Lady General Hua Mulan

[jhameia]

So, if any of you wanted to know more about how the Disney re-telling differs from the actual story, well, wouldn't know where to start, since there're many different versions of Hua Mulan (her story stems from pretty much before the Tang Dynasty, and most anything from before the Tang Dynasty is hard to figure out), but the gist is the same - Mulan takes her father's place, becomes a great general, leads the troops to victory, and then goes home and resumes life as a woman. None of this saving the Emperor nonsense - she worked her ass off alongside fellow soldiers to get the glory. Don't ask me how she manages to hide being a woman for more than a decade.

However, I did find this! It's a 1964 movie of a Hua Mulan Chinese opera. So, you'll not only get treated to a more faithful version of the Mulan myth, but also to the joys of Chinese opera!

I LOVE how the movie begins - it's a song that's best known as the opening theme song to the Once Upon A Time In China series, but is an old, Ming Dynasty song called "Under the General's Orders". Jackie Chan sang a version of it! It is, in my estimation, one of the most quintessentially Chinese songs that I know of.

Part 5 is awesome because Mulan totes dishes out a speech on behalf of all wimmenzkind! I love it! I love her! ^_^

Part 11 has a random dance with acrobatics that's fun to watch, and random dance with a dude in a mask. Such actors are seen quite often accompanying lion dances, holding up such signs to signify prosperity. I never really liked them, and think their creepiness factor is on par with the crazy prosperity cat so often seen in many Asian restaurants around here, but they are jolly-looking.

Also, in the scene where the Commander asks Mulan to be his son-in-law (oopsie), note how the music stops along with Mulan's singing to show how awkward she is in trying to come up with answers.

Part 12 has got to be the most awkward love confession ever.

I love Mulan's dress in the ending! It's so cute. I'd also like to learn how to style my hair that way too, once I grow it out. It seems to be pretty standard in all these Chinese medievals.

Comments

[tariq-kamal.livejournal.com]

I really like how it starts with Mulan basically hunting, and not trying to OMG FIT INTO PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY.

I also like how Mulan's first assumption was, "I'll do it! It will be appropriate".

She had to be reminded that, hey, you know what, women can't join the army, as if it's an incidental thing. And by her MOTHER, not even her father, who was like, "OMG but ur still young!"

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

I somehow think it's more a case of "you can try but you'll be laughed right out and no one will let you in" rather than "it's FORBIDDEN". Women have generally been far more conscious about open discrimination towards them than men. That's why I didn't like the Disney treatment, where it was "women are forbidden from the army and will be killed if they join" - a good soldier is a good soldier; the gender isn't an issue, it's the lying which makes a difference. There're a lot of wuxia and wushu TV series and films in which women are very good fighters.

[tariq-kamal.livejournal.com]

That's it. In W&W TV, it was unthinkable and impossible, whereas in Disney it was "STEP OVER THE LINE AND DIE".

Which doesn't mean that the former is in any way good, but still.

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

No, in W&W TV it's generally "don't bother joining the army, just kick ass on your own until you can find a group who will accept you". I never got the impression that it was impossible or unthinkable, just not something worth the fucking hassle.

[tariq-kamal.livejournal.com]

Heh.

I do note that in this version the father eventually gives his blessing for Mulan to join the army. None of this "sneak out of the home and join the circus army" crap.

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

Finding a teacher / mentor figure who is willing to share their skills with you is fairly typical across the board, I think, for both male and female characters. Sun Wukong, for example, had to travel far away from home to find a teacher.

And yeah, once you have your parents' blessing for anything, you're gold XD

[tariq-kamal.livejournal.com]

Which I think was a staple of a lot of SB's stuff during that time. I mean, you could have blood and gore and death and boobs and stuff, but you really needed your parents' / teachers' / elders' blessings, and there were certain things you just didn't do.

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

I also find it interesting how it's a male cousin who helps her challenge her father and takes care of her while she's in the army.

[tariq-kamal.livejournal.com]

Of course la! Ally leh! XD

[dhobikikutti]

I have bookmarked this to watch it, but I am also looking forward to the new movie being released!

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

Me too! I'm so excited about the new movie, but finding this one available on Youtube was too good not to share ^_^