Chinese Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Chinese Film - Essay Example Not to mention the skills that Chinese are known for, such as the most popular martial arts. China as the leading country in terms of the highest population in the world is one great reason for people in the West to capture their market for greater profitability. Reports reveal that China is now the second film market in the world and projected to be the number one in the years to come. This most populous nation is expected to grow 17% in the year 2015. Potentially, China has around 1.34 Billion movie goers and this number is surely to affect the worldwide film market. Other countries, especially the US flock their investment in China to garner the Chinese population thereby assuring their projects and films to get the most profit (Guardian News, n. p.). There have been a lot of films that are made in China that toppled the worldwide cinema market. The latest hit that smashed the top charts is Ang Lee’s â€Å"Life of Pi†. This movie has generated approximately $570.9 mi llion revenue in the worldwide ticket sales. It has surpassed the other movies in the current film stream, such as â€Å"Les Miserables† and ‘Django. Unchained†. â€Å"Life of Pi† is expected to seize various awards as the movie is proven to be a global hit. It gained positive reviews with the most number of nominations, which reached about 11 Oscar nominations (Miller). â€Å"Life of Pi† is a two hour film derived from the best selling book of Yann Martel. Ang Lee is able to create a marvelous work of art out converting the narrative epic story into an awesome myriad of picturesque effects. The movie centers on Piscine â€Å"Pi† Patel who got stranded in a boat with a Bengal tiger named â€Å"Richard Parker† in the middle of Pacific ocean after their ship got shipwrecked in Marianas trench - the world’s deepest body of water. Pi is traveling along with his father, mother, and brother Ravi in a cargo ship bound for North America where they are supposed to sell their accompanied zoo animals. During the typhoon, Pi made it to a rescue boat along with a set of other supposed to survivors – one hyena, an orangutan, a zebra and Richard Parker. Due to the animal competitions in the boat, only Richard Parker lasted as the other survivor with Pi. As Pi and Richard Parker stayed for days in the boat, they have established their own territories. Along their trip, they encountered various marvels such as being flocked with a school of flying fish, being toppled over by a looming whale, a calm night ocean filled with luminous jellyfish, ravenous storms, intense heat and hunger, and the carnivorous island. These scenes were magnanimously portrayed with great effects that can leave any viewer open mouthed. The realistic and colorful effects, such as the sky reflection on the ocean, the clear marine activities passing through their boat, the shift from rain and sunny weather creates a tangible impact that anyone wo uld stick to the rest of the film. There is also the use of 3D effects which harnessed the result all the more. The movie creates an eerie feeling as the nature is made closer to the viewers. Pi and Parker made good companion to each other as they clamored towards survival. Parker, being a threat to the life of Pi, makes Pi alert all the time. As he said in the movie, his fear for his companion made him alert, thus making him survive. Pi shared his experiences where anyone would embrace their faith and believe in miracles and

From One War to Another Essay Example for Free

From One War to Another Essay The French and Indian war, a war that had assembled the largest number of troops ever, was caused by more than a hundred years of rivalry between the two countries, had several consequences on the British Empire, and impacted the colonies greatly. When the fire of the French and Indian war was blown out, another match was dropped, starting another war. The main causes of the French and Indian war also known as the Seven Years war, was due to the constant hostility of the two large Empires. Although peace was kept surprisingly well, at the beginning of colonization in the New World, the Ohio River brought upon a new battle. Not only the French and English wanted control of the Ohio River Valley, but the Native Americans who were living there also believed that it was rightfully their land. All held the notion that the Valley was a strategic economic location and none were willing to give it up, which led to the start of small battles. Eventually, this led up to a declaration of war from Britain to France. This caused both France and England to suddenly begin seeking friendship with the Indians in order to have them as allies. Although the English won the war, the consequences that they faced were immense. The war had increased Britains debt to 133 million pounds by 1763, which led to much hatred towards the colonies who were unwilling to help pay this debt. Grennville, and other men of the British Empire bestowed it upon the colonies as their duty to participate in paying the debt.. Grenville took it upon himself to impose harsh acts, such as the Sugar and Stamp act, inorder to take revenue from the colonies. This outraged many colonialists, including Patrick Henry, who at one of Virginias House of Burgesses meetings, openly protested the stamp act, and the unjust acts of the empire. Not only did the British feel that they colonies should take part in paying the debt, but they also held a feeling of resentment due to the colonists minimal of participation in helping with the army, and supplying food and clothing. The British were infuriated that the Colonies were so uncooperative, and unappreciative after all they had done for America.. This led to increased tension and unrest between the colonies and Britain. Quite different from the repercussions of the war of the British, the colonies had very different consequences. Men like George Washington who had participated in the battle began to see that the redcoats were not as powerful as they were thought of, and that they would not always be able to serve and protect the colonies. Also, with colonialists fighting the war beside eachother, this interaction with the other twelve colonies opened the eyese of the colonies making them aware that when united together, they could become a force that could challenge the British Empire. Also the Colonies were angered by the harsh acts initiated by the British, and began to despise the Parliamentary rule. Leading other colonies and people to protest Grenvilles acts; together they held an intercolonial gathering of nine colonies, called the Stamp Act Congress, which lead to the Governors writing to the British Government of how they should be in charge of their own taxation as they saw the British system of taxation without representation as unjust and unlawful. This perception led them to increasingly doubt their loyalty to the empire and these events led to the American Revolution. Beginning as a rivalry between the French and English which caused the Seven Years war, lead to drastic consequences of both the colonies and the British. The British Empire had a huge debt, and lost their relationship with America while the colonials began to imagine breaking free of British rule.The end of a war lead to another war.

