaptions originating from published literature rather than creating the original scripts from scratch . The script of The Shanghai Triad is based on Li Xiao’s novel Rules of a Clan (门规) . Accordingly, the historical setting of The Shanghai Triad is aligned with the novel in the 1930s, when the Republic of China was in charge of the country. In the 1930s, Shanghai earned the moniker “Paris in the East” due to its rapid expansion of the entertainment industry, encompassing nightclubs, cabarets, and cinema. The shifting of the economic center and the creation of foreign concessions brought Shanghai enormous capital and novel ideas from the Western countries whilst contributing to the great inequality and exploitation of the local dwellers simultaneously. In this way, 1930s Shanghai has an extraordinary status for a group of arts practitioners who are passionate about revoking the reflections over the themes, including social stratifications, gender inequalities, and ideology interplays. It would also be intriguing here to discuss why Zhang Yimou decided to produce such genre of the “gangster film” right after manufacturing an array of films that critically excoriate the ingrained problems germane to the Chinese historical, sociopolitical environment. Zhang Yimou was temporarily restrained from making any films invested from overseas due to his celebrated but sensitive production of To Live . Worse yet, he was completely forbidden from attending international film festivals due to his previous works. Therefore, it is comprehensible that Zhang Yimou was apt to be politically conservative when selecting the genre of his seventh film. For the cast, eight characters performing the primary interplays within the film, who are Tang Shuisheng (Wang Xiaoxiao), Xiao Jinbao (Gong Li), Uncle Liu (Li Xuejian), Tang (Li Baotian), Song (Sun Chun), Zheng (Fu Biao), Ajiao (Yang Qianguan), and Cuihua (Jiang Baoying). To be specific, Gong Li cooperated with Zhang Yimou and performed as the heroine for a couple of movies, such as Raise The Red Lantern and To Live mentioned before. An engrossing production anecdote surfaces, revealing the bittersweet romance between Zhang Yimou and Gong Li, which tragically dissolved following the completion of The Shanghai Triad. In contrast to the anterior figures that Gong Li played in Zhang’s renowned productions, often recognized as primitive, innocent, and exploited rural women, in The Shanghai Triad, she appears to be a cabaret performer working at a nightclub. With respect to the production process, Zhang further illuminates some vital cinematic elements that are purposely adopted in The Shanghai Triad. For instance, they intentionally employed more opulent interior settings to demonstrate the power and wealth held by the gangster led by Tang and utilized fewer exterior scenes, which conceptualizes “Shanghai” as simply being an emblem serving the background. Additionally, Zhang contented that the images of The Shanghai Triad are purposely shot to be utopian and vivid, aiming to convey a sense of vanished romance in opposition to realism.

