El Nuevo Cine Taiwanés Y Sus Personajes Femeninos Urbanos: Retratos Socio-Históricos Y Arquetipos

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El Nuevo Cine Taiwanés Y Sus Personajes Femeninos Urbanos: Retratos Socio-Históricos Y Arquetipos El Nuevo cine taiwanés y sus personajes femeninos urbanos: retratos socio-históricos y arquetipos Adaptación de Trabajo Final de Máster (Universidad de Granada), tutorizado por la profesora Alicia Relinque Eleta Jacinto Enrique Benítez Báez 1. Introducción Graduado en Traducción e Interpretación (inglés y francés), Universidad de Murcia, con estancia en 1.1. Contexto histórico del movimiento de Tamkang University, Taiwán; Máster en la Nueva ola del cine taiwanés Estudios de Asia Oriental (especialidad chino), Universidad de Granada. El cine nos permite conectar con distintas culturas y sensibilidades del mundo. A través de la ficción, Interesado en la traducción y los los cineastas buscan a menudo un reflejo realista de estudios lingüísticos, escribe –bajo el su propio tiempo, con sus logros e injusticias, con nombre de jacenba– artículos sobre lo sucio y lo brillante. El cine de la isla de Taiwán, lengua, sociedad y mundo audiovisual. administrada por la República de China, permaneció durante varias décadas aislado del panorama internacional por su delicada situación política. En los años 80, época de intenso crecimiento urbano e industrial, llega la Nueva ola del cine taiwanés (o simplemente Nuevo cine taiwanés), su primer cine auténticamente internacional. Los 80 en Taiwán eran una época de choques entre lo rural y urbano, una época de nacimiento de nuevas formas de vida al compás del ajetreo de las ciudades y el desencanto con las falsas promesas del sistema económico. Hablamos en este artículo de un movimiento cinematográfico en el que directores de distintos trasfondos y atrevidamente críticos tuvieron cierto margen para producir, con insólito apoyo financiero de un gobierno todavía en ley marcial, películas de ficción que iban desde la crítica social e histórica hasta los dramas sobre familia y soledad en las grandes ciudades1. La intención de estos directores era desafiar el viejo cine de masas taiwanés, que si no inyectaba propaganda patriótica e idealización como en el «Realismo sano»2, se lanzaba de forma vertiginosa 1 La viabilidad de la Nueva ola del cine taiwanés fue un tema especialmente debatido con el director Hou Hsiao-Hsien, de forma más concreta a partir de su película The boys from Fengkuei, en la que abundan planos estáticos, falta de acción y narrativas menos convencionales frente a las tendencias comerciales de Hollywood y Hong Kong. Para algunos, esto amenazaba la financiación de la producción local, para otros, era un renovación de estilos bien apreciada. (Yeh 164-165) 2 El «Realismo sano» (健康寫實電影) fue el cine predilecto de financiación pública taiwanesa durante prácticamente dos décadas. Era un cine de tintes propagandísticos y escapistas, idealizaba el entorno rural y gustaba de usar actores de renombre. Lee Hsing es su mayor exponente, con películas como Oyster Girl o Good Morning, Taipei!. (Chiang 24; Hong 98-99) 10 asiademica.com a la violencia cruda y gratuita de las Black movies3. Las películas de este movimiento buscan historias de a pie, experimentan con modos de narración menos lineales, rompen con el uso de actores de moda y se entretienen en referencias cosmopolitas a lo japonés, europeo y norteamericano. La Nueva ola del cine taiwanés es el primer período filmográfico de la región que gana atención internacional destacable, principalmente a través de figuras como Edward Yang (Yi Yi) o Hou Hsiao- Hsien (Millenium Mambo), que con sus carreras han contribuido a la imagen que se tiene a nivel internacional del cine de la isla. Es también en este movimiento cuando empiezan a florecer los personajes femeninos que se salen de los estándares de la tradición. En las nuevas ficciones de los 80, al ir quebrándose la idealización patriótica, la situación real de las mujeres gana importancia y profundidad en pantalla. Este estudio busca averiguar justamente cómo se lleva a cabo ese proceso. 1.2. Objetivos y estado de la cuestión El objetivo del presente artículo es estudiar en tres películas de este período (Taipei Story, Daughter of the Nile, Peony Birds) el retrato de personajes femeninos urbanos que llevan a cabo tres directores (Edward Yang, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Huang Yu-Shan) y trasponer esta caracterización con el contexto social, económico y político que se intenta representar. Se busca investigar y comparar qué deciden reflejar sus directores de la coyuntura de las mujeres taiwanesas y la manera en la que lo hacen, cómo podían funcionar en las películas de la Nueva ola taiwanesa arquetipos y convenciones sobre las vidas de las mujeres en el entorno urbano de los años ochenta. Nuestro trabajo también procura resaltar el lugar de una de las pocas mujeres directoras de Taiwán en este período, Huang Yu-Shan, que nos abrirá paso al análisis de la