Influenzas Impacts on Manchesters Society :: Journalism Media Studies Health Essays

Influenza's Impacts on Manchester's Society Society Shaken Like countless cities across the globe, Manchester, England has had a difficult time adjusting to the impact of influenza. Countless residents are ill. Numerous schools have been closed. A recent decree has banned children under the age of 13 from "picture-houses and all places licensed for amusement." Now, public discussion has begun which could impede upon personal liberties in defense of the public health. A proposed Health Ministry would have the power to compel individuals to medical examinations and quarantines. One proponent within the Ministry of National Service has argued that such powers would mean that "not only influenza, but consumption, venereal disease, and many other of our most deadly plagues could be banished form the land in a few decades." Still, others wonder if such powers could actually be effective enough to warrant the invasion of privacy which they require. "It ain't the government's job to go looking down your throat and up your knickers" complained Manchester native Ms. Winston. Within the judicial system, the strain of influenza has required the easing of some legal precedent. In one example, a recently arrested lady doctor was quickly released from custody per the instruction of the Lord Mayor so that she may aid in the fight against the influenza. This leniency is understandable given the great toll which the extremely contagious disease has had upon health care workers. Recent reports indicate that within Manchester, over 300 nurses are infected, 10 have died, and one half of the ambulance staff is infected with influenza. Gravediggers, too, have been overburdened by the epidemic. The government has recently required that the City Engineer's department lend workers to aid with the required grave digging. Advertisement Epidemic? While the doctors and nurses of Manchester battle vigorously and daily against the influenza outbreak, another struggle rages on within the local papers. Advertising firms have seized upon a boom in local sales of influenza-related products. Companies are capitalizing on the public's increased interest in news reports in order to promote various, competing preventions and remedies for the disease. "'Tis only natural," reports Mr. Robert Thompson, maker of one product claiming to aid in the fight against influenza, "that we provide the people with the critical information of how one might best guard himself or herself against the Influenza. And, it so happens that my Thompson's Pure Phenol is irrefutably the best qualified product to do so. Influenza's Impacts on Manchester's Society :: Journalism Media Studies Health Essays Influenza's Impacts on Manchester's Society Society Shaken Like countless cities across the globe, Manchester, England has had a difficult time adjusting to the impact of influenza. Countless residents are ill. Numerous schools have been closed. A recent decree has banned children under the age of 13 from "picture-houses and all places licensed for amusement." Now, public discussion has begun which could impede upon personal liberties in defense of the public health. A proposed Health Ministry would have the power to compel individuals to medical examinations and quarantines. One proponent within the Ministry of National Service has argued that such powers would mean that "not only influenza, but consumption, venereal disease, and many other of our most deadly plagues could be banished form the land in a few decades." Still, others wonder if such powers could actually be effective enough to warrant the invasion of privacy which they require. "It ain't the government's job to go looking down your throat and up your knickers" complained Manchester native Ms. Winston. Within the judicial system, the strain of influenza has required the easing of some legal precedent. In one example, a recently arrested lady doctor was quickly released from custody per the instruction of the Lord Mayor so that she may aid in the fight against the influenza. This leniency is understandable given the great toll which the extremely contagious disease has had upon health care workers. Recent reports indicate that within Manchester, over 300 nurses are infected, 10 have died, and one half of the ambulance staff is infected with influenza. Gravediggers, too, have been overburdened by the epidemic. The government has recently required that the City Engineer's department lend workers to aid with the required grave digging. Advertisement Epidemic? While the doctors and nurses of Manchester battle vigorously and daily against the influenza outbreak, another struggle rages on within the local papers. Advertising firms have seized upon a boom in local sales of influenza-related products. Companies are capitalizing on the public's increased interest in news reports in order to promote various, competing preventions and remedies for the disease. "'Tis only natural," reports Mr. Robert Thompson, maker of one product claiming to aid in the fight against influenza, "that we provide the people with the critical information of how one might best guard himself or herself against the Influenza. And, it so happens that my Thompson's Pure Phenol is irrefutably the best qualified product to do so.