Histories of the Film’s Reception

Unlike other renowned masterpieces directed by Zhang Yimou, such as To Live (活着), Raise The Red Lantern (大红灯笼高高挂), and The Story of Qiu Ju (秋菊打官司), The Shanghai Triad (摇啊摇，摇到外婆桥) did not receive a very high recognition regarding either aesthetic perspective or the commercial point of view at the film’s debut. Indeed, a bunch of rating agencies and critics granted a premium appraisal to The Shanghai Triad, mainly regarding its visual designs solely instead of focusing on the narratives of the story. The skeptics nearly agreed that Zhang Yimou’s ingeniousness is wasted for making such a gangster genre film that would be too shallow to encompass his contemplative opinions. Furthermore, even though Zhang Yimou has done discreet research on Shanghai’s commercial pop culture in that period, some Chinese critics reprehend the character of Xiao Jinbao for failing to authentically reflect a Shanghai female dancer throughout the film. Similarly, Zhang’s cinematic style of depicting gangsters is criticized for not genuinely demonstrating the brutality of Tang and his fellows, who are expected to behave in a more ruthless manner. On the one hand, both the commentators and the general audience were conditioned by the formularized Hollywood gangster genre, making them unable to embrace Zhang’s innovative adoption that is roughly in conflict with the traditional narratives. Secondly, corresponding to Zhang Yimou had been harshly warned because of his previous politically sensitive productions; it is plausible that the audience is discontented with the compromised artifact Zhang finally delivered. Nonetheless, Sterritt claims in his article that Zhang Yimou prefers not to involve blatant violence in his film, instead attaching more importance to the effects caused by the violence and how it affects the humanity behind the characters. Zhang’s purpose in making The Shanghai Triad is never constricted to merely depicting the gangster culture that was rampant in that certain period. According to Sterritt and Kraicer, he tries to convey a bunch of recondite ideas, including powerful patriarchal social structure, binary oppositions between urban and rural, and the socialization process of the youth (Shuisheng and Ajiao) within post-communist China. Amidst the enigmatic allegories veiled beneath the garb of an idiosyncratic gangster genre, another elucidation for the overall dissatisfaction expressed by the Chinese general audience beckons intertwined with the particular tapestry of the era. The Shanghai Triad was produced and released in 1995, a time when China was engulfed in the fervent rise of commercialism. As the nation basked in the euphoria of an economic upsurge, its inhabitants revelled in the pursuit of material desires. In this milieu, the audience of that era found it arduous to fully grasp Zhang’s gentle exhortation to prioritize kindness and love over the allure of wealth. If shedding light on the contemporary comments, about thirty years after the film's debut, the general audience tends to show more generosity to The Shanghai Triad and reflects on Zhang’s message behind his unique cinematic style.

Scholarly Literature Review

Shanghai Triad, directed by Zhang Yimou, has gathered significant attention among film study scholars who commonly regard it as a typical Chinese gangster film. In their analysis, these scholars explore various aspects of the movie, including its plot, Zhang's masterful employment of cinematography techniques, and the underlying arguments that Zhang subtly conveys throughout the film. In this part, three academic scholarly articles, written by Yvonne Ng, Faye Zhexing, and Shelly Kraicer, are referred to as objective but valuable resources for a literature review based on Zhang’s Shanghai Triad.

Analysis Based on Shanghai Triad 's Plots and Criticism

In the review paper written by Yvonne Ng, the film is commented on and analyzed by its production background, including the evaluation from the critics, Zhang’s methods of expression his standpoints implicitly, and the plot narrated by Shuisheng in seven days in the film. Ng states that the film focuses more on criticizing the negative influence of corruption on ordinary people in the 1930s, instead of vastly depicting blooding scenes like traditional gangster films. Thus, it is suggested that the film is an implicit critique of the oppressive control of the Chinese government and its authority. To illustrate such arguments, Zhang split the film into halves with comparison, with the brightly narrating first half depicting the luxurious Shanghai city life of billionaires and gangsters in the 1930s, and the dull life on the barren island, while the Boss is hiding from assassination and preparing his revenge. The story in two halves also is narrated in a seven-day span, from Shuisheng’s perspective, which is a representation of ordinary people controlled by evil politics. Another aspect regarding such perspective is the comparison and connection between Shuisheng and Xiao Jinbao, the Boss’s mistress, acted by Gong Li. Although the two character forms a strong contrast in their appearance and external social levels, they share a similar history, which is to be enticed to the metropolis but stuck into the evil gangster and the powerful political machine. Furthermore, Zhang’s usage of colour also expresses such criticism, according to Ng. To be more specific, red is a commonly used colour in Zhang’s films, which is also a main colour theme in the first half of the Shanghai Triad, especially appearing on Xiao Jinbao’s jewelry and dresses. However, the red colour also is a representation of death and violence, for instance, the blooding trail, the scene depicting the death of Sixth Uncle, or the blooding knife, despite the typical violent elements are not shown in the film. In comparison, the main colour theme transits to yellow and green in the second half of the film, which aims to indicate peace from the potential violence, although the destruction and revenge plan is prepared underway. In addition, the depiction of Boss Tang’s deception, evil, and cruelty is another way to imply the powerful political machine that traps ordinary people like Shuisheng and Xiao Jinbao. This suggestion can be enhanced by the intriguing fact proposed by Ng, that the similar appearance between Boss Tang in the film and Chiang Kai-shek, implies the involvement in politics and economy in Shanghai of KMT. Moreover, Ng also argues that Shanghai Triad is further beyond an ordinary gangster film, especially in its production period of time. According to Ng, gangster films were tending to be bland in the 1990s, and each aspect of this genre of such movies was already explored by filmmakers and directors, which formed the environment for the appearance of the Shanghai Triad. However, Zhang’s film did not receive a large amount of compliments from the film critics.

