During this 2020, there have been two major reworks of the ancient Ballad of Hua Mulan, historical piece of Chinese literature of unknown origin yet widely popular across the country. As if mirroring the increasing tense relatioship between the United States and The People's Republic of China, both of them have yielded a new version of the enduring tale, the new Chinese version having kept a low profile when compared to Disney's massive budgeting, and advertisement industry. However, both of them have met a cold reception worldwide. There are legit grounds for wide criticism in both cases. On the American end, its poor -if not deliverately ignorant- research on historical customs, dressing, housing or weaponry are compounded by its dull, plain character development. The Chinese public -very receptive to Disney's previous animated version- has emphasized the ugliness and orientalism not only at a purely aesthetic level, but also in dialogues and lore (such as its including an Egyptian phoenix, instead of the Chinese legend of the Fenghuang [凤凰]). That, witches aside. The Chinese version has its flaws too; a gruesome action film, the new Mulan barely tries to conceal its being a woman on the battlefield, and the constant need for shaky camera action and new excuses for bloodshet yields a poor story, with characters being reduced to mere jump-points to a new, dramatic scene. However, I vow to not discuss both of these films any longer. For I don't want to trash these new productions; rather, I'd like to write about another one.
I watched Jingle Ma's 2009 adaptation a couple years ago, and it easily became one among my favorite Chinese movies period. Accomplished actress Zhao Wei [趙薇] not only portrayed a rich, multilayered role as Mulan but also helped carrying the project to completion during a low production phase; as she was inspired by the ballad during her childhood, she expressed a personal preference for the project. Not only that; one can easily see the love behind this film, in terms of production and writing. The massive extra casting department, the historically accurate garments of the North Wei Kingdom, and the amazing cinematography (without resorting to special effects at all) are testimony to a colossal effort in order to recreate this genuinely Chinese story, at least to a similar scale of other western historical war films of the early 2000's, such as Wolfgang Petersen's Troy (2004). Designed to be an original version inspired by the poem, there are no references to the American version, nor to other previous Chinese adaptations such as that of 1939.
As it is widely known, Mulan's plot revolves around a young girl daring to supplant her elderly father's place in the army, following an Imperial edict gathering manpower in order to stop an invasion from the proto-mongol tribes of the north of Wei (that is, the Rouran). The permanent clashes between the two modes of life (that of the agrarian, urban dwellers in China and the nomadic, uprooted horse tribesmen) are defining of much of the millenia-long history of the country. In time, past the times of the Ballad and the Kingdom of Wei, China would be in fact conquered two times by the northerners: these were the Yuan Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty.
In all Mulan films to my knowledge, the depiction of the Rouran is kind of problematic, whether historically or morally; in this film they are pretty accurate if we ignore much of their aesthetics. Jingle Ma's depiction of the Rouran chieftains as glamourizing evildoers (with a cohort of slaves, the colorful Russian singer
Vitas among them) set them quite far apart from their humble, if not downright sad material conditions and clothing; however, their
yurt lifestyle and their periodic looting of China's frontier in order to get resources are accurate. Also, their exaggeration actually ends up becoming a plus on the long run, as Hu Jun's [胡軍] acting as the invading Rouran chieftain works, as a charismatic antagonist. Plus, their wearing animal fur, riding horseback and yielding wide swords are accurate; the Disney's version of the Rouran appear to be arabic people to all effects, also capable of walking up city walls. But lets keep to this version.
Something quite touching about this film is, despite its being a war film, it does not glorify war. In that, this film is absolutely un-american; Mulan's spirit faces the worst aspects of human life and death during her years of service, and Zhao Wei's acting really brings to life a shell-shocked woman, marked by the succesive deaths of both close friends and admired generals. There is, in fact, an early version of the Ballad of Mulan which ends up with her coming back to her ancestral home, finding her father dead of age, and she commiting suicide afterwards. This film does not take that dark path, yet it achieves the rare quality of making us care about the fate of its characters at times of peril, of which there are a lot. The chaos of battle and the nonsense of conflict propells the characters into existential doubt, straining their nerves and making them -as an example- unable to eat, or sleep. This realistic approach to conflict devalues the idea of war for its own sake, and truly pictures it as the ugliest last resort, of an invaded kingdom.
The movie also portrays the ambivalence of Mulan's true identity in the original Ballad. Contrary to its North American versions, nothing within the Ballad of Mulan points to a temporary punishment or embarrassment within the army, when Mulan reveals herself once the enemy is defeated. To the contrary, she becomes a celebrated hero, as she upholds the maximun of filial piety or xiào [孝] within Chinese culture: to risk her life in benefit of her aging father. At first she reveals herself to a recruit from her village, Fei Xiaohu; then, to the sub commander Wentai, and then to the entire army, and the Emperor. As an accomplished military general, she is only elevated each time.
The scale of the conflict is also better portrayed here than in any other Mulan film. The massive forces of the northern nomadic tribes were no joke to the well-established kingdoms of continental China and peninsular Korea; each incursion was a devastating campaign capable of depopulating entire areas. Moreover, Northen Wei was just one among many other feuds of the long-divided "Chinese" territory. While other Chinese films also depict a great enemy army, it usually does appear for a battle or a siege, as the climax of the film. In 2009's Mulan, on the contrary, small encounters and battles are just part of a long, dragging conflict of years on end, time taking a huge toll on the characters.
Interpersonal relationships are also well fleshed out due to a great script, and as mentioned that carries with it the huge benefits of caring on part of the audience. From the good-hearted peasant Fei Xiaohu "Tiger" (none other than Jackie Chan's son) to the stoic Wentai (Chen Kun [陈坤]), there are a lot of secondary characters endowed with the rare trait of a personality despite their scarce screentime, and as a general rule that greatly contributes to a great film. None of the newer versions has even a little of that. And speaking of relationships here, most of the Mulan films deliberately avoid romance, or at least love interest as such. But this film sure depicts a relationship, yet in the very subtle basis of East Asian cinema (Chinese, Korean, Japanese). The gradually caring interest between Mulan and Wentai remains purely platonic yet gets to the highest degree; then vanishing on the basis of duty, and change. In other words, prepare for a really sad story, which to my mind also contributes to the realistic tone of the whole film. A story of heroism and strife, but tainted by the mundane: the imperfections, the sufferings and the longings.
The film is great enough by itself, but it also provides a good setting for the Northern and Southern dynasties period of Chinese history, without the fake exotism displayed by almost all western productions set in traditional China (incapable, it seems, of restraining their thirst for multicolor clothing, made-up makeup with Japanese geisha-ish styles and so on). The humble wood and stone architecture of Mulan's village, the patched-up monochrome clothing of the peasants and the somber armor of generals better represent what life was for most of the Chinese population during centuries of strife and civilization.
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