A film still from No Man's Land

 

Movies, as a cultural product, play a unique role in reflecting and constructing culture and ideologies. Chinese movies have become a representation of the nation’s character and cultural attitude, as well as a record of the nation’s spiritual growth.

The road movie genre emerged during the middle and late 20th century in America. Usually, it uses a journey as the backdrop, during which characters in the movie fulfill their life experience and engage in spiritual reflection.
 

Road movies started to appear on the Chinese screen at the beginning of the 21st century, initiated by All The Way, directed by Shi Runjiu. Then more road movies came out, including Lost On Journey, Lost In Thailand, No Man’s Land, and The Continent, with the genre becoming a major contributor to China’s movie industry.
 

The symbolism and structure of a movie is usually embodied in its narrative. In road movies, the “road” often exists as a metaphor and an inherently ideal moving geographical space. In this space, individuals have the opportunity to become conscious of the harms of instrumental rationality and to look into the future, seeking the lost power sources of living and spiritual homes. 

Lost On Journey is an amusing yet realistic portrayal of the Chinese Spring Festival travel rush. The narrative is structured as a progression from exile, to escape, seeking, redemption, and return. In this movie, the social and cultural psychology, spiritual conditions of the people and construction of values in the society are all integrated and presented in images on the screen, in which self-reflection and criticism of both individuals and the society is allowed.

By magnifying and looking into individuals’ spiritual growth, the movie reflects the changes in identification and the spiritual conditions of social groups. This is one response of art to social transformation.
 

The soul of the movie narrative is the spiritual ideas it transmits, and the vitality of a movie is determined by whether it embodies the nation’s spiritual essence. Drawing upon the cultural essence and national spirit as a resource, the narrative style of Chinese films is also a pattern of discourse or thinking, which transforms this narrative from a cultural concept to a form of cultural practice.
 

Road movies allow those who are neglected by society to stand out and come into the view of the audience. This shift, from mainstream culture to grassroots people and their living and spiritual conditions, provides a voice to ordinary people.

Road movies cater to aesthetic preferences and consumption psychology through a narrative mode focusing on personal experience. But, to some extent, they are devoid of in-depth thinking on history, humanity, national character and other issues with grander significance. Therefore, they are not shouldering due cultural responsibility. 
 

As China’s movie industry is increasingly diversifying in terms of genres, road movies should realize a higher level of interaction and dialogue between mainstream and grassroots narratives, and conduct in-depth reflection on history, humanity, national character and other issues with grander significance. Based on this, they can contribute to analyzing and integrating national culture.

 

 

Li Juan works for The Central Plains Culture Research at the Henan Academy of Social Sciences.