Points of Views in the Film and Their Illustration

Another critical cinematography element that attracts the scholars’ attention is the usage of Point of View (POV) shots by Zhang Yimou. Faye Zhengxing provides a detailed analysis and interpretation of such camera movement techniques in Shanghai Triad, as well as the related political and social metaphor. In the film, the POV shots are mostly through Shuisheng’s perspective, and according to Zhengxing, it is considered an innovation regarding artistic design, aiming to enhance the understanding of culture and ideological expression, as well as the aesthetic quality. Through the analysis, Zhengxing highlights the significance of viewing the film as a cultural study or educational experience rather than mere entertainment, and proposes a potential solution to address Hollywood's culpability in purely promoting violence and sexual content to its viewers. Zhengxing emphasizes that there is no existing study focusing on the culture and ideology in Hollywood by exploring the POV. Therefore, Zhengxing’s analysis refers to the term poststructuralism as a methodology, which to stresses the importance of meaning and the audience’s positions in the film.

As mentioned above, the POV shots in Shanghai Triad follow Shuisheng’s view, which serves as the connection between the film context and the cultural elements that embedding the former into the latter, as well as the emphasis on the ideological impacts instead of the human desire. To illustrate the first function, Zhengxing states that it conveys the comparison between Shuisheng and Xiao Jinbao through the series of POVs, which is the contravention between male and female, as well as young and sophisticated, similar to Ng’s argument. It also reveals that the transition of Xiao Jinbao from a suburban girl into a mammonish and snobbish gangster woman is due to the stressful and powerful urban city life. Moreover, Zhengxing also mentions the comparison between Shuishang’s innocence and illusion of urban life and the realism of him, the Sixth Uncle, and Xiao Jinbao, and it serves as a thread through the film’s narration and a reason for such an embedding. From a poststructural perspective, the narration exists in the culture, hence, the filmmakers follow such narrative patterns and the narration shape is determined by the culture, instead of humans. In addition, to support the cultural elements further, Zhengxing also argues that the POV shots of Shuisheng serve as tangent points connecting the film itself and the production background, leading to  Zhang’s criticism of events such as the Cultural Revolution, or the Tiananmen protest in 1989, and his concern of modernization and materialism. On the other hand, to emphasize the ideology through Shuisheng’s POVs, Zhang applies implicit expression of sex and violence to convey the ideological views to the audience, rather than to satisfy primal human desires. Zhengxing hence expounds the argument from three aspects, the prelude of sex, the aftermath of violence, and the innovation POV. The reason for considering the POVs as the prelude to sex is that they focus on bland dialogues or ambiguous pre-sex scenes, rather than direct depictions for arousing. Therefore, they are designed for the revealing of Xiao Jinbao and the gangster’s mindset. Similarly, Zhang’s lack of usage of fighting and exploding scenes like traditional gangster films also indicates his refusion of catering audience’s desire. According to Zhang himself, it demonstrates the impact of violence on the characters, instead of how violence are existing in China. Therefore, according to Nowell-Smith, psychoanalysis involves film shots, which are related to the POVs that connect Shuisheng to the character, or the audience. Furthermore, another innovation in the POVs in Shanghai Triad is that although Zhang applies the classical Western voyeurism concepts, the normal pleasantness of males is not conveyed from POVs. Instead, it is conveyed through the other male’s gaze while Xiao Jinbao is on the stage. Another innovation is that at the end of the film, the existing unfairness is expressed by Shuisheng’s upside-down POV, as well as a sense of loss that not only in Shuisheng’s mind, but also conveys to the audience. Beyond the POVs, Zhengxing also argues that the three songs that Xiao Jinbao performed in the film innovatively indicate her illusion and vanish of love and modern life. The first song, Pretending, critiques the hypocrisy existing among males, especially in Boss Tang’s characteristics. The second song, Moonlight, conveys her illusion of love, which explains why Xiao Jinbao had a crush on Song and cheated on Boss Tang. Zhengxing states that Song loves the song but not Xiao Jinbao, hence that only raw sex exists between them to satisfy Xiao Jinbao’s illusion and Song’s desire for power. The third song, Go Away, serves as another path for Xiao Jinbao’s out by accepting Western cynicism, after failing to escape from Chinese Confucianism. It also suggests the disillusion of escaping to the West.

