Kindergarten or a human factory?
-A review on Little Red Flowers
It’s like I found my old memory in this special film with main characters of 4-5 year’s old children. The story tells about the life a rebellion child in a kindergarten built on a conformist culture in China.
This film has astonished me by the four year’s old little children casting their own figures in the film so natural. Film started with a cold night with medium heavy snow. Qiang, who is a lovely little child, is leaning on his bed rail watching snow falling with deep thinking. A dissolution switch brings to the beginning of the film: Qiang’s father sending him, who is crying, to this kindergarten, of which event, marked the beginning of a “militarized” kindergarten.
Zhan Yuan, the director, is a very respectful one in mainland China. This movie used a remarkable sum of close shot and drag to medium shot to inscribe the details in your memory. Double happiness iron cups, red walls, dark green steel faucets lining up, plus Traditional Chinese stone steps implied the story is happened in the post-cultural-revolution China, when conformity is the theme of life and Communism is finding their way in traditional cultures.
Aided with Music produced by an Italian musician, it is not happy or at ease at all although the film is whole about the so called care-free time of kindergarten children. It is with these small elements, which bring out the theme of a collective life in China just between the time of communism and opening-up. Let alone other effective yet annoying propagandas the government is doing, this film is using a different way to express the way China has and of course, sarcastically pointed out the ridiculous way of educating children and putting conformity on everyone within the society.
It recalled me my childhood memory when everyone should be doing everything in the same way. Every morning they get up in a beep from the teacher, which is exactly the same with a military camp. They lined up and go to the toilet together, as the teacher ordered “squat”, every lovely little child squatted as told in a line on the gutter-toilet and began pooping. While pooping, teacher telling: “we have to poop everyday morning, since it cleans your body from dirty things produced yesterday. A child pooping in the morning is a good child.” (I was in the same situation when I was young; all I was thinking is that why I cannot clean my dirty things at noon or at night?) After pooping, they have to wash their in a lined up faucets. Then, they go to have breakfast lining up and sitting beside tables (much like high table dinners?). Zhang Yuan is using a special diagonal arrangement to show the line of faucets, lined tables, gutter-toilet which implies the militarized life of kindergarten life.
I am also feeling an echo in scenes of ripping off children’s critical thinking. During a scene they are playing a game called “What time is it, old wolf?” Once the “wolf” (pretended by a person) said 9 o’clock, everyone should be running off to avoid the catching by “wolf”. However, our lovely protagonist Qiang was holding the “wolf” as if the “wolf” is his friend, which made the Miss.Li, the teacher, very angry. Saying he should be running off from wolf since they will eat people. Qiang is insisting wolf is not always eating people, which is very true. Getting the response like a threatening from Miss.Li that wolf must eat people, Qiang has no way but walk away silently. People sitting beside me keep laughing on these snippets with happiness; they might not have experienced such frustration since they live in HK. However, in my and director’s eye, his creativeness has always been denied but given an ideology of conformity even though they are still in the kindergarten. When I was young, I was told tiger, lion, and snake will kill people, fox is cunning, yet rabbits will always be our friend. It’s almost like a rule, which in a later stage, grown up will treat these animal bad since they were told they will kill people. However, everyone who learned something about the nature knows this not at all the case.
Qiang is without doubt a controversial child in China. He is creative and thinks individually. However, he was so much frustrated in such a system and way of thinking. They have to perform in a same way in order to get little red flowers (to show that they are good), but he is always the one who get none. Once he acted differently, he will be reported by other fellows to the teacher. It’s not a big deal to a grown up yet, for a child (I have been in this situation too); it’s a great threatening and humiliation since children afraid of losing companion. That’s also why every time I was isolated because I done something different I will cry.
One incident is Qiang was trying to produce a rumor and tell everyone that Miss Li is a monster. It is not reasonless. In my eyes, my teacher was always the one who threaten me rather than comfort me. There was even a fake snake in our kindergarten to let teachers to frighten those who are not performing as told. I still remember I was chased by one teacher using a snake, my crying accompanied with all the laughs of teachers and my fellows… Qiang’s rumor seems successful, but in the end, the teacher got furious and selected a scapegoat Jin to punish. The plan was aborted.
The last story in this film is like an example in reference to the rumor Qiang produced: Qiang said a foul word in desperate to a teacher assistant. Then, he was locked in a dark room and isolated. I think only China can use such a torture to a child besides using in military. Qiang was told by the principle he must treasure the time in kindergarten since it’s the most care-free time. On turning aside to teachers, the principle ordered to isolate Qiang and make no contact with other children. I can imagine teacher would be telling students not to play and talk with Qiang. Without doubt, this kind of punishment is but the cruelest one to a child. For it much affected the mental development of a child. In the last, even though Qiang was allowed to join the majority, he was ignored, isolated and looked down upon just by rumor produced by Miss Li – Miss Li has been so annoyed by rumors produced by Qiang, can’t she imagine what would Qiang feel after she produced such vulgar deeds on Qiang which he do not deserve? Personally, I think this is a tradition carried down by other teachers to “educate” children. But this is the worst method I have seen and experienced.
Zhang Yuan is very smart; he did not throw a lot of political view point to audiences through the film. Instead, he used a soft way: children as the media to reflect what the real situation in China.
Much like the Miss Li was using force to cut Qiang’s plait in the beginning of the film, Chinese education including the kindergarten education is to cut all the individual thinking into a conformed one as told by the government, even though the teacher is of no exception. Zhang Yuan is using such a nimble way avoiding political confrontation and clearly conveyed his meaning. That’s what I am really admired.