Repression of War Experience

Personification in Siegfried Sassoon’s â€Å"Repression of War Experience† After wartime, soldiers can suffer from not only physical injuries, but from psychological damage as well. They become victims of PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which, according to Medicinenet. com, is â€Å"an emotional illness that develops as a result of a terribly frightening, life-threatening, or otherwise highly unsafe experience. † Considering the horrors that these soldiers are witnesses to, it is no wonder that PTSD can overcome them.In Siegfried Sassoon's poem, â€Å"Repression of War Experience,† Sassoon uses personification to emphasize the psychological damage sustained by soldiers after war. In the first two lines of the poem, Sassoon starts off by painting a rather dismal picture. He begins lighting candles and pauses to watch a moth, which he then describes to the reader. He finds it ridiculous that it flies toward the candle even though it's headed right f or the flame and will end up dying. He expresses this thought by commenting on, â€Å"What silly beggars they are to blunder in, /And scorch their wings with glory, liquid flame† (lines 2-3).Of course, moths are not beggars; they are not poor citizens, but Sassoon uses personification to further develop the moth's behavior. These lines imply that moths beg for their deaths by flying toward the flame of the candle, just as soldiers beg for their deaths by signing up to fight. Moths are drawn to the flame of a candle because of the light, but do not realize that they are headed towards their death. Perhaps soldiers are attracted to war in the same way–they are tempted by the false promise of glory and honor for their country–but unknowingly march toward their own deaths as well.Sassoon links both moth and man by making such comparisons, and suggesting that both end up embracing death. Further along in the poem, and this is a very short part of the poem, indeed, Sa ssoon comments on the rain and asks, â€Å"Why won't it rain? † (line 12). Without warning as to why he does so, Sassoon changes topic and says, â€Å"Books; what a jolly company they are, /Standing so quiet and patient on their shelves† (lines 16-17). One can guess as to why he suddenly goes off about books–he cannot bear any reminders of war, and desperately tries to keep his mind occupied with the things he sees around him.The mentioning of books being a â€Å"jolly company† indicates that Sassoon is alone and perhaps has just a few objects with him in his room. It is strange to address books as though they are people or companions, as if they can carry a conversation. Sassoon then develops this unusual view further by commenting on how the books are â€Å"Dressed in dim brown, and black, and white, and green† (line 18). Perhaps this is another accidental reference to war because it hints at the soldier's camouflage-colored uniforms of green and â€Å"dim brown† but one cannot be sure.In regard to the books â€Å"standing so quiet and patient†; it is true that books can stand on their own, perhaps on a shelf or a desk, but how can they be patient? Books cannot feel anything, nor can they have opinions. This personification suggests that Sassoon's mind is slowly moving away from clear thought and logic, and that war has negatively affected his mental state. Sassoon continues comparing normal everyday sights to living things. He writes that â€Å"in the breathless air outside the house, /The garden waits for something that delays† (lines 26-27). The comment of the â€Å"breathless air† is again, strange.Air cannot be breathless because it does not breathe. Only people and animals breathe air, and without it, they will die within minutes. However, during a war, poison gas is often released into the sky, making it impossible for soldiers to breathe properly. Such attacks were especially common in Wo rld War I, which Sassoon fought in from 1914 to the end of the war in 1918. His line was most likely a reference to the poison-filled air in which no one could breathe. In the last few lines of the poem, Sassoon has failed to completely ignore thoughts of war thus far, for he says that â€Å"You'd never think there was a bloody war going on! (line 34). He abandons all attempts to repress his memories and continues his monologue about â€Å"Those whispering guns–† (line 37). Obviously, guns cannot speak, and strangely, Sassoon writes that they â€Å"whisper† rather than yell or scream.The latter would be more sensible, considering that there are no quiet gun attacks. However, the description of the hushed weapons suggests (even further) that Sassoon is haunted by his memories, perhaps every night, and can never fully forget them. He himself seems to â€Å"lose control of ugly thoughts† (mentioned in line 7, in which Sassoon pities those oldiers who cannot repress their memories) and again, seems unable to distract himself with what he sees around him, as he had done throughout the entire poem until this point. He makes the exclamation of â€Å"O Christ, I want to go out, /And screech at them to stop† (lines 37-38). At this point, Sassoon has indeed lost control of himself and wants to scream at the guns to stop firing. Guns do not fire by themselves, nor can they fight a war without soldiers pointing the guns–Sassoon would have to screech at the soldiers to stop fighting–but this personification of the weapons further emphasize the psychological damage from which he suffers.Personification is a major literary element in â€Å"Repression of War Experience,† and it lets the reader understand just how psychologically wounded Sassoon has become. His comparisons range from moths to books to guns, and he jumps from subject to subject in order to show Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. His various personified objec ts are scattered throughout the poem, and they allow the reader to truly understand how he has suffered from his experience at war.