Interpretation on Allegory and Ambiguity in the Film

Some scholars, such as Shelly Kraicer, study the film by analyzing its underlying ambiguity and allegory and provide critical comments and interpretations of both the merits and drawbacks of the film. Kraicer suggests that like other films directed by Zhang Yimou, abundant possible metaphors and allegories contained in the film that are worthy explore, in this case, imply how ordinary victims survive under the powerful patriarchal rule, which is represented as Boss Tang and the gangsters. In a narrower way to interpret, the film can be considered as a discussion and warning on post-communist China, and the criticism of approaching capitalism and commercialism, according to Kraicer. Also, another ambiguous aspect shown in the film is revealed by Kraicer, which is through visual and auditory perception. For instance, the sound of bells provides comments on the actions in the film, which is a powerful method of expression but challenging to ensure. Another example of the aural perception is Xiao Jinbao’s songs, including the three songs analyzed by Zhengxing, and the children’s song, Yao ya yao yao dao wai po qiao, which is the title of the film, are served as an implication of Xiao Jinbao’s origin and history, and her disappearing innocence. As for the visual perspective, Kraicer provides a similar analysis as Zhengxing on Shuisheng’s POV but focuses more on his oppression under the power and authority, not only directly from the Boss Tang but also from the ruling class and knowledge, in order to interpret it as a victim’s perspective. On the other hand, however, Kraicer also argues that there are several flaws in Shanghai Triad. One of the drawbacks is the lack of substantial context in the film, such as story, plot, characterization, or emotional conflicts, and it results in relatively hollow subtexts and all the cultural metaphors from the film. Such an absence leads to another allegory, which is Zhang’s criticism of the Communist’s intervention in the story and its overwhelming consequences. Another deficiency of the film is the integration of Gong Li and the character Xiao Jinbao, although the film can be considered as another demonstration of Gong Li’s charm. Kraicer refers the character Fatty Yu’s comments, Xiao Jinbao looks better than she sings, to suggest Gong Li’s distant and slightly unsuitable for her character.

Comparative Analysis

Shanghai Triad compare with In the Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles

Zhang Yimou's film "Shanghai Triad" is based on the novel "The Rules of a Clan". The film portrays the two tragic characters, Xiao Jinbao and Shuisheng, from the perspective of Shuisheng, a country bumpkin. The story is only seven days long, with a complete succession, showing the process of sinking and returning to the fickle human nature. “Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles", also directed by Zhang Yimou, is a typical "road movie". The film focuses on a Japanese father, Takada, who travels to Yunnan to fulfill his son's last wish.

Similarities

1. Using the environment to render the characters' emotions

The distant expanse of the river

A remote close-up of a mountain road

Shanghai Triad: the film often uses the environment to render the atmosphere, such as the dusk before ushering in the climax ---- symbolizing the arrival of the end; the rainstorm at the climax ---- signifying that it is a disaster. Not only the use of the environment, there are many symbolic objects in the film, such as the silver yuan ---- given to Shuisheng by Xiao Jinbao, which carries a good vision of life.