caracterización femenina desde una visión más cercana. Al hablar de personajes femeninos, también será relevante mencionar el test de Bechdel-Wallace, una especie de prueba que se aplica a guiones de ficción que intenta valorar la calidad de la representación de las mujeres. Los estudios sobre cine taiwanés en castellano no son abundantes y casi siempre se centran en los períodos tardíos de Edward Yang, Hou Hsiao-Hsien o Tsai Ming-Liang4. En inglés se encuentran numerosas obras y capítulos, pero de nuevo centradas casi siempre en estos directores5. Estudios comparativos sobre la construcción en Taiwán de las mujeres en ficción son escasos a pesar de que su aparición más frecuente y acercamiento realista son características destacadas de este movimiento6. Nuestro estudio contribuye así a perfilar una de los rasgos determinantes de la Nueva ola taiwanesa que no han recibido mucha atención y busca a la vez ser un eslabón para otros estudios sobre caracterización de personajes femeninos en períodos posteriores. 3 Las Black movies (台灣黑電影) o películas del «Realismo social» fueron una serie de filmes especialmente populares a comienzos de los años 80. Eran una respuesta drástica a la idealización y puritanismo del realismo sano y la solemnidad de las películas de kung-fu. Era un cine embadurnado de violencia y sexo en el con frecuencia aparecían mujeres asesinas. Fue el primer movimiento que intentó poner sobre la mesa un retrato del Taipei más sucio y realista, aunque enormemente dramatizado y sensacionalista para adaptarse al gusto del mercado. (Ruiz 139-159) 4 Hou Hsiao-Hsien ha sido ampliamente estudiado por Carlos Heredero (“Volver a Hou Hsiao-Hsien”, “El cine...”, “Edward Yang visto desde Hou Hsiao-Hsien...”), y de Edward Yang existe un libro de artículos en castellano editado por Jaime Pena (Edward Yang) con aportes sobre Taipei Story de mano de Antonio Weinrichter (“Cartografiando Taipéi”). Por otro lado, hemos tenido la suerte en mayo de 2019 de contar con dos conferencias en Granada sobre estudios de género en el mundo audiovisual por parte de dos grandes especialistas de China, He Guimei y Dai Jinhua, que en parte nutren las bases de este trabajo. 5 Algunos estudios destacados en inglés sobre el cine taiwanés pueden ser “Taiwan New Cinema and Its Legacy” de Lu Tonglin, el Screening China de Zhang Yingjin o libros enteros dedicados a un director, como No Man an Island de James Udden, sobre Hou Hsiao-Hsien. En una obra de June Yip, Envisioning Taiwan, también encontramos algunos párrafos dedicados a una de las películas de nuestra selección, Daughter of the Nile. 11 asiademica.com 2. El Nuevo cine taiwanés: mujeres frente a las cámaras 2.1. Taipei Story de Edward Yang: Éxito empresarial y soledad Edward Yang (楊德昌, Yang Dechang), posiblemente el director más reconocido de Taiwán junto con Ang Lee, es un cineasta formado en el extranjero que desde un principio gusta de crear películas enfocadas en la vida de mujeres adultas. Sus largometrajes son generalmente dramáticos, de ritmo pausado y de fuerte sabor cosmopolita. Taipei Story (1985) concuerda con estos rasgos. Su título original, 青梅竹馬 (Qingmei zhuma, «Ciruelas verdes y caballitos de bambú») nos da indicios de su argumento, pues se basa en un poema de Li Bo acerca del amor desde la más tierna infancia7, amor que se pierde justamente en la película. Estamos ante una historia de desamor y soledad en ciudades producto de un capitalismo voraz, pero a la vez ante una historia de la nueva autonomía de las mujeres. Nuestra protagonista, Chin (貞) es una mujer en sus 25-30 años que trabaja de forma exclusiva para su jefa, la señorita Mei (梅小姐), sin un puesto fijo. La película comienza con cierto tono idílico, pues, gracias a un aumento, Chin se puede permitir adquirir una nueva casa en una zona muy céntrica de la capital, Taipei. Su novio, Lung (隆), la acompaña en la visita, y es parte crucial del auténtico paso hacia la autonomía de nuestro personaje principal. Poco les dura esa felicidad, ya que pronto se revela que la empresa de Chin será adquirida por otra más grande, y su jefa se ha marchado repentinamente por desacuerdos con el resto de jefes. A nuestra protagonista se le ofrece la oportunidad de seguir trabajando en la empresa, pero bajo una condición: ser una secretaria8. Chin rechaza el puesto de secretaria, mostrándose orgullosa de sus habilidades y negándose a trabajar si no es con su antigua jefa, pero, apenas sale de la reunión, toda su vida comienza a desmoronarse. Chin es el ejemplo de una mujer acostumbrada a la vida en ciudad. Lo notamos en su sentido de la moda, los bares a los que va, su frecuencia del uso de los taxis9... Es una mujer taiwanesa nacida en una generación llena de promesas. Por sus perspectivas de trabajo sabemos que ha recibido una buena formación, por ello no se deja doblegar hacia puestos peores. Sin embargo, no está preparada para cómo le trata el mundo exterior. Al salir de esa oficina tras su renuncia, está desamparada.
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