A Divided World and a Divided Self

Synge’s Playboy of the Western World is essentially a play of opposites. The tension between tradition and individualism is the active force that drives the characters toward the comic conflict.Shawn and Christy embody the masculine half of this equation while Pegeen Mike and the widow Quinn exemplify the feminine. Interestingly, the conflicts of the characters in isolated situations throw a brighter light on their motives than when secondary characters are present in the scene.While much of the play’s actual humor derives from the chorus-like responses of subordinate characters (notably when the pub patrons question Christy about his father’s supposed murder), the inner lives of the four main characters are explored in greater detail in direct dialogue exchanges.For this reason, it is important to consider Playboy of the Western World as a psychological as well as a social inquiry into the early 20th century Irish mind.The moral, social and familial institutions at work in the lives of the characters are inseparable from the behavior of the characters themselves and their behavior, in turn, affects the ways they perceive and challenge the institutions that establish a collective social identity. Synge’s satire, then, is fundamentally subversive. By undercutting a prevalent strain of Irish romanticism Synge effectively exposes the difference between the real and the ideal in Irish opinions about their own history and customs.The influence of religion is at the heart of Synge’s concern. Shawn’s reluctance to stay with Pegeen Mike overnight testifies to his fear of the priest’s, and by extension, the community’s censure. This is confirmed when he admits, â€Å"I'm afeard of Father Reilly; and what at all would the Holy Father and the Cardinals of Rome be saying if they heard I did the like of that?† Shawn is unable to take the passionate leap in terms of his affection for Pegeen Mike, being overly con cerned with outward appearances.Though his presence at the pub overnight will not be breaching social etiquette in any way immediately revealed by the opinions of the pub house patrons, he worries about the possibility that some vague â€Å"other† will entertain harsh opinions. For this reason, Shawn is repeatedly unable to take a stand for what he purportedly desires—marriage to Pegeen Mike.While religion is key, Shawn also demonstrates a pronounced avoidance to action of any kind. He is fearful of what he perceives as Christy’s passionate and unpredictable nature. The threat of violence is abhorrent to Shawn. However, his pacifism is not the result of moral objection but rather a product of physical cowardice.Christy, in contrast, is not concerned with the price of taking extreme action. Despite his meek exterior, his story of parricide is told with earnest, and he behaves first in such a way that he seems shell shocked by committing the murder. Later, of cour se, this turns into something else, when he begins to celebrate his action as proof as his own manliness.This is an important turn in the play because he moves from a fear of the social judgment of his illegal and immoral action into a defiant assertion of his own individualism. This shift occurs because he senses the positive (and perverse) effect his reputation as a murder has on the members of the community in general and on Pegeen Mike in particular.Once Christy recognizes the advantages he has when perceived as â€Å"dangerous† he quickly adopts a romantic and celebratory posture. His pride in the matter is exactly what sets him up for his serio-comic fall when his father, the elder Mahon, appears miraculously â€Å"raised† from the dead.Another pair of characters defined by their opposing views is that of Pegeen Mike and the Widow Quin. Their pronounced division is related to domesticity. While the Widow Quin is perceived as an outsider and generally shunned by t he community, she is more of a realist. This is evidenced when Mahon arrives and the widow does not reject Christy as a potential love interest.As an older and more mature woman, the Widow Quin is not as easily swayed by the romantic appeal Christy’s story of murder offers. She is more interested in his companionship and status as a help-mate. She is eminently practical.Pegeen Mike, however, is far different. For the twenty year old barmaid, the idea of a savage killer for a husband is alluring. Shawn’s proposal disgusts her when compared to that of Christy because he lacks the essential brutishness that defines her idea of an appropriate mate.Consider the hastiness of her words when she says, â€Å"Wouldn't it be a bitter thing for a girl to go marrying the like of Shaneen, and he a middling kind of a scarecrow, with no savagery or fine words in him at all?† She is not concerned with the pragmatic reality of what it means to be married to a man who has defied t he law. Her head is full of high romance and flattered by Christy’s sentimentally poetic use of language.