In the Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, Mr. Takada is placed on the shore at the beginning of the film, with the endless sea in the background, reflecting the invisible alienation between the father and his son through the deep sea. From the side, it shows the father's memory and longing for his child, and also shows the loss in his heart. When Mr. Takada goes to look for Li Jiaming and Yang Yang, the film gives a distant close-up of the treacherous mountain road in Lijiang, foreshadowing the hardship and difficulty of Mr. Takada's trip to the stone village; on the other hand, it also reflects the difficulty of communication between Takada and his son. It also has the effect of beautifying the picture, giving a sense of comfort and hierarchy.

A voyeuristic perspective introduced to Shui Sheng

2. Long shots are used a lot

Shanghai Triad: For example, at the beginning of the film, when Shuisheng first arrives in Shanghai and meets Uncle Liu, he is taken to a warehouse-like place. Here, the young Shuisheng sees the triads for the first time, and the way they work. Before this shot, the director also arranged several other angled shots to show that Shuisheng, who is new to the city.

After Shuisheng arrives at the Tang Mansion, Uncle Six takes him to wait at the front door, and he introduces the characters in the Tang Mansion to Shuisheng through the glass door. Using a typical voyeuristic viewpoint to show some obscurants in the foreground. This perspective can be seen as a glimpse of power; it is also a curiosity of Shuisheng, who has just entered the Tang Mansion, about the triad world.

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles: The film shows Takada deciding to do something for his son, who has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer ---- to film the opera "riding alone for thousands of miles" in Lijiang, Yunnan, China.

From the time Director Li enters the office, a 43-second long shot of Director Li's understanding of the situation is delivered, and the viewer can clearly see Takada's expectations of Director Li and his desire to film his son. Walking out of the office, Qiu Lin explains to Takada that things were not approved, here in a long shot of 51 seconds.

The long shot of Takada pleading with Director Li on TV is also 1 minute long. Takada stands alone in the moonlit night, with the darkness compressing Takada into a tiny spot in the middle of the frame. The 14-second long shot makes it very obvious that he is anxious and helpless as he awaits the outcome.

A moonlit night

3. The use of audiovisual language (songs)

Shanghai Triad: There are four songs in the film: "Jia Xing Xing" which satirizes the old master as a person, "Hua Hao Yue Yuan" which represents the common wish of the second master and Xiao Jinbao, "Gun Chu Qu" which symbolizes Xiao Jinbao's rebellion against the old master, and most importantly, "Shanghai Triad" which represents the purest side of the humanity of Xiao Jinbao and Shuisheng. Things are sent by love, scenery change is the change of things, and the transformation of the song is the process of the return of Little Kimball's humanity.

The end credits of Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles feature a drumbeat that replaces the music accompanying Lee Gamin's singing. As the sound of the piper sound rises, the footage of Lee Garmin dancing begins in slow-motion; the camera keeps switching between Lee Garmin in a mask and Ko-Ten-Gongyi in a fade-in style as the rhythmic drums beat. The camera then shifts to Japan, where Ko Tien Gon-il is standing on the beach, with the drums and piper playing in the background. The deep drum beat and the melodious piper sound seem to tell a heavy and poignant story.

Differences

1. The method of expressing the psychological activities of the characters

The expression of panic

Shanghai Triad: A close-up of Shuisheng's face at the beginning of the film - Shuisheng is standing in a panic, unable to move. The ninety-second long facial close-up is a bit long, but it also fully expresses the uncertainty and helplessness of Shuisheng, who comes from the countryside to Shanghai for the first time. Shuisheng seems to be the main character, but in fact he is just the narrator of the story, telling the audience what he sees with his eyes and playing a role in the plot continuity. There is also the use of long shots of the countryside reeds, both to feel the quiet and cool countryside, but also a crisis.

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles: At the beginning of "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles," Takada's back is turned to the audience as he gazes out to sea, and in such a distant shot, Mr. Takada's back is lonely and helpless. When he decides to travel to China and film the Nuo opera performance his son gave up filming, he stands there again gazing at the sea. When he hears the news of his son's death over the phone, he stops his car and steps out, with the camera filming him from behind as he gazes at the distant mountains which shows the sadness and loneliness inside Mr. Takada.

