Review of The Blue Kite

The film The Blue Kite is a typical example of the informal censorship of alternative opinions in our modern liberal societies (especially with regard to the competing bolshevist and Islamic societies). Remember that until the seventies the liberal governments prohibited the travel to China. Films and books in favor of those alternative ideologies are (in general) not strictly forbidden, but nevertheless they are not readily available - except for the products of dissidents. The suppression of the diversity of speech proceeds in two stages: at first, the liberal media (press, TV, which monopolize the news) glorify liberalism and give a distorted view of alternative ideologies. Then, after the public is made prejudiced, there is no commercial market for the distribution of the alternative films etc. It goes without saying that the distributors themselves are not particularly eager to sell those antagonistic views. The Blue Kite shows a dissident perspective of China, and thus is highly acclaimed by the liberal lobby. However, in The Blue Kite the critique of Maoism is too one-sided, and it actually backfires. We see the life of small town folks during the rectification movement, the great leap forward and the cultural revolution. Examples of scenes? One of the main characters is present in a meeting of workers that has to identify subversive colleagues. The chairman strives to reach his quota of subversive elements. So, when our main character visits the lavatory, he is quickly labeled subversive and sent to a labor camp. Another scene: a female soldier refuses to return the advances of high party officials and is subsequently sentenced to a long imprisonment. The film is a string of wrong-doings, which were probably fairly common at the time. But still they are incidents, which could have happened equally well here in the Netherlands. This leaves the viewer with the feeling, that The Blue Kite is actually trying to split hairs. I found the critical Chinese film To Live much more humane and credible. An objective judgment should probably call Maoism a twisted ideology, but admit that there are worse alternatives. It should be remembered that a century ago China had been invaded and ravaged by western imperialist powers, and subsequently Japan continued this terrorist intervention. After WWII there was the civil war with the nationalists, which may perhaps be called a peasants revolution. Although it included a restructuring into collectivity, this can definitely not be called a socialist reform. The Chinese economy was and is based on primitive agriculture, with regularly returning threats of famine. Maoism offered a solution, and erected basis health care and educational provisions. In addition it had to reconcile with the former opposition and handle sabotage. The life expectancy under Maoism was always longer than in the democratic India. In fact the cultural revolution is an intriguing phenomenon. A primary aim was to strengthen the bond between the common people and the intelligentsia. Here in Europe this generated admirable examples of self-sacrifice, like a student movement into the factories and working-class quarters, albeit only on a sectarian scale. In the very poor China it was a waste of scarce expertise and efficient labor division. It is estimated that over three million people were killed during the Cultural Revolution, which nearly transformed into another civil war. On the other hand, the equivalent in Afghanistan would be hundred thousand killed, which is approximately the factual score due to the Afghan revolution led by Nato. Therefore most Chinese people can still appreciate Mao. And frankly speaking, I can not recommend The Blue Kite, except perhaps for its portrayal of Chinese village life. I am still waiting for the release in our society of the load of Chinese films with a sympathetic message about Maoism.