Staring at the back of the mountain

2. Subjective shots

Staring at the back of the sea

Shanghai Triad: Except for a few parts, the film is told from the perspective of the young protagonist Shuisheng. Zhang Yimou uses subjective shots to show the audience what Shuisheng sees in the world.The suspicions, killings, and intrigues among the Shanghai triad moguls, and the woman who surrounds them, Xiao Jinbao, are all seen through Shuisheng's eyes.

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles is quite the opposite. Except for a limited number of subjective shots, the film is mostly shot from a third-person perspective. With the first-person voice-over of the main character Mr. Takada, the film is slowly told in a narrative way.

3. The film's narrative technique

Voyeuristic footage of ShuiSheng's eyes

Shanghai Triad: The film's narrative is unique, unlike the documentary style of Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, this film is told from the point of view of a witness Shuisheng who is a half-grown kid from the countryside. The film gives several close-ups of Shuisheng's eyes, as well as shots of him peeping.

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles: "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles" presents a more realistic subject matter, and unpretentious documentary filming techniques. The Stone Village feast scene is an event choreographed specifically for the camera, but it's actually a real event captured by the camera as well.

All the (real) villagers brought food and tables from their homes to the street and placed them side by side, eventually creating a bridge-shaped 100-table banquet that ran through the village to provide hospitality for the Japanese guests' visit. This scene is very important in the story. It shows the hospitality of the Chinese hosts to the Japanese guests and the latter's emotional feedback to the villagers' sincere hospitality.

Alternative Interpretation

According to Kraicer’s statement about the drawback of the Shanghai Triad from the literature review part on this Wiki page, the film seems to lack abundant cinematical text such as plot, screenplay, or characterization, so the underlying subtexts cannot be supported enough. However, based on the cinematical analysis processed by the author of this Wiki page, a different view against this statement is provided as an alternative interpretation of the film. Although Shanghai Triad is within the gangster film genre, Zhang Yimou is still able to depict a complete story of gangster conflicts among characters with different dispositions, as well as convey the underlying allegory through the variable plot. In this part, two impressive scenes are picked and analyzed in detail to support the counterargument.

First Scene (00:10:10-00:13:08): Xiao Jinbao's First Appearance

At the beginning of the film, Sixth Uncle leads Shuisheng to visit Tang’s club, which is the first time Shuisheng has contacted such an urban life. In the club, Shuisheng firstly encountered Xiao Jinbao, while she is performing the song Pretending with an exaggerated red dress and provocative dancing movements. The Sixth Uncle says that without Boss Tang, Xiao Jinbao would be nothing but a whore, while clapping with a flattering smile. Shuisheng, however, looks at his surrounding and Xiao Jinbao with a dull and confusing emotion, providing a hint for the entire film that he is the main narrator, or witness of the story. On the other hand, Xiao Jinbao performs her first song in the film, which rapidly shows her appearance to the audience, and her background is implicitly summarized by the dialogues from the Sixth Uncle. From the visual and aural perspective, also similarly suggested by Ng and Kraicer from the previous parts, the colour of the scene is mainly red theme, which aims to indicate the luxurious lifestyle of the people in the upper classes in urban cities like Shanghai. The song Pretending not only serves as a beat-up and light background music for the scene but also foreshadows the hypocrisy of Boss Tang, which can be explicitly depicted in the later plots. Moreover, Zhang applies several close-ups capturing Xiao Jinbao and the dancing women such as their legs, or haunch, to illustrate the social-political ideology and metaphor, similar to the arguments of Zhengxing. These shots serve to imply the oppression under a patriarchal society, instead of pleasing the audience. In this scene, Zhang utilizes richly mise-en-scene and cinematography techniques to provide multiple functions, which enriches characterization by suggesting first impressions of Xiao Jinbao, Sixth Uncle, and Shuisheng. It also includes indicating the abundance of the film’s thematic context and the underlying critiques of the ideology by Zhang.

Second Scene (01:28:21-01:37:06): Revealing of the Mystery

In the second half of the film, after Boss Tang escapes to the uninhabited island, Song and Zheng are called to land on the island by the Boss. Aftermath Shuisheng hears Song’s accompanies whispering about the plan to kill Xiao Jinbao, he rushes into the room where the Boss, Song, Zheng, and Xiao Jinbao are playing pokers. In the scene where Boss Tang reveals Song’s assassination plan, Zhang Yimou focuses on depicting each character’s reaction in the room, to reflect their characteristics, as well as revealing all the foreshadowing throughout the entire film by echoing the formal plots. In this scene, Tang remains calm, complacent, and arrogant, even after Shuisheng franks that it was Song that wanted to kill Jinbao, which indicates his power, cautiousness, and brutality. Zheng, as the third one in command, although has no dialogue in this scene, his emotion as well as Tang’s explanation of his previous secret action still indicates his loyalty, prudence, and enriches his characterization. Counsellor Tang reports the entire tracking of Song to not only the Boss and other members of the gangster but also Song himself, to express a threat and a sense of controlling everything. Song, as the betrayer and cheater, shows his transition of pretending to be peaceful, then tension, and anger at last. Zhang’s usage of extreme close-ups depicts his anxiety through his expressions and the sweat on his forehead. His pissed screaming at Xiao Jinbao and other members also implies his ambition, deception, and taking advantage from Xiao Jinbao. As for Xiao Jinbao and Shuisheng, according to the previous analysis, they share a connection of oppression by the powerful gangsters, as well as the patriarchal authority, so Shuisheng’s sympathy for Jinbao is explicit, while Jinbao is pitiful with a bitter smile, singing the song Moonlight with no fear on her face. In this scene, Zhang utilizes shot/reverse-shots and extreme close-ups frequently to clearly describe everyone’s emotions and psychological reactions. From the aural aspect, the scene starts with silence but only keeps the dialogue of the character, to form a nervous atmosphere around the room. After revealing Song’s action and plan, there are clear sounds of thunder from the background, which not only provides information about the environment of Song and Jinbao’s death but also serves to convey the oppression of the gangster since it is known they would utilize crucial execution to the betrayers. In general, this scene not only abundantly enriches the characterization of each one in the room, but also completes the entire story as a successful ending by suggesting the fate of each character, and also revealing all the foreshadowing through the entire film, to make the storytelling more suspenseful and enhance the screenplay. Furthermore, it also echoes the underlying thematic suggestions that Zhang tends to convey, such as the oppression that ordinary people as victims were experiencing under the rule of powerful authority.

Conclusion

In conclusion, "Shanghai Triad" is set in 1930s Shanghai, and tells the story of the lives of the people who lived under the political turmoil and power struggles of the time. Although the film is regarded by audiences and critics as a classic Chinese gangster movie, the director avoids gory scenes and instead focuses more on the lives of people like Shuisheng and Xiao Jinbao, who are manipulated as political machines. For critics, Zhang Yimou uses point of view (POV) cinematography to extend cultural elements and emphasize ideology through the perspective of the minor character Shuisheng. Contrasting masculinity and femininity, youth and sophistication, as well as conveying an ideological point of view to the audience through sexual tension and violent innuendo.

Shanghai Triad is worth watching because director Zhang Yimou illustrates the story of gang conflict arising from different characters and uses a seven-day timeline to present the darkness behind human nature. The rendering of the setting gives the audience a good sense of the cruel Shanghai Triad, while the four songs are side-splitting hints of the characters' journey. The film uses subjective footage to show the audience the perspective of rural teenager Shuisheng's eyes and a peek into Shanghai's underworld. For the bustling and complex Shanghai Bund, the film substitutes the audience into the plight of each of the minor characters and gives a deep sense of the life of the people during the 1930s, when the Republic of China was in power.

References

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